The Official Valentine’s Day Contest Support Thread 2026

[anthrodisiac]

Thank you for the feedback! That story starts as romantic one and quickly devolves, shifting through several kinks in quick succession. In theory that could give everyone something to love, but in reality it may as well give something to hate on.

Well, at least I recovered into 4.5 and a red “H” area, so it’s not all that bad. Personally, I liked those characters, so maybe they’ll make a comeback one day.

But that one person who had all of those kinks? You are their new god.

 

[Soixenta]

Congratulations to the winners, and well done to everyone who entered!

 

[FrancesScott]

I got up to get a glass of water and thought I’d just check…

To be honest, I thought a run of five low votes right at the end had destroyed my chances, but I think at least a few of them must have gotten deleted.

Well done to @theWriterInTheNude and @storyteller19 - you’ve given me something to aim for in the competition after the next one!

Thank you to @PennyThompson and @redgarters and my editor for their help, they all improved my story.

Speaking of red, I didn’t read many of the other entries, but The Last Song She Wrote was an aching and luminous story, one I recognize as superior to my own. It deserved to win in my opinion. In recognition of this, if @redgarters wants to nominate a charity, I’ll ask that my prize is donated to them.

Thanks to the site for providing a platform for my short stories. Thanks to other authors who have offered support and advice. And finally thanks to the readers, and particularly those who voted for Abby’s Sapphic Deliberations.

There will be more stories in my Community Pool anthology series and so you may get to see Abby, Mel, and even Chloe again. Harry and Riley form the beating heart of my Connecticut college town, so of course will be back too.

After that Oscar-worthy speech, I’m going back to bed!

 

[Fatdog25]

Congratulations to the winners!

Thanks are in order for everyone who submitted something and all the readers.

 

[Agent0069]

Oh, wow, I checked again, and - now - my story lost three votes and returned into 4.8-ish domain. Should I feel ashamed for complaining earlier? Or did admins saw my complaining, slapped on the forehead muttering "ah yes, there was also that guy"? Guess I'll never know.

 

[Voboy]

Congrats everyone! The contest was, as they all are, a roller-coaster. For all your new(ish) folks? This is what it's like being a Lit contest junkie. It's wild and fun.

And thanks to @EmilyMiller for hosting this support thread!

 

[lovecraft68]

Congrats to the winners!

 

[Agent0069]

For all your new(ish) folks? This is what it's like being a Lit contest junkie.

The fun part about challenges is that it gives you a deadline for submission. I started a dozen of stories, but so far I've finished only the ones I could tailor for a challenge.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Oh! Close but no cigar! (closed voting with a 4.85 score)

Thanks to everyone who made this a great event, and a word of advice to the winners; DM Laurel right away and give her the contact information for collecting your prize money. Don't let it slip through the cracks.

 

[Voboy]

...a word of advice to the winners; DM Laurel right away and give her the contact information for collecting your prize money. Don't let it slip through the cracks.

This. She used to reach out via email and PM, but sometimes she doesn't these days. Get in touch with her, winners!

 

[RoyalAuthor]

Congratulations to the winners, and to everyone who entered. Keep up the great work!

 

[StillStunned]

Well done to the winners and everyone else!

 

[StrentWriter]

I managed to read all but four of the stories.

Everyone should be proud. No one story like the other.

Different viewpoints, different tenses, loads of different couplings, kinks, positions, fantasies, landscapes, ages, some more serious than others, and all the good for it, great humour, thoughtful, inclusive, challenging and political - truly, a real cross section of writers and their experiences.

Three very worthy winners - but also a terrific group of stories.

Honoured to be among them.

 

[WittyUserName]

Congrats to the top 3. I am honored to share 4th place with the rest of you!

 

[WittyUserName]

I managed to read all but four of the stories.

Everyone should be proud. No one story like the other.

Different viewpoints, different tenses, loads of different couplings, kinks, positions, fantasies, landscapes, ages, some more serious than others, and all the good for it, great humour, thoughtful, inclusive, challenging and political - truly, a real cross section of writers and their experiences.

Three very worthy winners - but also a terrific group of stories.

Honoured to be among them.

Thank you for your comment on my story! It just posted today. Made my day!

 

[StrentWriter]

Thank you for your comment on my story! It just posted today. Made my day!

You’re very welcome.

No doubt the rest of my comments will appear as and when they are moderated.

 

[EmilyMiller]

And thanks to @EmilyMiller for hosting this support thread!

