Quote by Milik_the_Red

I did a quick count early Saturday and they had already sailed past 30. By now Im sure they broke tripe digets. Its hard to fathom so many stories have been submitted

We need a longer front page 😳

Franky, someone did me a solid by putting my story on ice. If it has been posted it would have been off the page in an hour

In the past, I have "suggested" that the front page should only be for new stories and that "trending" and "classic" stories should be on TABS, which you can click on...

I have also suggested that once a story has gone through moderation, it goes into a holding cell where the software drip-feeds it onto the front page. This happens, say, every 20 minutes. This way, there would be a slow flow of stories continually appearing, and every author/story would have its moment in the sun! 😎

Quote by Milik_the_Red

Well, I have my coffee, so I think this lovely lady and I will step onto the patio for a pleasant er, conversation.

Perhaps I shouldn't say this, but I had a lady who looked very similar to the one in the photo lying on the sunbed next door to me today. Yes, my wife was with me, and yes, she was dressed the same way, the only difference being that she was not drinking coffee! 😎

Now you know why I like Crete so much!

Quote by Milik_the_Red

I have to say the mods have been busy this weekend. There must have been over a hundred in Que because I've been watching them be processed and my oh my have they been moving them along.

Great job on that one, mods. You are doing fantastic work there👍

I agree, Milik. They do a fantastic job. 😊 I believe yesterday there must have been another blitz on getting stories approved. I haven't seen anything mentioned, though... and I have not counted this time, but the last time they had a blitz, they managed to clear 49 stories for publishing in 24 hours.

Although, of course, we have no idea how many were rejected! 😎

Well, I just had my first beer of the day 🍺. Thank you for opening up Lion. 🙂 This is our last full day here in Crete, sun out, pool a little too cool after 4 windy days.

Tomorrow we fly home and hopefully I will be back in the writers chair, Wednesday. Refreshed, I itching to write ‘Cash in Hand 4’. 🙂

Quote by Evocative

Thank you everyone for the compliments and for those of you who could provide some extra context into the issues the admin and mod team are running into. If I had the technical or web based developmental skills, I’d lend more of a helping hand. However, I can provide a possible low-tech approach as a proof of concept for the admin team to mull over.

Additionally, I would highly recommend a submission limit to one a week from the last time the user had a story published.

Once again I see you have put a lot of thought into this, and having proven gold/Platinum proof readers seems a good idea, actually it is one I mentioned on a different thread a little while ago.

Although, I do not think limiting submissions to one a week is a good idea. In fact I think pushing out story submission times should be only seen as a very short term fix, though it not a fix at all as all you really doing is kicking the can down the road.

Remember there are those who post micro stories, poetry or don’t post for months, then write a story series and will want to post the parts a little quicker than one a week.

We also need to think how memberships are sold, what members join for, restrictions are never a good selling point.

Finally, I for one want to see this site continue to grow. More members. More stories and hopefully with more income. I know from experience getting software written costs a lot, and often when you relying on others you finding yourself in a long queue.

I would suggest 48 hours is a good compromise between story submissions.

The one thing I never really understood and I brought it up in this thread, is why the number of moderator’s has never really increased. Yes, there was explanations, but with 6,000 members, surely the number could be pushed up to nearer 50. Maybe, for that to happen, it has got to be pushed for by the moderator’s themselves. I just don't know. 🙄😊

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Evocative, that's very comprehensive. Thank you for taking the time to put your thoughts together in a cohesive manner.

Some of your points (auto-publish or a fast-track skim read for trusted members who consistently publish work that needs little to no effort from the moderation team) have been considered and I really like the ideas.

Another here WW, who wants to thank you for taking the time to fully answer Evocative’s comprehensive post. 🙂

Quote by Evocative

Please take what I’m providing with a grain of salt. I’m just someone looking from the outside in and my perspective is very limited with the information I can gleam from the forums and seeing how this wonderful website operates. Maybe everything I’m going to suggest has already been mentioned (either in public or private or is already implemented.) and if that is the case, I’m sorry for wasting your time. And I do apologize for the lengthy post.

Evocative, l am impressed at the time and thought you have put into your post and I want to reassure you not the only member who thinks about how to improve this site for the future. 🙂

Quote by sprite

btw, today is MY birthday if anyone is curious, lol

Happy Birthday Rachel 🙂😘

Quote by Milik_the_Red

So, my face sitting story is just waiting to be moderated and a few days later I'll Submit my Uniform story

That means I only need to write a Medical sex story and I'll have them all for my Omnium.

I'll bet a dollar they add categories Monday. 😳

I hope not!!!! 😳

Congratulations on almost being there. 😃

Quote by Milik_the_Red

I see it’s your birthday. As my given name is David as well, I award it’s usage here to you as my gift

See? I’m as generous as they come 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Fun fact. I took the name Milik the Red from my early adulthood best friends dog. He was an Irish Setter and a fantastic dog. 🐕

Thank you for the generous drink offer, Milik. 🙂🤣

David is a good solid name that allows us to blend in with the thousands of other David’s that are around our age.

I wondered where you got your name from, now I know. 🙂

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

Good morning.

