Leland Locke (Gonzo Freelance Writer)
Photo taken in an alley beside Bookmarks Bookstore,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
From the concrete-jungle swamps of Texas, the high Rocky Mountains of Montana, to living homeless on the cruel and crippled streets of Youngstown, Ohio, A, L. Locke has kept up writing in haunted notebooks, typed-up the words on pages fed into the mouths of typewriters, and exquisitely pecked electronic aphorisms and anagrams into various computers. As of this writing, A.L. Locke lives in a cabin in North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains, writing down daily experiments of a “Common Man” living in contemporary America. He shares his life with his wife, Tara, and their 10 rambunctious dogs, two goats, too many chickens, and an aquarium full of freshwater fish. Creatures he views as important beings to understanding the Written Word. He has been published both in national and international publications, including Writer’s Digest, and various literary journals throughout the country. Notes from the Night Desk is a column he works on vigorously and tries to publish daily on WordPress.com. More volumes of published and previously unpublished work will appear in the future.
Mr. Locke incorporates the Gonzo way of Life into his everyday responsibilities and tomfoolery. Everything from shooting full paint cans of reds and black and white and greys, making them explode onto large canvases, buying out firework stands to stock up his personal office with colorful, glowing projectiles to be shot into the sky, collecting first edition books from the dead, and very-much-alive, voices from history, and adorning his home with typewriters, skulls and bones, pills, and weapons distract his responsibility putting down the word.
Brother Locke also has a new book for sale!! You Can’t Blame Good Sex on A Puppy: Notes from the Night Desk, Volume 3. You can find it on the “Evil Entity” Amazon[dot-com]. I know people have their grievances with them, as do I, but they have helped me publish a ton of fantastic people over the years. I’m only saying that because you should most definitely buy this book. Cajun Mutt Press didn’t publish this one, but I did order a copy. I highly recommend this book! I’ve left a review on Amazon. It was an honor to meet him and his wife at Gonzofest as well. Insanely Beautiful Creatures. Below you’ll find info about Notes from the Night Desk: Volumes 1 & 2 as well.
You Can’t Blame Good Sex on A Puppy:
Notes from the Night Desk, Volume 3
Synopsis
You Can’t Blame Good Sex on A Puppy: Notes from the Night Desk, Volume 3 brings us back to the world of author, A. L. Locke. With funny, sometimes tragic, autobiographical columns written in Mr. Locke’s simple prose that both entertains and provides the reader with a little knowledge.
In this third volume, the author wrestles with building a model to alleviate stress, creating a different form of frustration during the process. Visits to his favorite bookstore in Kent, OH., encouraging his mother to pursue her dream of writing and publishing her own books, saving a puppy from the dangers of living in a ditch, sharing with readers (for the first time) he is a father, and expressing his confusion at the absurdity of small-town banks are some of the few issues tackled in this collection.
Humor, a little kick of positivity, and, as always, some sardonic wit fills the pages of this Author’s continuous pursuit in being a Man that “Works the Word,” as he likes to call it.
Notes from the Night Desk: Volume 2
Synopsis
Once again, A. L. Locke invites us into his world with his autobiographical columns. Notes from the Night Desk: Volume 2 delves into such issues as confronting the past, acknowledging various blessings, grieving the loss of a friend to addiction, looking for baby opossums on the road in the morning, and a shameless confession for a love of typewriters.
All these topics – and more – are written in Locke’s style of simplicity and obvious appreciation of writing. Whether you want some comfort in a kind word, or a lesson in Literary History, Notes will not let you down.
Notes from the Night Desk: Volume 1
Some Notes on Notes from the Night Desk
By: A. L. Locke
To: James Dennis Casey IV, Cajun Mutt Press
What began as a skeptical experiment for my writing has turned into an amazing platform that has provided me with daily readers, three books, and faith in the current opportunities and availability of the publishing world. It is a fact, anyone can start a blog about anything, write whatever they want, post as many photos as they want, and link other websites on their content page.
In the beginning, I did not want to have anything to do with internet publishing. No blogs. No E-books. I want an agent, a publisher, contracts and contacts, advances – the works. Not the internet. However, I had to face the facts: the publishing world has changed. And there is nothing wrong with writing a blog (although, I prefer to maintain the traditional title of “column.”) The first piece of writing in the very first collection of Micro Memoirs, “A Long Overdue Thank You,” delves deeper into my beginnings as an online writer.
Having self-published a good amount of work into book form has been a delight, a struggle, a challenge, and a revelation. Holding my first book in my hands on a hot, late April afternoon was confirmation. That I will always write. And there was a way I could have my book in my hands.
By the time Volume 2 was published, I had learned some important lessons, such as letting the professionals do their job. Especially when it comes to the cover. Even more important, share your manuscript with others. Whether it be for editorial assistance, a fresh pair of eyes to see where the work is not working, new ideas – anything to make the product – the art – better.
Cajun Mutt Press has been a blessing. Brother James has been a force and inspiration for me to not only share my words with others but provided a format to do so. Since my correspondence with him started, old work – poems, essays, and even my first novel, written when I was nineteen – have come out of the dreaded desk drawers, vibrant with the possibility of expanding and polishing for publication.
It is going to be an interesting time of work, and with a faith in the Literary Crowd I very much ran away and hid from.
I hope you enjoy the three Notes titles. All of it has been a trip to write, let alone live through.
A. L. Locke
August 13, 2023
About the Author
A.L. Locke lives in a cabin in North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains. He shares his life with his wife, Tara, and their 10 rambunctious dogs, two goats, too many chickens, and aquarium fish. He has been published both in national and international publications, including Writer’s Digest and various literary journals. Notes from the Night Desk is a column he works on vigorously and tries to publish daily on WordPress.com. More volumes of published and previously unpublished work will appear in the future.
Mr. Locke incorporates the Gonzo way of Life into his everyday responsibilities and tomfoolery.
