Remembering My ' Walkabout '

It's the beginning of March 2014 and nearly 37 years ago I had an experience that I still think about today. When I think of those pivotal moments of my life, especially the life-changing events of my early years, my mind drifts back to my 'walkabout.' It was early Spring 1977. I was turning fifteen and doing quite well in the 10th grade at Spotsylvania High in rural Virginia. A strong urge of wanting to explore and escape came over me during this period of my life. I absolutely loved going to school and learning about different cultures in other parts of the world. I'd learned how the Australian Aborigines would send their juvenile boys to survive on their own in the wilderness as a passage into manhood. The Aborigines called this 'the walkabout.' After saving up enough money from doing odd jobs like picking up hay on local farms and weeding out flowerbeds, I boarded a Greyhound Bus and went on a journey to the city of Philadelphia. The juvenile court system classified my journey as "running away", but to me, it was my 'walkabout.' The journey itself, coupled with my experiences on the streets and a brief stay at the Philadelphia Youth Study Center, actually changed my life forever. After seeing and breathing the smell of old urine and dried up alcohol on Philadelphia's dirty sidewalks it made me truly appreciate the simple, natural beauty of little ol' Spotsylvania County in Virginia. It was at this time in my life that I began to recognize how important the Rappahannock River (in Virginia) was in my life and how it would help shape me as a person and a writer. My 'walkabout' to Philadelphia really opened my eyes to a lot of things. After returning back to Spotsylvania County, I had this renewed sense of "I gotta do something", so I started reaching out more, mostly through my stories and writings. I wrote to magazines, and my very first published article was a local newspaper piece entitled 'PUT SOMETHING BACK' for the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star. Still, to this day, when people would ask me what do I consider the best thing I'd ever written, or what stories or books am I the most proud of as a writer, I always say the 'Put Something Back' newspaper article I'd wrote as a teenager. Periodically, when I meet a troubled young person who might be a little confused or feel a little misplaced, I would share with them my walkabout story, and hopefully, they too, will begin to recognize the simple, natural beauty (of both people and things) which already exists around them...(we just don't see it until we venture out.) So  now, here it is the year 2014 and in many ways, sometimes I still feel like I'm on 'my walkabout'....still learning and growing. -  Randolph Randy Camp, More at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

Randolph Randy Camp’s ‘TONY’S BIKE’ Logline:

During his summer break, a kid detective helps the local cops solve a murder in rural Virginia.

‘TONY’S BIKE’ Plot/Summary:

Ever since Ricky Curtis was six years old he wanted to be an investigator. Now, at twelve years old, Ricky runs his own Private Investigator Agency out of his bedroom. Thus far, most of Ricky’s cases have centered around missing bikes. Ricky and his new sidekick, twelve year old Sheila, are caught off-guard when they discover a murder while investigating a stolen bike case. Realizing that young Ricky Curtis knows the backwoods better than they do, the local cops gladly accept his assistance in solving this heinous crime.

TONY’S BIKE, Original Screenplay Draft, U.S. Copyright Office Reg# PAu 002013080, Author: Randolph Randy Camp

 

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"...THEN THE RAIN" is now available on Amazon. *Connect and 'LIKE' Randolph Randy Camp on FaceBook at http://www.facebook.com/rcstories         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            "FALSE "FALSE DANDELIONS" a contemporary Southern crime fiction novel is now available on Amazon.

Posted on July 21, 2012 by rcstories1

Book ISBN: 978-1478273721..............Set in rural Virginia, ‘FALSE DANDELIONS’ is a contemporary Southern crime fiction novel filled with romance, small town secrets, broken dreams and murder as locals from Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg, including a young disabled Iraq war veteran, stop a misguided band of Washington, DC criminals from setting up shop in their quiet town. When Lamar returned home from Iraq they gave him a hero’s welcome but he actually never felt like a true hero until he pulled off his greatest mission ever. A mission that will make this disabled vet a local legend, and a mission that will literally blow you away. Jesse is a rising star but when his mother’s body was found in the murky waters of the Rappahannock, he trades his prized guitar for a shotgun. Ever since Turtle was little, he was always somebody’s errand boy. Now, twenty years later, he decides to break the mold and that is just the beginning of many mistakes Turtle will make. Randolph Randy Camp’s ‘FALSE DANDELIONS’ is about the lives and dreams of underdogs. When you’re stuck in a nowhere place, physically or mentally, you dream of leaving. When you’ve been a nobody and strive to become somebody, sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don’t. Once again, this prolific award-winning writer paints a straight forward picture of contemporary Southern life and reminds us that, regardless of your income or race, there’s a touch of Jesse in all of us and there’s a little Turtle in all of us.
‘FALSE DANDELIONS’ is now available in paperback and eBook (Kindle) on Amazon.
Writers Guild of America, East Reg# R25183, October 2008
US Copyright Office Reg# PAu 3-414-222, October 2008

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One summer. Seven hearts. 29 Dimes. It wasn’t your typical LA summer. No one could’ve predicted what happened that day in Silver Lake. It was a summer of passion, confusion, and growth.
                                                     One hot, crazy summer.
                                                      Seven hungry hearts.
                                                     29 Dimes.
Award-winning, prolific writer Randolph Randy Camp creates a moving, tender love story amid a wild, crazy summer as Teki, Ronnie, Pepe, Brittany, Kalib, Tip, and Valerie each will have an experience that will forever shape and change their young lives.
Valerie has the kind of natural beauty that belongs on magazine covers. All the guys in Silver Lake dream about her. One guy will get lucky this summer and win her heart.
A gifted storyteller, Randolph Randy Camp offers the reader a realistic glimpse of the Los Angeles community of Silver Lake. If you still believe that love can happen to the most unlikely people and love still can be found in the most unusual place, then Randolph Randy Camp’s ’29 Dimes: A Love Story’ is certainly a must-read for you. 
                                       One Summer. Seven Hearts. 29 Dimes.