Summary

The "Seduced in the Dark" newsletter from Tantalizing Tales introduces a new writing prompt, showcases featured and new writers, and shares publication statistics and Medium platform updates.

Abstract

The fifth edition of the Tantalizing Tales monthly newsletter, titled "Seduced in the Dark," presents a new writing prompt centered around stories set in darkness, emphasizing the use of senses other than sight. It encourages writers to explore any genre, with the stipulation that their narratives rely heavily on descriptions of touch, smell, and sound. The newsletter also highlights past writing prompts, such as TRAINS, CELLAR, STUCK IN LIFT, and MISUNDERSTANDINGS, which remain open for future submissions. Featured stories from recent prompts are shared, including works by Ginger Bangs, Posy Churchgate, Lucy, and Marie A. Rebelle. The publication celebrates its growing readership, with an average of 858 minutes of read time per day and 249 daily visitors over the past 30 days. It also welcomes new writers to the community and informs readers about Medium's new tipping function and the reintroduction of story writing and listen functionality on the Android app. The newsletter concludes with an invitation to join Medium through May More's referral link, supporting her and other writers.

Opinions

The editors value the sensory experience in storytelling, as evidenced by the new writing prompt focusing on darkness.
There is an inclusive approach to writing, welcoming stories from any genre and encouraging new and past contributors to submit their work.
The publication emphasizes community growth and engagement by featuring writers and sharing statistics that reflect reader interest and involvement.
The newsletter expresses enthusiasm for Medium's platform enhancements, particularly those that improve the writing and reading experience for users.
The editors show appreciation for their writers by featuring their work and providing them with additional exposure through various Medium channels.
There is a sense of pride in the publication's achievements, as indicated by the sharing of readership statistics and the celebration of top-performing stories.

Seduced in the Dark

Newsletter & Writing Prompt #5

This is our fifth monthly prompt newsletter where we introduce a new theme and bring you up to date with any Tantalizing Tales news.

Prompts

Remember, the prompts are ongoing — evergreen — and can be used for Micro Monday or longer featured tales.
We will prioritise current and past prompt stories and publish as soon as we can, as well as featuring them in a newsletter.
Use the chosen tag or just add to the subtitle indicating the story is for a Ttales prompt.
If you want to submit your prompt story to a different publication, that is fine. Please put a link back to the prompt post and also tag Posy Churchgate or me — May More so we can include you in our round-up.

So far we have had:

TRAINS, CELLAR, STUCK IN LIFT, and MISUNDERSTANDINGS. Feel free to use these to inspire your tales at any time — just put a note in your story, so we know.

Brand New Prompt #5: A tale where descriptions really matter, as the story is set in the darkness. (Tag = Darkness).

Really delve deep, and write in any genre as long as the story mainly happens in the dark, like my introductory tale above, only better :-)

You can set the scene first if you need to, before the darkness, but the plot line should rely heavily on the senses — smell, touch and sound.

Try this one from Cousin Pons In the Heat of the Night:

The humming of the fridge, the whirring of the ceiling fan and the tick-tocking of a clock somewhere. Was it because of the darkness, I was more aware of these everyday sounds?

Showcasing Misunderstanding prompt stories and older themes too.

I Sat For A Spell and a Spelling Test by Ginger Bangs

My soles were pretty near worn down. I had the boots lined with scrap cardboard and a pair of holed-out woolen socks. Course, I’d been walking shanks mare and footsore for so long…

Our Wires got Crossed when he Admired my Satin Lingerie by Posy Churchgate

Early on, I’d had training on assisting male customers shopping for the women in their life, so when I saw the tall guy with the floppy chestnut hair browsing our racks of scanty lace and satin underwear sets…

Similar Holes by Lucy

I felt my way to the bed, trying not to stumble over anything. I grabbed hold of Charlotte’s foot and moved my hand all the way up to her thighs. She had her legs spread wide.

Aiming To Please by Marie A. Rebelle

The moment the door banged shut behind them, their lips locked in a wet, heated kiss and they groped at each other’s clothes.

Sneaking Down to the Cellar by Posy Churchgate

But we are both seeking pleasure, and I pull her back up to standing again. She presses her pelvis against me, her juicy folds adding their slick to my glistening erection.

Hot Woman by F. Leonora Solomon

Sydney met Luke in the elevator of her sister’s apartment building. She had been stuck in the elevator once with Clair, Clair had laughed while she had freaked out.

Featured Writers

When we feature a writer, we showcase a little more of their recent work on the laptop homepage and pin a story of theirs to the app version too. As well as our regular twitter promotion.

Our recent featured writers include Lucy — F. Leonora Solomon — Sonja Glucksberg. Here are a few of their stories, chosen by me:

I Got Sexted Yesterday by Sonja

When I opened my eyes, my husband was standing in front of the bed, naked and holding a magnifying glass.

Waterfall by F dot Leonora

Dressed in a thin slip dress, Zoya got up behind him to exit. She felt her temples moisten as she got closer to him.

The First Orgasm by Lucy

My breasts started swaying as my breathing quickened. I slid my fingers to my inner thighs…

New writers

We love to welcome new writers in general, be it their first time on Medium or on the publication. Recently, we were so happy to have these amazing authors join us:

Nikolaos Skordilis — Poet, writer and photographer from Greece. He/they.

TJ Charvat — Creative writing journeys in various genres and just plain fiction, but hopefully not too plain.

Alexander Martin — I like to write detailed erotic stories. I love to tell a story of how, when and where.

Philip Mann-Montreal — I’m opinionated, obtuse, off-center and sometimes obscene.

Statistics

I don’t concentrate too much on our statistics, because they can become skewed if one of our stories goes viral. However, over the last 30 days on average the publication was getting a read time of 858 minutes per day — (up from 700 a few months ago). With on average 249 daily visitors. (Up from 220 in June). It seems that a member will come to the magazine and read more than one tale.

Here are three of our top four stories during July and August, the one featured above by Cousin Pons comes in at number 2:

Medium News

There is now a tipping function you can use if you so wish. Read about it here.
A definite improvement — or rather change of heart — is that apparently you can once again write stories using the android ap. And the listen facility is also now available on the ap too.

Posy will be back in four weeks with the next newsletter, until then:

“Sex is just another form of talk, where you act the words instead of saying them.” — D. H. Lawrence

Thinking of joining Medium? Click on May More’s referral link to directly support her and other writers.

May More is Editor: Tantalizing Tales & Redemption Magazine. Passionate about transgressive fiction. Top Writer Fiction/Short Stories/This Happened to Me. Twitter @more_matters. Likes individuals, food & Italian wine.