Let's Talk About Heaven

When I was little I would just walk into the store, walk right pass Ms. Chewning and go straight to the penny candy aisle. Ms. Chewning was busy at the register but I think she knew who I was and instinctively knew where I was going. As I got a little older, Ms. Chewning would speak to me the moment I entered the store. The first time she spoke to me it kind of took me by surprise because I didn’t remember ever telling her my name. During my high school years I made sure that I stop by and say hello to her, even if I wasn’t buying anything. Ms. Chewning had a heart of gold and she was genuinely interested in my future goals and plans. Recently I was with a group of teenagers. The teacher asked the class, “What story would you guys like to discuss first?” Excitedly, one of the students blurted, “Let’s talk about HEAVEN!” From the feedback I’d received since MONICA was released, the short story Heaven seems to be the favorite among the teens, as it touches on coming-of-age stuff. Personally, I get a kick out of this whole experience because during these book talk sessions someone always ask me what was the thing that first inspired you to write a particular story. I absolutely enjoy this part because I get a chance to tell everyone something uniquely special about my grandson Anthony, my daughter Randie, my cousin Pamela, and Ms. Chewning. During this session I told the class how Ms. Chewning had asked me what was I going to do over the weekend and when I told her that I was going to Service Town she responded, “Randy, aren’t you a little too young for that kind of crowd?” Ms. Chewning knew that I was a book nerd and had goals of seeing Japan and Australia one day so over time she had developed a little concern whenever we would chat. During that weekend there was a big dance party at one of the hotel ballrooms near the truck stop at Service Town. I’ll never ever forget that hot Saturday night because it was the very first time I’d ever heard the term ‘lot lizard’ and saw the wild side of a truck stop. When I saw Ms. Chewning the following week I tried to dodge her curiosity about my weekend by awkwardly talking about KC and the Sunshine Band’s new song. She read right through my trick and gave me a look…that kind of look a loved one gives you to keep you in line and grounded. Ms. Chewning will always have a special place in my heart. – Randolph Randy Camp More at https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp

Flipping Procrastination: Creating Monica

Along with losing focus at times, one of my dreadful faults is procrastination. But in a strange twist of fate I was able to flip procrastination on its head and make it work for me. You see, I’m constantly writing and simultaneously coming up with new story ideas. As you can tell, this creates a big problem whereby I temporarily lose focus on my current writing project because of the steady flow of fresh incoming story ideas. In an effort to organize and keep track of my numerous story ideas, I jot down notes about each one and then I stick them in a pile in which I tell myself that I’ll get to them sometime in the near future. Sometimes this method works for me but for the most part it simply doesn’t. One day I looked at my ever-growing pile of story ideas and the lightbulb in my brain suddenly came on. It hit me, sift through the pile and create a short story collection, and that was the initial work to bring my latest project ‘MONICA a Short Story Collection’ to fruition. Whatever your goals are, don’t let procrastination stop you completely. For sure, it may slow us down a bit but keep moving on and never let it defeat you. Learn more at https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp