Layce Gardner's Blog, page 19
July 10, 2012
Caring For Kara
I am proud to be helping my colleagues with an auction to benefit Kara Leonardo. Many authors are donatingautographed copies of their books. Here are the details from the website CaringforKara:
Kara Leonardo has been a long time reader, fan and supporter of Lesbian Fiction. She belongs to many Yahoo Groups, FaceBook and many individual author groups all in support of Lesbian Fiction. Many of you are already familiar with Kara and have probably received “virtual hugs” from this kind and graciou...
June 24, 2012
N’Awlins Vacation
Saxon, Emma and I just got back from our New Orleans/Biloxi vacation. I fell in love withN’Awlins, but thought I might share a few tidbits that are not printed in any brochure:
1. Bourbon Street smells like vomit
2. Almost everything in the Flea Market is made in Nepal or Thailand.
3. The guy who stops you on Royal Street and shines your shoes with a dirty rag expects you to give him money
4. Riding the streetcar is fun until you end up with your nose stuck in the armpit of a stranger for six mil...
June 6, 2012
Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Poetry
I’ve decided to try my hand at scribbling poems. Now, please don’t comment or email me to tell me how bad it is. I already know that. In fact, it’s the point. So, without further ado, here’s my first attempt at a new genre I call “Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Poetry.”
Walking Down Santa Monica Boulevard
What’s that condom doing on the sidewalk?
Who threw it there and why?
Did it fall from the window above,
Or was ittossed from a car passing by?
Is it a mark, a signal perhaps?
Like how dogs stake thei...
May 26, 2012
Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves
As a writer I like to eavesdrop on conversations. Sometimes those conversations make their way into my writing. Sometimes those conversations are so outrageous they are almost too good to be true. Yesterday, I overheardone of those too-good-to-be-true conversations. I was driving my truck back from a party. My daughter Emma and her friend, Allie, were in the front seat with me. They were both wound up on sugar. That happens when you’re eleven years-old and excited and have eaten an ice cream...
May 19, 2012
Old Photos and Letters
I was rummaging around in my attic and found some old photos and letters that are a hoot.
This is a picture of me in first grade. I was six years old. The photo fails to capture my orneriness. (1968, Commerce, Oklahoma)
This is a picture of me the following year in the second grade. The little sailor dress I was wearing was my favorite. (1969, Commerce, Oklahoma)
This is a pic of me and my little brother, Eddie Lee. I’m seven, he’s two. I’m riding him around on my Shetland pony. The pony’s name...
May 11, 2012
May 4, 2012
The Power of Incrementalism
“Life is always getting the way.” That’s one of my favorite quotes. It’s from the book “Fools Die” by Mario Puzo.
That pretty much sums up how I feel most days. I love to write, create, make-up stories, weave words together to see what pattern they make, but somehow life always seems to get in the way. Every day I wake up with the best of intentions. And every day, I feel pushed, forced, to do everything but write. I have to clean house, I have to take Emma here or there, I have to take the do...
April 26, 2012
Rest in Peace – Stanley Kowalski Gardner – January, 1995 – April, 2012
This morning I said goodbye to my best friend of seventeen years, Stanley Kowlaski Gardner. Stanley had brown hair all over his body, four legs and a bark that could scare any predator.
I first met Stanley at the Glendale, California pound. I had gone there looking for a cat, but when he ran up to me and asked me to take him home, it was love at first sight.
Stanley was a playful pup. So playful, in fact, that I lost dozens of pajama pants, several pair of shoes and all the baseboards in my hou...
April 24, 2012
Truth is Stranger than Fiction
You know how they say truth is stranger than fiction? True dat. My life has taken a turn for the strange(er). The events of the past couple of weeks I could never make-up in a million years. And if I were to make them up and put them in a book, nobody would believe it.
Here are the things that happened in just atwo week period: my motorcycle broke down. My exercise bike went kerplunk. A piece of siding fell off my house (from 40 feet up!). My washing machine decided it was tired of all that sp...
April 8, 2012
Lesbian Children’s Story
Icannot believe that the Goldies overlooked my beautiful and touching lesbian children’s story, “Pat and Sally.” So, I am re-posting it here, free of charge, so that all may enjoy!
Pat and Sally
by Layce Gardner
See Pat?
Pat is a dyke.
Pat is packing.
See Sally?
Sally is femme.
Sally has a purse.
Sally has a pretty purse.
Pat buys Sally a white wine spritzer.
Sally drinks.
Drink, Sally, drink!
Pat is packing.
Sally dances by herself.
Pat is packing.
Sally drinks more.
See Sally dance?
Pat is packing.
Sally goe...
