About Me

Allow me to admit I have no idea whether I should write this in 1st or 3rd person. (If you don’t know what that means, you might still like my blog. Or me. So don’t give up now. Please.)

“Julie Gardner was a high school English teacher for sixteen years. Then her husband Bill got tired of hearing her complain that she wanted to be a writer so he let her take a leave of absence to ‘put her money where her mouth is.’ Now she has no paycheck.” See what I mean? 3rd person doesn’t read quite right. Bill sounds slightly harsh and Julie comes off the tiniest bit selfish and Bill is definitely not harsh.

“I love my husband of fourteen years and my two adorable children and therefore I devote all my free time away from the computer to meeting the needs of my family.” This is even worse, and I’d expect a slap in the face or at least some major eye-rolling for the 1st person insincerity.  I do love Bill, Jack and Karly. But I’m not exactly running a full-service day spa for them around here.  I do cater to our two dogs a lot.  But they are very cute.

Here’s the truth: Julie Gardner has, after a two-year leave, resigned from her teaching position at Las Virgenes Unified School District and continues to write although she has not actually published a book. Yet. I have completed a non-fiction account of my midlife marathon and a YA novel, and am at hard at work on a third book when I’m not too busy spoiling my dogs.  In the meantime, Julie Gardner has been coerced into starting a blog.  Which I am now doing.  Which you are now reading.  That’s all you need to know about her.  Or me.  Or whatever.

If you have clicked on “about” to view a list of more specific facts about me, Julie Gardner, please don’t be disappointed.  In fact, feel free to contact me by email at juliecgardner@verizon.net and formalize your complaints so I can best address your needs.

You may as well know now, I have a deep-seated need to please others and it would be devastating to have failed so early on in the blog process.

Here at By Any Other Name, you can call me anything you like.

As long as you like me.