J. L. Cross
Bio
Passionate writer that loves fantasy, fiction, and some article writing. One published workbook on Amazon KDP, Writing a Book, Start to Finish; and hopes to publish more soon!
Stories (10)
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A Trope
Oh- Yes! I've been waiting to get around to this one. I've been digging my heels in and thinking about the stereotypes/ tropes I hate the most in books and why. I've looked them all up, turned them over in mind a million times, made pros-cons lists and then hesitated before I made the final decision of what's the most cringe worthy and what's not-so-cringing.
By J. L. Cross5 years ago in Humans
Fantasizing
I'm stuck on my first impression of Sara J. Maas's iconic Rhysand [Ree-sand] character from A Court of Thorns and Roses. I was entranced by this character throughout the end of the book. I wanted to know so much more about his but I was completely content not-knowing anything. He was perfect the way he was shrouded in mystery. After doing a little bit of research I found an interesting meaning to the name: "bringer of dark power", which the United States and Australia agree on and it's of English Origin. Names.org actually reports that from 1880 to 2019, 6 babies have been given this first name. That stat jumped to 6 in 2019 alone. Can someone just scream cultists at the top of their lungs? I love the fictional character, but the meaning? Did they really think twice before putting that on a birth certificate? I'm getting a real Anti-Christ vibe from these little minions.
By J. L. Cross5 years ago in Fiction
Digital or Physical?
This is a serious one. I'm asked this more often than I'm asked anything else about being a professional writer. It's annoying actually, but I entirely understand why people are asking. It's a hard choice. I can never really understand; which is the best practice: Digital or Physical? I have to weigh the pros- and cons of different aspects of the work I'm doing. Let's dissect.
By J. L. Cross5 years ago in Journal
Submissive Evil 4
“Can you feel that?” I looked over my shoulder to see Julious staring into the Fold. It had opened a few days ago and continued to get wider. It was shimmering brightly. The Overworld drifting off into the distance surrounded in a cloud of pressing darkness.
By J. L. Cross5 years ago in Fiction
Sexual Segregation
2020 brought with it change after dramatic change, especially for school aged children. For the first time they were exposed to isolation, virtual learning, and social distancing. The pandemic changed the way children lived their lives and the way they learned. For the most part it kept them out of school entirely and caused delays and obstacles no one thought of before to their ability to learn and retain knowledge. It was a challenging time for them, parents, and teachers alike.
By J. L. Cross5 years ago in Education
The Last Straw
Every day I do the same mundane boring tasks. I can hear the sound of my routine in the back of my head even now. It doesn’t stop repeating itself, even in the quiet space of my cubicle. The baby crying, the coffee pot sputtering, my husband's cheerful chirp “Goodbye, Sweetie!” just as the door closes behind him, that telling jingle of the dog’s collar as he runs room to room, excitement building for his morning walk. The squeaky sound of the changing table rocking unsteadily from a weak leg, baby talk, the roaring sound of traffic just outside my third floor balcony, the trickle of water over wilted plants, splashing up after making contact with dry soil. We leave the house three times, constantly forgetting something. The roar of the car engine and all the weird sounds it’s been making for three months. Can I add a physical eye roll here or is that asking too much?
By J. L. Cross5 years ago in Humans
Submissive Evil
We returned to the Underworld after my memories were restored and stayed close to the Fold. It called us to stay near, as if it wanted company with the ever encroaching end bearing down on it. Everyday we knelt beside it with our children and waited for our world to crumble apart. We waited for a sign that there might be something we could do to stop the darkness from consuming the Overworld and tearing through the Fold to the Other Worlds that didn’t deserve the destruction. Atlas and I knew we weren’t enough. Our children were feeble and gentle creatures. We would need an army strapped to the bone with rage to walk into the Overworld and overthrow the high-lords and defeat the Darkness growing there. Without one we were no match against it's might. So, we waited.
By J. L. Cross5 years ago in Fiction
Submissive Evil
The tension broke me from my sleep. The feeling of their eyes- all of their eyes- made my skin crawl. I shot up, my eyes widening as the little creatures flew back from me as quickly as they could. Each of them has a little grey body with four arms, five dark black eyes, and a pair of short legs. Their arms and legs end in three stubby fingers. They screeched when my wings spread out behind me and pulled me out from under them, my back slammed against a wooden wall, shaking the contents of the small cabin.
By J. L. Cross5 years ago in Fiction
Submissive Evil
I remembered all that happened, some of it, the worst of it. I pulled myself into the fetal position; my bones cracking and snapping back into the position they were intended to be in while my screams echoed through the green sun covered forest. My breathing was heavy, rapid, and painful. I could feel the fast rush of air into my lung and the pain that followed as the expansion guaranteed me further moments of life. I could hardly understand why something so awful could happen, but life could prevail. It was a sick and twisted joke.
By J. L. Cross5 years ago in Fiction
Ginger Boss
Set aside the 40 hours I’ve already worked this week and an extra four or five might not sound like much, buckled into article after article, pumping my imagination to the very last drop of it’s reserves. Of course, the end of the week can’t come soon enough. Yes, I’m talking about those few hours in the evening on Sunday while I’m sitting in front of my sliding glass door, contemplating letting the warm summer evening air in while clinging to the exciting end of a good book, the pages dwindling and the haunting end drawing near. The final rays of the sun cresting through the sky offer only a few more moments of reading under its light without the artificial dim and drain of a corner lamp burning into my peripheral line of sight, beckoning for me to give in and set my book aside.
By J. L. Cross5 years ago in Humans