My, you all are very somber today. Among the fallen, don't forget PJH, who wrote here for many years, mostly about mature sex and spanking.

Kat, her amazing husband, Lady Jay, and I met near her home in Florida for lunch last winter, and it was over way too soon. If I weren't tied up with family stuff in Ann Arbor, I would suggest that we meet for tea, but then she'll be running for the airport – which isn't too far from here.

Meanwhile, let me lighten up the mood a bit: I have a firm offer from a small Canadian publishing house to publish my father's autobiography. Lots to negotiate, but it's a very positive development. FYI, Dad was one of the pioneering oceanographers. He was also a mechanical genius who could fix just about anything, and invented a lot the equipment which is now standard in the field, and used by the oil companies to profile the oceans.

Bear, congratulations on getting onto the first and largest step with your dad’s autobiography. 🙂

Quote by techgoddess

Happy Birthday to David ( across the pond )

I'm home and slept in my own bed last night. So why am I tired this morning? Hmmm… 😈

Had a great time but I'm happy to be home. 🥰

Thank you, Kat. 🥰 It good to hear you arrived home safely, we fly home next Tuesday. Hot but extremely windy here in Crete atm, so no mountain walks at the moment.

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Happy birthday tmrw, David! Enjoy your day tmrw!

I do want to get to the UK soon! If I’m close by, I’ll meet you. I wanna meet TheShyThespian and his wife. I forgot where in UK they are. She’s not on Lush but knows about me.

Thank you, Kimmi. The Shy Thespian used to live just a couple of miles from me, but now, unfortunately, he lives almost at the other end of England from me. I'd like to meet him too. 😊

Well, I turn 63 tomorrow, and since 60, I have felt my mortality as things physically seem to be harder to do. 🙄

Having said that, tomorrow I plan to walk down (not up) a gorge here in Crete, from the top of a mountain. As for friends, I do feel people whom I correspond with here on LushStories are my online friends. If you are ever in the UK, I would be happy to meet you. I have so far met two people from LushStories, one in the UK and one in Australia.

Quote by Milik_the_Red

I woke up this morning to find a memorial to EliotLacey31 who was among the best poets Lush has produced, with a nod to the late Dirty Martini. Eliot was a wonderful soul whom I was fortunate to speak with with from time to time, but who I felt I knew well through the depth of his prose. He was only 42 at the time of his passing.

His passing is, I'm certain, a great loss to his family as it is to we who knew him, but our loss is the disappearance of a true talent we were lucky enough to experience on an almost daily basis.

I never had the chance to speak to Eliot, but the SmallMoments poetry competition was in memory of him. You can read Jen's tribute in the announcement for the competition!

I have just dropped in for a mug of Yorkshire tea, Bear, thank you. 😊

After a couple of weeks of doing very little other than reading Lush competition stories whilst lying on a sunbed, tomorrow we're going hiking in the Cretan mountains. It will also be my birthday—63, by the way, so even if I don't drop in at Rumpies tomorrow, the drinks are on me. Over and out from a rather windy, yet hot, Crete. 😎

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Slumps into booth

It’s 90 today, but hot cocoa with plenty of minis, please.

Soooo glad today’s crap is over.

Good news is I won $1000 on a $2.00 bet on a slot machine at French Lick. Pays half my dental bill.

Congratulations on your win, Kimmi. Sorry to hear about your dentist experience and bill!

Quote by Milik_the_Red

Oh, shit! I just discovered a flaw in Apples Pages writing program's save.

I had part 2 of The Accidental Escort completed. It was done and all it needed was an edit. I did that on my phone last night and this morning, half my story wass gone!

The entire sex scene, which was hot, Vanished in digital purgatory!

Grrrr…. Shit. Now I've got to rewrite another 1000 words or so.

Time to make my own back ups at the end of each writing session. 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

Oh that’s a bummer…. I hope you find a way to recover the data. I think most of us have been there, losing data… I remember losing the last two chapters of the first book I ever wrote when my computer went up in smoke, Yep, it caught fire. 🔥 Now I back up to cloud and an external drive.

Thank you for opening up Bear, the donnouts look good. A nice cup of Lumberjack coffee for me, thank you. 😊 I have been to Anne Arbor and Michican State University. Though not studying, I spent a day in their engineering department with a professor showing him how the product my company made, worked. It was a good day, I got shown around and saw the sorority houses. There the only ones I have ever seen. 😀😎

Quote by techgoddess

Last week it looked like the Lions forgot how to play football. This week they were on fire! 🔥❤️🦁💙

On the airplane, waiting for takeoff. A busy week helping out with grandkids, attending a celebration, and lunch with my sister! Detroit here I come!

Have a great Monday, all y’all. Imma be in and out all week. I'm staying at a hotel so I have some guaranteed downtime. 😉😘

Enjoy your week, Kat. 😎😘

I am pleased to see and read so many good stories in the latest 'Obsession' competition. It is also nice to see so many new authors entering the competition. 😊

Having now read, liked and commented on all 81 (so far) entries, I have to say there wasn't a weak one amongst them. This brings me nicely to my entry, Judged!, which I can now safely say is very different to the other 80 entries. Yes, a bit of self-publicity, but I like to see a higher 'views' number for my story. 🙄😉

Quote by KimmiBeGood

How’s my new avi? I thought I’d show some punkins for fall.

