A huge 'Well Done' to TheShyThespian, Sprite and KatieTheWriter. I read and greatly enjoyed all three winning stories. To all the runners up and to everyone who participated in the competition, either as a writer or a reader - You are awesome !

Quote by deviantsusie

34 stories in so far and almost a week to go.. still a few regulars missing - can we get odds on a raunchy last minute entry with an Aussie slant and colloquial wordplay?

The quality in this one is really good.. It's taking me a while to get through them.. must be over 200K words all in so far.

You don't mean Annie the Aussie Anarchy Queen do you !?

Yeah, there's more than one. It's all to make the site compliant with various US state laws, allowing those people living in those states to participate without issue.

Returned once, hold my beer. I'm so pleased I'm not the only one. However, standards must be maintained.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

ghostly voice uninstall it... uninstaaalll iiitttttt...

Thanks WW, Actually, I'm feeling better about a certain app starting with 'G'. It turns out I had somehow turned it off on Lush. It was working fine elsewhere but not here. User friendly points aside, at least it's free.

Quote by JourneyYoung

After reading yours, my mind is churning over a possible space sci-fi idea of my own. Too bad I already have three series going so I'm not sure I have the bandwidth to work on it right now. Maybe I should take notes for the future though haha.

Notes for the future are a great idea. I keep a notebook with synopses of possible stories, some quite complete and detailed. Other story ideas might be just the ending, a key scene or just a collection of brief notes. I was already writing 'Embrace The Distant Stars' when the competition came along so I was able to adapt it. I've written a few long series in the past but a stand alone story or one set in a world you've already established is more likely to be read. Cheers.

Quote by JourneyYoung

I think I get done reading through the list then another 10k monster appears. NOOOO (but also YESSSSSS)

Guilty, as charged. I'm loving yours right now.

Mine's done, finally. 10K reached. This time I've gone for sci-fi and concentrated on world-building, murder-mystery, detective work and sex in that order. I tend to make the sex the most important aspect of my stories and it tends to overpower other aspects of the plot. So here we have a murder mystery and a lovely love story taking place in the cold, remote reaches of interstellar space...

Embrace The Distant Stars | Lush Stories

(btw My love/hate, mostly hate relationship with Grammarly continues.)

Quote by wxt55uk

Good luck! 😊

Ok, I uninstalled Grammarly and immediately got the questionnaire: "Why did you uninstall Grammarly?" You could almost feel the hurt. But I had every intention of re-installing it and now it seems to be working fine! btw It's a Ukrainian company. Let's hope and pray the Russians don't bomb its HQ.

Quote by wxt55uk

The free version of Grammarly is working fine for me at the moment over here in the UK.

Good to hear my friend. I might delete it altogether and start over. Wish me luck.

We Need To Talk About Grammerly.

Question 1. Why doesn't it work ? (FYI I'm writing and it isn't working now...) I do have a free account.

Question 2. Do you have to pay for it now? It worked for a few seconds when I pasted my competition entry into the submission box, ready to edit. The 'G' icon was there but after a few edits I got : "You are signed out of Grammerly" - no I wasn't.

Question 3. What am I doing wrong?

Quote by Jen

I've alerted all the mods to reject yours if this target isn't met 🤭

...hold my beer Tolstoy !

Oh no, my friend, I'm aiming for 9999.

Ten thousand words ! Grammarly is going to get a thrashing. 🤓

Quote by TheShyThespian

I was just saying to a friend that we'd never had (as far as I can remember) a comp with a 2,000 word limit and how I'd appreciate a shorter one. How's that for mind-reading... 😊

Well, we've already got one that's over 4 thousand words...

My goodness ! I'm totally surprised and utterly honored. What a marvelous and totally unexpected accolade. Thanks so much Kimmi for your wonderful review too.

Quote by Eroticmind45

domination and submission entire point in my opinion is lost because of so much material out there designed to meet the need of masturbation time frame. Face it in the real world of busy life the length of time and privacy to be able to take care of yourself is very short. So the material is written for that small time frame. Missing all the very important aspects do to time constraints. Only shock and awe crazy porn style is being seen. You are trusting someone with your most guarded secrets. Allowing your self completely vulnerable. Your “sickest” desires out there scared to death of reactions. That’s the point! Trust, intimacy, bonding, etc! I am looking forward to reading these stories. My favorite are the ones when in the end makes the characters closer and better to each other than ever expected. Along with some very kinky descriptions.

...great, please read my entry, it's called Hexentanz. Thanks.

Quote by CuriousAnnie

Aeneid’s, Timeō Danaōs et dōna ferentēs, (I fear the Greeks even when bearing gifts,) is now updated for the new millennium--I fear the South Australians especially when bearing candy canes.

"Achilles' angry faction may delay/ Troy and the Trojan mother's mourning day/ But the appointed count of years must come./ Greek fire shall burn the rooves of Ilium." - Ovid.

For your information Ms Annie, I actually am a Greek and we Adelaidean Greeks are more than happy to sack cities the likes of haughty Sydney and carry their damsels off into slavery. So be warned. Btw Well done on making the top ten ! Well deserved.😜

Heartiest congratulations to all the winners and to my fellow runners-up. I am honoured to count myself amongst you. I'd also like to offer special thanks to Jaymal, Jake the Juggernaut, whose story provided me with some great role play and cyber sex ideas. 😜👌

So, I noticed that there are three entries by Trios. Are we allowed to enter competitions more than once now?

Thanks for fixing the list. It's wonderful that so many people who would otherwise rarely or never press finger to keyboard have entered this competition.

Is it fixed yet? I know, how about making the list a multi page document (1 of 4, 2 of 4 etc) next time, like this thread?

Well done to all. This certainly was a fun was a fun competition.

Quote by Smoppet
What time periods do you like to set your stories in? Poetry can be hit or miss with me, but I'll always be fond of nursery rhymes ??