Quote by wxt55uk

On your Paris story, both parts were hot, but I see that you only had around 60% of the views for the second part over the first. Give it time; it may catch up to part one. There are a lot of variables in play when one story gets more attention than another. I think we both know that.

I'm not going to list them, but one often overlooked factor (the admins might not agree) is how long your story was on the front page. If it stalls there between moderator shifts, you will pick up many extra views and some likes/comments. Can you recall whether there was a significant time difference between the two?

Honestly, being on the front page doesn't always guarantee more likes and views in my experience. I've had stories sit on the front page all day, and they don't necessarily do any better than one that gets bumped to page two in an hour or two. It seems like a crap shoot at times whether readers will actually bother to read a part two or three beyond the regular readers/friends/followers. That often has more to do with it than anything else.

Quote by Seeker4

That seems like a day to avoid for any kind of event like that given how much is going on but I guess there is also a romantic element to getting married on the last day of the year. My mother was born on New Year's Eve so we celebrated her birthday with dinner then the New Year later.

Good morning. Air quality warnings are lifted here but the heat continues. Supposed to cool down by the weekend.

I am working on a story for the SS comp and contemplating more Paris. Though with the reaction to part two being rather muted, I think I would try to make it standalone rather than tying it too tightly to the original two-parter.

Paris Part Two was 🔥🔥🔥! People just need to read it!

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

I've put out some buttercreme cuppycakes with Kat in mind.

Plus I've got some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, just because.

Coke Zero in the fridge, a frosted pitcher of lemonade, and all's right with the bar.

All my favorites! Thanks Bear!

Done at the gym, just got my car washed, now its home to shower and get ready for shopping and lunch in Dunedin with the gals. Hoping to find a cute dress for my daughter's shower. 🤞

I'm still looking for that elusive Mother of the Bride dress that is a hue that fits in my daughter’s color palette. 😳 It's HER special day, so I will go to the ends of the earth to find a dress she approves of. Sadly the blues and purples that I look good in are not on the list. Ah well. She's worth the effort 🥰

Have a great day, all y’all.

Look what you made me do, out with somebody new. Ooh baby, baby, I’m Dancing With A Stranger - Part One

Chelsea finds herself in the arms of a stranger. Will he help her learn to love again? Or is he up to no good?

Quote by fuzzy1954

Morning BEAR

Thanks I'm moving a wee slower today after my weekend birthday blow out

Happy belated Birthday to my favorite Lion!

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

Thank you for the setup, Lion!

Market day, and Kimmi's Krew in Store Room #4 are eating us out of house and bar!

Kimmi, your BAR BILL is gonna be eye-popping this quarter!

And that dragon – I'm gonna charge extra for cleaning up, Milik.

Hmm…I wonder if I can charge the kids that were eaten as dragon food…

See y'all later!

Take care out there, 'K?

Sorry, I meant to come back and tidy up after the dragon yesterday but I got distracted. You can put those extra charges on my tab.

Remember when I said my part in overseeing renovations was done? Lol. Yeah, I was wrong. I completely forgot about the curbing for the plant beds in the front of the building. I managed to catch the contractor just in time by a stroke of luck two days ago as he was about to make the three “island” beds too big. I didn't even know he was showing up that day. 😳

And I'm still waiting on the estimate from the landscaper for how much it's going to cost to fill 10 planters to put in the pool deck area.

A Beach Kat’s work is never done. Haha!

Off to swim in a bit. Hope all y’all are having a great start to your weekend. I don't have the links handy (I'm on my phone) but GreyMatter (The Loophole) and Stupalm (The Pump) both have new stories very worthy of checking out. Both are fun, sexy, quick reads. 😉

Has great taste in music!

My writing has been all over the place lately. I have about half a dozen things started, and I'm finding that continuing to rotate through the stories as I work on them is actually a decent strategy, as I'm making some progress.

The electricians finished the outdoor lighting by the pool and under the building where owners/full-time residents park. Little by little, things are returning to normal, only better.

I'm gonna grab a cuppycake and a Coke Zero and head over to my usual spot and try to write some more!

An oldie but a goodie…

Desire

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

And I thought I'd just offer Kat and Kimmi a view of some hard wood today…

YUM. I'm pretty sure there's enough wood for Kimmi and me to share. 👅👅

Thanks for having both cuppycakes and Coke Zero, Bear. I'm picky about how I spend my calories. (Like the customer who used to come into the ice cream parlor and order a banana split ans a Tab). Thanks for the lovely compliment as well. 💋

In turn, I can vouch for our Bearkeep’s handsomeness—far sexier than your average polar bear!

Still fighting the good fight with my sinus infection. Trying one more compounded rinse before more invasive measures.

Found a dress for my daughter's wedding. It's champagne colored (on the approved list of colors) but she thinks it looks too light in the pictures. 😳 She agreed to see it in person so I'm going to lug it up to Michigan later this month when we get her for her shower. 🤷‍♀️

Happy Hump Day all y’all.

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Morning Rumpies!

And Bear, I been outta town, so point that furry paw somewhere else. Kat, maybe, but you didn’t hear that from me. 🤐

(Takes Charlie by the … and leads him back to the storeroom) And you scared Charlie! He’s sensitive.

I was a busy family-friendly writer this weekend. If interested in reading something with no cock in sight.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/general/shrivelled-grapes

I owned up to the fact that I may or may not have been involved in Storeroom 4 shenanigans, Mr. Furry Paws! 😈

Kimmi, I spit out my tea when I read that your story that has no cock in sight is called "Shrivelled Grapes." 🤣

Fuzzy, I cleaned all the toys I used...can't vouch for others.

