Just signed up for Nightcafe, from which I get the first twenty images free. On literally my second prompt, it generated a good image for my forthcoming Competition story cover.
T&Cs say you may not use it to generate "pornographic" imagery, though of course they don't define what that means ... is female toplessness (which is allowed in Lush covers) okay, or does that go too far? Of course I'd like to generate explicit images too.
This is a good question that I've been asking too. Although I pull imagery from "public" sites to make my cover images, for all sorts of reasons I'd like to get away from using the faces of actual human individuals. I don't mind spending a little money for such a service, but some of the monthly fees are steep for how much I'd actually use it. And I have a strong aversion to anything that charges "tokens," which seems to me an attempt to avoid cost transparency.
Some have suggested Nightcafe. Haven't checked it out yet, but probably will soon.
Quote by Seeker4
Nothing wrong with that. I did it a few times on my old account. Haven't done so recently. Hard enough getting one done these days. š
Isn't that the damned problem? Too much to do IRL. I think it's likely that I'll get the already-drafted series story (and of course the comp entry) published in May, but not the others. Yikes, that makes three that I want to get published in May.
The temperate-island one has been in outline state for some time, and will probably stay that way. The old-folks one is tangential to a recent cultural event, so I might try to crank that one out later this summer.
Sheesh, here I go again: a competition rolls around, I get multiple ideas, and I can't stop at just one. Of course, you can only submit one entry, but In each of the last two competitions, I've had a second idea that I ended up publishing as a non-competition story.
I now have the first draft of what I think is my Island-sex entry about half-written, but there are three other ideas competing for space in my head. Interestingly, all of them feature group sex, which hasn't been in many of my stories to date. One involves a geriatric group in a tropical island-setting, one has public nudity and watersports on a tiny temperate island, and one has a more mainstream storyline (though still a fivesome) on a semitropical island. That third one would be the most suitable to the competition and easiest to tick off, since it's been in draft for several years, but I really envisioned it more as part of a series.
What to do? I think I am "doomed" to publish at least one "alternate" story yet again.
I guess I should stop complaining about too much inspiration.
I don't give it too much thought, but will pick a name that sounds "right" to me. I tend to choose names that are common enough that I've actually known people with them. I know some authors that like to go with really obscure names, but that doesn't work for me. I lean towards names like Lisa, Matt, Tammy, Jim, Ravi, etc.
I also mostly try to avoid reusing names. At some point I may need to write out a list of all the names I've used, to avoid duplicates, but haven't bothered yet.
Quote by Seeker4
Mine is starting to sound boring.š Straight married couple on a small unnamed island in the back-country of a provincial park. Just means I need to make the sex especially hot, I guess.š There's a plot, too, that I quite like. Contains a tiny bit of me, even.
One of my many brain fizzles is set in Isle Royale National Park, a backcountry island setting that is (barely) in the US, lies on the Canadian Shield, is full of moose and wolves (and no humans besides backpackers) and is very, very much like you describe. Mine is not likely to get written, given the other ideas echoing around my skull, but I do like the idea and would enthusiastically read yours if you pursued it!
Quote by Seeker4
Remember the rules. Consent is mandatory, no celebrity fiction, and no revenge porn. Of course, JD consenting could be even more fun in its way (is he wearing a cute dress and frilly undies?š¤£) but, yeah, the other two rules still come into play.š„ŗ
I have an idea and a few paragraphs but still not sure where it goes in some regards. I am thinking low key magic realism rather than the outright fantasy I had in mind at one point.
To be clear, that one was a joke. I have at least three other ideas coalescing in my head that do have a chance of becoming stories that adhere to our rules. And are on much smaller islands where you know at all times that youāre on an island.
That said, if I were to do a story around the naughty-American-politician-in-Greenland theme, there absolutely would be consent, without a revenge aspect, and Iād anonymize the Bearded Blunder as a Senator or Congressman.
Who has a couch fetish.
Still kidding! I am absolutely not writing that story.
Except inside my head.
Been taking a break the last couple of weeks, but I hope to get I Shag the Sheriff written soon.
And then thereās the competition ā¦ I did already have an island-specific story sketched out, but now Iām coming up with other ideas. Not sure which direction I will go yet. Lots to think about on ā¦ uh, Easter.
ā¦ Ooh, Easter Island! That could be fun.
Iāve already got a story outlined that is island based, but so far itās not super original. MIāll have to figure out as I go how to make it unique enough to be competition worthy. Part of the fun.
Quote by Piquet
Ah yes Tasmania, the island notorious for its family dynamics. Q : How does a Tasmanian guy know that his mother is having her period? ...well, you've probably heard it. Go for it I say.
I didnāt know that about Tasmania and havenāt heard the joke, but I can guess at the punchline ā¦ uh, his dick is red?