Miss Miller is currently in rehab. At facility for the chronically addicted to limericks. She sends her best wishes to @theWriterInTheNude @storyteller19 and @FrancesScott - and also to the many joint fourth place competitors

 

[FrancesScott]

Thank you again all. This post is intended to help people in future competitions, not to complain, which I have no basis to do.

After The Soldier’s Widow got a lot of low votes at the end of Summer Loving, and the same happened to Pumpkin Spice in Halloween, I determined to track Abby this time around. The above graph is the result.

The last five votes are such an obvious anomaly that they scream manipulation. As far as I can tell, post-competition voting rather masks things, some or all of the votes in the red box were deleted by the site and whomever was responsible didn’t get their way. But, particularly for people new to competitions (this is only my third) be aware and, if you see something suspicious, tell the site.

Again, this is intended to help, not to complain. The votes were cast out, so didn’t impact my score. Thanks to the site for doing this.

Good luck in future competitions, but keep your eyes wide open.

 

[Voboy]

View attachment 2596318

Thank you again all. This post is intended to help people in future competitions, not to complain, which I have no basis to do.

After The Soldier’s Widow got a lot of low votes at the end of Summer Loving, and the same happened to Pumpkin Spice in Halloween, I determined to track Abby this time around. The above graph is the result.

The last five votes are such an obvious anomaly that they scream manipulation. As far as I can tell, post-competion voting rather masks things, some or all of the votes in the red box were deleted by the site and whomever was responsible didn’t get their way. But, particularly for people new to competitions (this is only my third) be aware and, if you see something suspicious, tell the site.

Again, this is intended to help, not to complain. The votes were cast out, so didn’t impact my score. Thanks to the site for doing this.

Good luck in future competitions, but keep your eyes wide open.

Great info! But... this sort of thing might also help the manipulators improve their manipulation, too. Lol.

I doubt it matters. Anyone with common sense is probably aware of how a lot of this stuff goes on.

 

[FrancesScott]

this sort of thing might also help the manipulators improve their manipulation, too.

Information is always a double-edged sword, but better that people know.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Congratulations to the winners and great job to all who entered!

 

[redgarters]

️Congratulations to the winners!️
I loved taking part in this comp. It gave me the push and the deadline to finish a story that had been on my mind for months, and I'm very happy with how it turned out.
@THBGato , @EmilyMiller and @HelenL , I can't thank you enough for your help with Last Song. It truly got better with every comment and suggestion you gave me.

I never expected to place in this comp, the Olympic spirit of participation being enough for me this time around.

I got up to get a glass of water and thought I’d just check…

To be honest, I thought a run of five low votes right at the end had destroyed my chances, but I think at least a few of them must have gotten deleted.

Well done to @theWriterInTheNude and @storyteller19 - you’ve given me something to aim for in the competition after the next one!

Thank you to @PennyThompson and @redgarters and my editor for their help, they all improved my story.

Speaking of red, I didn’t read many of the other entries, but The Last Song She Wrote was an aching and luminous story, one I recognize as superior to my own. It deserved to win in my opinion. In recognition of this, if @redgarters wants to nominate a charity, I’ll ask that my prize is donated to them.

Thanks to the site for providing a platform for my short stories. Thanks to other authors who have offered support and advice. And finally thanks to the readers, and particularly those who voted for Abby’s Sapphic Deliberations.

There will be more stories in my Community Pool anthology series and so you may get to see Abby, Mel, and even Chloe again. Harry and Riley form the beating heart of my Connecticut college town, so of course will be back too.

After that Oscar-worthy speech, I’m going back to bed!

Congratulations @FrancesScott and thank you so much for your very kind words about my story. I was honored to be asked to help with Abby's sapphic journey and very happy indeed to see it win!

Your prize is your own, but if you intend to give it away I suggest the Trevor Project as a worthy recipient (https://www.thetrevorproject.org/), as its mission is to prevent suicides among young LGBTQ+ people

 

[FrancesScott]

I suggest the Trevor Project as a worthy recipient (https://www.thetrevorproject.org/), as it's mission is to prevent suicides among young LGBTQ+ people

Done and a pleasure to read such a heart-achingly beautiful story!

 

[EmilyMiller]

@THBGato , @EmilyMiller and @HelenL , I can't thank you enough for your help with Last Song. It truly got better with every comment and suggestion you gave me.

Honored to be involved - and in such illustrious company for alpha / beta reading . Your work is so good that it’s no surprise that excellent authors (and me ) are willing to be a part of it. The Last Song was a lovely story and deserved a higher rating .

 

[PennyThompson]

Yay @FrancesScott and the other winners that I don't know!

I now have two contest winners in my "Stories I have beta-read," list, which is almost like winning myself, right??