Randolph Randy Camp's Blog: Randy C Creations RCstories, page 15

The Spark

When I was a kid growing up in America's racially heated South during the Civil Rights Movement, life certainly wasn't a piece of cake, and back then you had to constantly watch what you said or who you looked at. People of color, such as myself, were made to feel "less than human" and were repeatedly told that we didn't deserve the same respectful treatment and service as others. Having these terrible negative attitudes drilled into our brains year after year, you may understand why myself and other people of color during this troublesome time period in America began to feel as though we actually were "too dumb" or "too insignificant" to achieve or accomplish anything.

But, when I heard the memorable mantra "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can" from "The Little Engine That Could" during story time at my elementary school, it gave me the spark I needed to build my confidence and strength within myself as a little Black boy growing up in a harsh world that seem to be "too color-conscious." - Randolph Randy Camp

Randolph Randy Camp

Tying the Knots (or not): Randy's Writing Tips

As with any story, it’s common knowledge that you should have a good beginning, middle, and a good ending. Not unless you are intentionally setting up your next sequel with an exciting cliffhanger, it’s always best to answer all questions of your plot so that your readers aren’t left scratching their heads at the end.

But, as already mentioned, if you’re strategically setting up the lead in to your continuation, then it’s best to limit your cliffhanger teaser to only one or two characters. You don’t want to leave your readers puzzled about large chunks of the major plot, but leaving them hungry and guessing about “what happened to so-and-so?” isn’t too hard to digest, and if written with the perfect amount of creative tease, it could get your sequel off to a great financial success. – Randolph Randy Camp

Randolph Randy Camp

GIVING: A BEAUTIFUL THING

Giving someone the tools to expand their knowledge and imagination is a beautiful thing, and that’s what #freebooksaturday is all about. Simply take your used books and freely offer them to your neighbors. Touch someone’s soul this Easter weekend by participating in your own Free Book Saturday event. And please share your photos, if any. – Randolph Randy Camp

Randolph Randy Camp

Neighbor Helping Neighbor: Global Appeal Free Book Saturday

Thank you Everyone who participated in the very first #freebooksaturday Global ongoing Event on March 21st. Give your used books to your neighbors is a win-win for everybody. Let’s make this coming Saturday March 28th a big success as well. Putting a smile on a book lover’s face is priceless. There are way too many people who would love to read a new book but simply can’t afford one, and that’s where you come in. Your used books would have a huge impact on someone else’s life. So, please join me once again for FREE BOOK SATURDAY to help brighten somebody’s world. And if you have any photos, please post and share them. – Randolph Randy CampRandolph Randy Camp

Free Book Saturday

There’s no better feeling than making a difference in someone’s life, especially if their world is somewhat bleak. One of the things that really bothers me is to see a kid who loves to read but there may be obstacles preventing him or her from getting a new book to read. My heart goes out to the young kid who begs his parents, “Can we go to the library so I can check out a new book?”, and the harsh unbelievable response could be something like this, “Why don’t you shut up ’bout some stupid book! Where’s that book at that you got three weeks ago?!”

For all of the kids and book lovers across the globe, I would like to see everyone in the world do something and get involve to make sure that anyone who wants a book is able to get a book. And one way this feat can be accomplished is having a worldwide ‘FREE BOOK SATURDAY’ event.

The plan is quite simple, and the real beauty of ‘Free Book Saturday’ is that it won’t cost anyone a single penny. On a Saturday morning (and we can start tomorrow Saturday, March 21, 2015), simply gather up any books in which you’ve already read and maybe now is collecting dust on the shelf and place them on your front porch along with a handmade sign or a makeshift flag indicating “FREE BOOKS!”

Just by chance, your ‘free books’ could be the very books that brightens the life of a sad child who couldn’t get to the public library for various reasons. Let’s all pinch in and try to put a smile on a book lover’s face. Let’s make this a success and an ongoing worldwide global event – “FREE BOOK SATURDAY!” So, please pass the word and Share this post. Thanks, Randolph Randy Camp
Randolph Randy Camp

Books: The Great Escape

When I was coming up in rural Spotsylvania County, Virginia, I was a somewhat quiet child, and as I got older I began to find my voice through writing. After learning to read, I remember being excited whenever I got a chance to go to the library, either to the school library or to the Rappahannock Regional Library in Fredericksburg.

To me, finding an interesting book to read was like eating a big piece of yellow cake with thick layers of chocolate frosting! Yep, you got it — I was certainly a book nerd…and I’m proud to say that I still am. It has always bothered me to walk into a house or an apartment and find no reading materials whatsoever laying around, especially if I know that school-age kids are living there. Without offending a few of my neighbors, I’ve donated a book or two to their household so that the children would have something to read.

Books have the ability to fly you away to some colorful, fantastic land when you live on a dismal urban street infested with gangs and drug dealers. If you live in the middle of nowhere, where the nearest neighbor is three miles away, books can fly you away to some exotic paradise and bring you back whenever you like. Yes indeed, books are amazing, and I hope that your personal library collection is expanding and expanding. – Randolph Randy Camp

Randolph Randy Camp

The Longest Walk

There used to be this dirt road in Spotsylvania County called County Road 715. Years ago this old road ran straight by our house and led to the edge of a paved blacktop where the school bus would pick up me and my brothers, and my cousins who lived on Route 715.

Back then it seemed like it was a long walk to the bus stop in the early mornings, but actually it was only about a six-minute walk. I remember one particular morning walking to the bus stop and I was practicing what I was going to say to this girl that I really liked in my class and had written a ‘Do You Like Me?’ note to the previous night. She sat one row away from me in class and I always liked the way she would run and giggle and say “You can’t catch me!” when we had recess outside. Although I’d carefully written the note and repeatedly rehearsed my lines when I was going to hand it to her, I fell way short of being a romantic Romeo as I got painfully nervous and talked myself out of giving her the note and I never uttered one single word to her that whole entire day at school.

When the bus dropped us off after school that day it was my longest walk ever. I still had that stupid note folded in my pocket, which I’d carried around all day at school. As my brothers and cousins got off the bus laughing and talking about their day at school and their plans for the rest of the evening, I just hung my head down and kicked at the rocks and mounds of dirt in the road as if I was kicking myself in the butt for being so scared, stupid and shy.

About halfway down the road I got tired of having that stupid note in my pocket so I took it out, crumbled it up and tossed in the bushes along the dirt road. It’s the year 2015 now and it’s been nearly 44 years since the night I wrote that ‘Do You Like Me?’ note. Ironically, the young girl who captured my heart back at Robert E. Lee Elementary School is now one of my friends on Facebook (but she doesn’t know that I had a crush on her though).

And, by the way, the old dirt road, County Road 715, that I grew up on in Spotsylvania, well today, it’s a paved road and it was renamed Camp Town Road quite a few years ago. – Randolph Randy Camp

Randolph Randy Camp

Book Talk Surprises

Before a lively roundtable book talk with New York high school students, I was honored and presented with a nice ‘Thank You’ plaque and an elegant dime-bracelet, which was a replica of the bracelet that’s a crucial part of the plot in my novel ’29 Dimes: A Love Story’, in which the students read as a class assignment and superbly acted out key scenes (from the novel) on stage in the auditorium.

I don’t normally blog about the casual ‘thank you’ gifts that I get from doing book talks but these recent gifts were just too remarkable for me not to share them with you. Yes indeed, needless to say, I was just blown away when I saw the beautiful plaque and the shiny bracelet. – Randolph Randy Camp

Randolph Randy Camp

No Higher Compliment

Author Tops Off Black History Month at East


The students from Mr. Wagner's Certified Nursing Assistant class paid homage to Buffalo's author, Randy Camp on Thursday, February 26, 2015. Mr. Camp was treated to two skits by the students that represented scenes from the two novels that the students recently read in class. The students also awarded Mr. Camp their Annual Distinguish Helper Award for his direct influence on their lives.
The first book the students read was "Wet Matches", a novel that metaphorically deals with the emotional impact that segregation of schools had on Mr. Camp growing up in the South. This novel is packed with empathy as race is superimposed on the journey of five lost teens who are coping with self-identity confusion, and their medical diagnoses of HIV. The second novel the students read, Mr. Camp's most recent work;"29 Dimes: A Love Story", is a very engaging story of a group of close teens, and their last summer before high school graduation. The story deeply explores teenage relationship issues with excellent characters development.
The C.N.A students easily related to the multiple issues that were addressed in this swiftly moving love story where the hero is a special needs high school boy who overcomes multiple obstacles to become the star of the story by giving his life for another. The students spent 20 minutes of each class period reading out loud and then were engaged in daily writing assignments that dealt with the topic that was addressed in the book for that day. Mr. Camp's response to the event was "...there's no higher compliment for a writer than to see his characters come to life."

After the skits, Mr. Camp led the students in a round table discussion about not only the story, but the process, frustration, and challenges involved in publishing his books.
29 Dimes: A Love Story

...Then The Rain: Silver Screen Dreams

One of the things that I truly enjoy about being a writer is being invited to a Meet-the-Author Book Talk with high school students. At a recent book talk session, the students and I got into a very lively discussion about the movie version of my novel and who would be the perfect person to play Viki, the main character and popstar in ‘…Then The Rain’, and who could play the role of Pastor Wright, the wicked preacher in this rock n’ roll thriller.

The class was split between Morgan Freeman or either Tommy Lee Jones taking the role of Pastor Wright. And although Beyoncé had a handful of supporters, it was a toss up between Taylor Swift or Katy Perry in the lead role of pop sensation Viki Powers.

This particular classroom discussion was different than any others I’d participated in. I never had so much fun during a book talk, and when the session was over I really felt as though Taylor, Katy, Morgan, Tommy Lee and myself had actually been sitting in a meeting together discussing their movie roles in ‘…Then The Rain.’ It’s amazing where these classroom discussions can lead us to sometimes. – Randy Camp
...Then The Rain