It's still in 29 celcious were I am. Not thinking about autumn until I get home. However, nice pumpkin... Kimmi 🙄😇

Quote by Milik_the_Red

Not to worry. That particular fetich isn't on my bingo card

Nor mine!

Quote by Milik_the_Red

You know, what burned me out on trying for it was writing a watersports story. There were others I wrote that I didn't like and would not have otherwise posted, but that one really disgusted me.

After I wrote that, I decided that the pursuit wasn't worth abusing my respect for the craft. I still detest that story but never deleted it. Writing that one, and a few others I found completely unworthy of praise bothered me enough that it took me years to put it behind me.

But they are there now and what is left may be somewhat a case of writing something for reasons other than creativity, but they won't offend my sense of decency to create.

And I write without it bothering me so I'm not particularly moral, but the pissing was a step to far for me.

EDIT: Its important to say now I DO NOT JUDGE ANYONE FOR THEIR SEXUAL INTEREST.

I'm simply speaking for myself

Thank got scat isn't a thing here. 😳

You and me on that last sentence, Milik. I also think your not alone when it comes to the watersport genre, although for me, I admit to not having an issue with it!

I only have one potentially awkward genre to write - Trans as it means little to me. For that story I will read a few in that genre to prepare myself and then come up with a story. It will be a one and done story.

Quote by Milik_the_Red

My next story, The Accidental Escort is awaiting moderation. As my last was published just 4 days ago I'm probably on hold for a few days to allow other writers a chance to be published, and that's fine.

Incredibly for me, I've already got the next one in edit. Love and War is the story of a couple whose relationship is toxic as it is magnetic. It's also a uniform story and my next step toward my Omnium Badge. It's a two-parter, and part two will cover another genre I haven't published in, leaving more just one more to go.

See you all on Saturday

Well, it is already Saturday here and I out by the pool once again reading the last of the competition entries I have left to read.

Good luck with the Omnium badge, Milik. As Kimmi once said to me, it is really the one badge worth having as it relies on no one but yourself to win it. I hope to be joining you by winning it in early 2026. I have 6 genres left, 4 of which will be taken care of in my 'Cash in Hand' which I am currently writing and itching to get back to. 😊

Quote by KimmiBeGood

David, please PM me the rating you gave mine. I’d love a critique. I promise you won’t hurt my feelings.

Kimmi, you should know that you are always a 10 in my books… 😀

I will do but I will first need to reread as your story I read and commented on first.

Quote by Milik_the_Red

One thing I’ve learned is that it's very hard to predict who’s going to win a competition or what criteria are being used.

I suppose it should be that way because what it really comes down to isn't so much technical quality, although that’s important, but what really matters is what reaches and connects with the judges.

Art is subjective and two people can look at the same piece and have a completely different opinion. It all depends on how the judges connect with the story that they’re reading.

You are so right, Milik... That is why I will read every story and have my own private competition.

As you mention, the real competition comes down to personal taste and preferences, which we all know can vary from day to day. 🙄 All I personally expect from the judges is for them actually to read every story. BTW: this will be the tenth competition that I have read, liked and commented on every entry for, and as I mentioned before, I don't bother with micros (lottery), and I don't understand poetry.

Hi Rumpies... Have a great time, Kimmi. 😊 I have to say that Butters looks cute and like a proper cat, not like the skinny, small things they have over here.

I had a day reading the competition entries (whilst lazing by the pool), and I am now into the final straight, having read at least 80% of them. 🙄 The competition standard of writing is high, but for me, you can split the entries into authors who have adapted a story and those who have written a story specifically for the competition theme. I hope the winner comes from the latter pool.

Take care, everyone, and enjoy the weekend. Though Bear, while I am here, I wouldn't mind trying one of those Irish Coffees. It's nearly 5 pm here in Crete, so that's my excuse. 😜

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Waiting times are long.

The current plan is to sit on stories from authors who continue to ignore our reasonable requests to slow down their submission rate, so other authors get a chance.

There's nothing else we can do if people continue to be impatient and spam us with multiple stories at once, or send their latest piece ten minutes after their last one is published. And that's not hyperbole.

As always, with any altruistic system utilising a shared resource, the few are spoiling it for the majority. We're having to waste time identifying and engaging with such people, which is time we could be spending on reducing the queue times for everyone.

Thank you, WW. I think this makes it very clear to all authors.

Please update us here if, and when, anything changes... 😊

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

We have our reasons. Perhaps when we get improved metrics and back-end tools, we may not need to do this. But for now, it helps us manage the queue as a band-aid.

Hi WW, Have the improved metrics and back-end tools arrived yet?

I also wonder if we could all have an update where we are atm with wainting times and plans for the future to reduce them? Thanks in advance... 😊 I do appreciate that there is a lot going on in the background and everyone (especially the moderator’s) are working hard to keep the publishing of stories flowing.