Ape's new story is, indeed, a sizzler! My laptop started smokin' when I was modding it this morning. 😉And since he's kindly offered to cover my drinks today, add some vodka to my pink lemonade, bearkeep! I'm back modding and it's thirsty work for this redheaded Tech Moddess. 😉

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Pool looks great, Kat!!! 😀 I know you are happy to get things back to normal!

Very happy! When the phase one reno is completed, I will share better pics.

Quote by wxt55uk

That pool does look inviting... and nicely decorated.

I don't know why, but when you mentioned your pool in the past, I never expected it would be literally on the beach, even though I know you are a beach girl (read beach babe😉). 😎

When I tell people I live on the beach, they are often still surprised when they come to visit that I'm actually on the beach. 🏖️☀️🩴

Thanks, Kimmi, for coming up with little contests like these. Being able to tell a story in 75 words is challenging and fun. Congratulations to the winners. 🥰

He has good taste in movies!😎

Quote by Seeker4

That pool area looks lovely. Is that your building's, Kat?

Yes! Thanks. The chairs, tile, and tiki hut are all part of the renovations that I was in charge of overseeing. 🥰😎

Don't nobody do nothin' stupid while I'm gone, see?

Define stupid. Lol.

Thanks to the police, our beach survived the onslaught of teenage shenanigans yesterday. Arrests were made early which kept things fairly calm. But when they set off a firework on the ground, twice, the police came in droves to clear the beach.

Heading to the pool for a swim with the neighbors.

As for storeroom four? I can neither confirm nor deny that I may or may not have been involved in some fireworks. 😘🎆🎇😈

Hope all y'all find a way to enjoy the holiday.

Dave, it's only called vacation when you go on a trip somewhere. 😉😘

Fine... I will feed Milik's Dragon. Hot flames don't scare me.😉

"Shhh Man"

Without a word, he put a finger to his lips to remind me to stay quiet. I obeyed, like a good girl. I trusted him to free me of my inhibitions.

He resumed spanking my already crimson bottom. The exquisite sting of each stroke brought me closer to the edge until my entire body shook from much-needed release.

“Thank you, Sir,” I whispered.

He nodded; then we rejoined the party, no one the wiser.

Quote by Milik_the_Red

I just woke up in my hotel in Knoxville and I’m looking at another 6 Hour drive today with the pups. I don’t mind the drive by the time I got to the hotel last night both the dogs were completely put out. I’m not looking forward to putting him back in the car today. I I just fed him and took him out so they could go to the bathroom now I think I’m gonna wait a couple hours until they go back in the nap mode

Y’all have a good Fourth of July

Safe travels! Enjoy your long weekend.

Quote by Jen

Right, so I'm gonna do 2 winners, just because rainbows make me happy.

The first, I'm picking because I liked the picture best, and the second was a random number generator pick, so as random as it can be.

So well done BNW, and LuceDevlin.

You can either have the gold yourself, have the gold for someone else, or take the equivalent value in Lush Coins.

Let me know

(You can PM me if you're shy)

Congratulations BNW and LuceDevlin!

This was a cool idea, Jen. 😎

Sometimes when hubby travels, I get inspired to write.

Please enjoy my new microfiction: Miss You Already

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Giorgio Tsoukolos(spelling???) 😀😀😀 I love him! I love Ancient Aliens!

I’m telling y’all, there’s some crazy shit going on at skinwalker ranch. A vortex or alien tech buried in the mesa.

Another drink, please and some salmon for Butters.

Are you sure Butters isn’t an alien? 👽🙀

Sometimes I think my oldest daughter’s cat is one. Or he sees ghosts. 🤷‍♀️

Quote by Seeker4

Oh, that would really be my preference, too, but I had somehow missed that it was gone. I don't submit in close succession often enough for it to be an issue. Not sure if 24 hour delay is enough to stem the tide anymore, though. You probably known better than I given you are backstage.

It would help. 😎

Quote by Seeker4

Once a week seems a bit stingy. Maybe once every 3 days? Which means twice a week barring oddities? But some kind ofl limit seems like a good idea if we keep hitting backlogs. Adding mods can only get you so far given the mods are volunteering.

I'd love to see the return of the 24-hour rule we used to have. It would be helpful. I would never want to discourage anyone from writing. But it does get overwhelming when authors submit their next story immediately after one has been approved. The 24-hour rule was nice because it also gives readers time to enjoy a new story by their favorite author before another one pops up. 😎

Quote by Vampire_vixen

Lol

This is my personal peeve in micro

Part of the problem with micros on Lush is that the word counter tends not always to be accurate. So what may look like 104 words for a published micro might really only be 96 words. Trust that the mods are very picky and would never allow over 100 words if they truly existed. Recently I had a writer send in a 98 word micro that was “measuring” 124 words. 🙀 I cut and repasted it and it dropped instantly to 113 words. I did this multiple times and got it down to 106 but there were truly only 98 words. 🤷‍♀️

Bearkeep, pour me a CokeZero over ice please and thank you. And send something with electrolytes for the boy toys in Storage Room Four. They’re gonna need to rehydrate. I may or may not have taken good care of them for Kimmi. 😉

The sky looks ominous this morning. And I’m off to the gym. 😘😘

Pops in to check on Storeroom Four. If I don't come up for air in a couple hours… then again… don't bother knocking.

😉