EDIT: Piquet just shared the joke with me. His is way better.
Yes, absolutely. It is not uncommon for me to read a particular story because the cover got my attention. And sometimes a reader will tell me a cover drew them in.
Of course, I usually create two covers: a ācleanerā one to actually attach to the story, and a more explicit one that I use in Wall posts and in the Author Self-Promotion forum. It might be the latter that draws most of the eyeballs.
My newest Lush story is Band Camp, a fun bisexual teenaged romp that I originally published on another site about the time I started writing on Lush. I've finally gotten around to polishing it up and sharing it here.
I was such a band nerd in high school, I even went to band camp. And there was this flute...
Teen I did it again! Another Midlife Renewal chapter is done, and it might be even more exciting than the last. This one has an element of danger in it. Check out Trouble on the Turnpike.
Eric and Rick show passing drivers a bit too much in the back seat
Exhibitionism ā¦ aaand in the space of a week ā¦
Quote by joe71
Been dealing with the writerās block the last couple months ā¦
ā¦ spiff up my old Becoming a Man and Summer Cockbuster series with cover photos,
Got that done. In fact, except for three older contest entries, Iāve gotten covers added to all of my stories. A few of the covers that I did a couple of years ago could be better, but overall Iām pleased with the result.
Part of what helped was finally learning to use the cover editor last week. Despite limitations on what I can do with photos, It really is quicker for me now than manually editing on the desktop. Now Iām ever more aware of how most of the time is taken in finding the right background photo.
the realization of just how much more I want to write that finally inspired me to get the first full draft of Midlife Renewal: Poolside Pleasures typed out last night. Iām sure Iāll need days and days to ready it for publication, but it feels really good to have finally overcome that block.
Got not only Poolside Pleasures but the subsequent chapter, Trouble on the Turnpike, published in the past week.
Now working on spiffing up Band Camp, a story I published elsewhere when Iād just started writing on Lush and was kind of testing out the platforms. About time I brought it into the fold over here.
But the other day, taking note of othersā recent attempts at the Omnium badge got me to thinking not so much of that goal for myself,
Well ā¦ it also got me to realize how constrained my thinking had been about genres my first couple of years here. I had mistakenly thought all stories in a series had to be in the same genre, and hadnāt familiarized myself with the list of genres even though many of them fit various of my stories, artificially limiting myself to mostly two genres.
So after thoughtfully updating the genre categorizations of some of my older stories, I am now more than halfway to Omnium. I do not intend to subsume all my other writing ambitions in favor of pursuing of that badge, which is likely a couple of years off, but at least it now seems achievable.
Quote by Cum_and_Read
Feel a little awkward about "pimping" my profile, but I promised myself I wouldn't be a wallflower here. Don't mean to be promotional, but I have written some stories that I'm hoping will please. Same with my pics/video š If you leave a hot comment I'll (try to) reply and will love you forever. Like I said, I'm here to feel slutty. Speaking of which:
Just read both your stories, and they are absolutely steaming. Hotter, even, than your pic. Glad you had the courage to pimp your profile here.
Quote by ExpressiveIndianWoman
So, never done this before. But, I need this. I have been married for way too long, and curbed my inner self way too much. I hope, in this forum, without judging eyes, I can talk to people. I was very conscious about my body, until I decided to embrace it.
I hope we at Lush can help transform the consciousness you have about your body into awareness of how smoking-hot it is! I know being here has helped me with some of my insecurities around body type and sexuality. You look absolutely amazing.
Eric and Tori are one hot couple, but are they too hot for me to handle? Midlife Renewal: Poolside Pleasures continues the raunchy poolside MMF they started with me in PiƱas Coladas.
Tori and Eric thank me for a hookup
Fetish Been dealing with the writerās block the last couple months, just too busy IRL and too unmotivated in private to bang out the next thing.
But the other day, taking note of othersā recent attempts at the Omnium badge got me to thinking not so much of that goal for myself, but about the intersecting story arcs formed by my own series - and the overall body of work I want to be building here. A plan has come together.
Beyond publishing the next three exciting Midlife Renewal stories, my next goal will be to spiff up my old Becoming a Man and Summer Cockbuster series with cover photos, not least because they seem to be getting occasional attention from readers. While Iām updating Becoming A Man, I have 3-4 more stories to add that will make it a considerably more emotionally rich arc. Once that is done, I want to start moving the Itās A Date! series forward again.
Iād like to accomplish all these things in 2025, not least because there are several more series (Joe Dick, Serial Thriller, Dating Daphne, Try Sexual) that I want to fire up. It was the realization of just how much more I want to write that finally inspired me to get the first full draft of Midlife Renewal: Poolside Pleasures typed out last night. Iām sure Iāll need days and days to ready it for publication, but it feels really good to have finally overcome that block.
