I read an article yesterday about overused words in manuscripts and it got me thinking.

This is an excerpt from His Convenient Husband. If I’m not mistaken this excerpt is the same for the print as well as the upcoming ebook version. The print version (from MLR Press) is shorter but it’s already out in the anthology Studs & Spurs. It has the bonus of having 3 [...]

Bad JL! Wow, I can’t believe it’s Friday. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the older you get the faster time seems to fly by? I think it’s because when we are kids we are always waiting for something. When you are in elementary school you are always [...]

“Ah ha! I should have known.” Maggy laughed and leaned against the porch rail, her dark hair falling against the white post.
Tucker grinned at his best friend as he headed up onto the porch. “Should have known what?”
“Where you went. Do you have to smoke when you drink?”
Yes and he was [...]

This is an excerpt from Lost and Found in the upcoming Shifting Sands anthology from MLR Press.
Lost and Found
by J.L. Langley
Whoever invented burlap should be shot. Not only did burlap itch, it didn’t allow for much visibility, and it was dusty. He’d been coughing since being stuffed inside the bag. If Shay [...]

Juggling his phone, onto his shoulder, Rhys pulled into his driveway beside Sterling’s black Jeep Wrangler and grinned. “Hey, what’s Sterling doing here?”
“Hold on. Remi! What’s Sterling doing at Rhys’?” Jake shouted in Rhys’ ear.
Wincing, Rhys pulled the phone away. Jake had two volumes lately, an outside voice and…well, a [...]

I’m bad I almost forgot to post. I do have a good reason though; I was working on a Thanksgiving ficlit. I’m not finished yet, only a thousand words into it, but hopefully I’ll have it done by next Friday.
I have come to the conclusion that writing short pieces is just [...]

Okay so the rails were broke, right? They were supposed to ship the rails Monday. Monday comes around, no new rails, no one to pick up the broken ones. So I call them Tuesday first thing. “What the hell?” I get this sob story about how they are [...]

I’m so sorry I had this ready to go at 10 am and it didn’t work. So I put the time for now and it disappeared, so here is trying it for the second time. Hope everyone has a nice Halloween.
JL

If I never drink scotch again, it will be too soon.
—from the journal [...]

Okay so most of this past year I’ve had migraines, back aches, headaches, neck aches, insomnia, you name it if it could be caused by sleeping wrong I had it. Why? Because we had a waterbed. Not just ugly, but really uncomfortable for someone who has a bed partner who is a [...]