Rappahannock Dreams: A Sort of Homecoming

I was such a weird nerdy kid growing up. When I was thirteen I was briefly admitted to Mary Washington Hospital due to a football injury. I remember this really nice nurse having small talk with me, trying to ease my pain. I’ll never forget the look on her face when she’d asked me, “So, tell me young man, what do you want to be when you grow up? Be a running back or a wide receiver in the NFL?” Without hesitation, I said, “To write a book one day and see it in all the libraries so everybody can read it.” Man, the look on her face. Still today, I smile inside every time I think of her.
As a kid growing up in Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg, I used to spend a lot of time sitting along the banks of the Rappahannock River. Always equipped with a pen and pad, I would sit and watch the water flow downstream, then jot down my thoughts and dreams. And through the years, those little notes and thoughts I’d jotted down by the river eventually evolved into my published works today.
We’re fast approaching 2018, and it’s been over forty-plus years since I had those Rappahannock dreams. Today, I’m so honored and grateful to the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library in New York, The Public Library of Des Moines, The Central Rappahannock Regional Library in Fredericksburg, Virginia, ect. for having my novels as part of their library book collection. I guess dreams do come true, huh? I sincerely hope that all of your dreams have (or will) come to fruition as well.
And, I’m happy to announce that, in 2 weeks, I’ll be appearing at the John J. Wright Educational and Cultural Center, 7565 Courthouse Road, in Spotsylvania County on Saturday, December 9th, from 10am to 12noon for a Book Signing Presentation Event. *(Go to Facebook Events for details) I would love to see all of my classmates, especially from the (Spotsylvania Sr. High School) Class of ’79, book lovers, readers, friends and loved ones there. Hope you can make it!
More at https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp

Hazel Hill Morning

After I bought my first car, a ’72 Pinto, I loved the freedom of going to Fredericksburg whenever I could. Don’t get me wrong, growing up in rural Spotsylvania County in the 70’s had its benefits, but going into town was a big deal back then, especially for this young Virginia country boy. Two of my aunts, Edith Mae and Ruth Edna, had moved into the Hazel Hill Apartments in Fredericksburg, and it was such a treat for me to visit them when I wasn’t in school or was off work, usually on Saturday mornings.
Back then, as a somewhat nerdy schoolboy with big dreams, I was fascinated with getting away for awhile, going to Hazel Hill and then later going to the city park where I would sit alone by the Rappahannock River and write down some of my deepest thoughts. Today, in the middle of April 2017, I still find myself blushing whenever I see my book ‘Wet Matches’, knowing that it had its origin as a simple song lyric way back in 1978 and was conceived on that one particular Hazel Hill morning. – Randolph Randy Camp
More at https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp

Those Rappahannock Dreams

RAPPAHANNOCK DREAMS
Leaves fallin' down and tears in my eyes
I sit by this river and cry and cry
But just like running water...running water
These Rappahannock dreams keep passin' me by
But some day soon I'm gonna get away from here
Just like running water...clear and clear
I sit by this river and cry and cry
Somebody please...please
Tell me why these Rappahannock dreams keep passin' me by

*RAPPAHANNOCK DREAMS was written for the character Robbie in 'Wet Matches: A Novel', an award-winning story about a colorful group of homeless teens getting a second chance at a better life.
US Copyright Reg# PAu003585960 R. Camp

Learn more at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp 

Understanding Turtles

A few years ago, I remember telling my friend that I was thinking about writing a story about a character named Turtle. She misunderstood me and replied, "Randy, I know that you love to write but I didn't know that you wrote children's books also." Our conversation was brief but ended on a positive thought so I left it as that and didn't bother to explain myself further. Actually, Turtle is one of the main characters in my novel FALSE DANDELIONS, a Southern tale about the lives and dreams of underdogs. Turtle is an aging street dog who is tired of always being somebody else's errand boy and struggles to break out on his own.
Sometimes, we all may find ourselves in a place where we don't want to be. And at times, there's no difference between people like Turtle and you and I. Every single day of the week somebody is struggling to climb out of their hole. I believe that there's a little Turtle in all of us, and that's why I wrote False Dandelions. The better we understand people like Turtle, the better we can reach out and help them.
Learn more at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

RIDING BIKES

RIDING BIKES
Some of my fondest memories of my childhood was the long bike rides along dirt roads and single-lane blacktops with my brothers, cousins and other neighborhood kids. Of course, our family couldn’t afford to buy brand new bicycles for us so most often we would go to the local landfill and look for assorted bicycle parts and then we would try our best to piece together a whole bike. On these bike rides I’d always enjoyed seeing a part of Spotsylvania County that I’d never visited before…sometimes it might’ve been just a particular road in which I’d never traveled before that made these bike trips so memorable. The idea of exploring and briefly escaping was absolutely fascinating to me, especially as a child. Looking back, it seems as though I was always, in some type of manner, trying to escape my immediate surroundings. As a kid and even as a teenager, I certainly remember sitting on the bank of the Rappahannock River and just watching the water flow away. I would sometimes sit there for hours just gazing at the flowing water, and I would wonder and think about where the water was actually going to…and as I got older, I also began to wonder about my own life…wondering where my life would take me. When I began to jot down notes, write out poems or short stories as a young boy, it seems as though I really became obsessed with the Rappahannock River….for this was the period of my life when I would often think about where my words and stories might eventually take me…just like the flowing water of the Rappahannock…where is it going?…where will it end up? — Randolph Randy Camp
More at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

Still Learning n' Growing

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

CHANGIN' FACE by Randy Camp

 

 

CHANGIN' FACE

Here we go...changin' face
Just like the river...in the race
Here we go...changin' face
Just like the dandelions...in the wind
Feels like blood...gettin' thin
Here we go...changin' face
Just like the river...in the race
Maybe these dreams of ours just floats away
Here we go again...changin' face
Just like dandelions...in the wind

*Note: CHANGIN' FACE was written for the character Jesse, a rising songwriter and singer in the Southern noir novel 'False Dandelions'

 

 

*Follow Randolph Randy Camp on Twitter  @rcstories
*US Copyright Reg# PAu003414222 Randolph Randy Camp
(Learn more at  https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp )

"Rappahannock Dreams"

I remember growing up in rural Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Our family didn't have a lot of money so you quickly learn to be very resourceful. I think that being somewhat impoverished as a child have made me more creative, especially in my writings. As a child, you learn to cope and adjust to your surroundings. I knew that I wouldn't get the kinds of toys that others got during the Holiday season, so I sort of made my own toys and fun...you had to back then. And as I grew older, creating things from nothing served me very well as I learn to use my strong imagination to create original, colorful characters and sometimes wild, compelling stories. One of the things that really eased me during my childhood was watching the local Rappahannock River. I remember as a child just looking at the water go by and wondering where it was going to...that thought often fascinated me so much that a lot of my own stories and songs have this very same underlying theme of someone being stuck somewhere and must try to get out somehow..some way...As a writer, I really appreciate what the Rappahannock River did for me...without knowing and realizing it as a child, this mighty river and it flowing waters gave me guidance...Sometimes, as I write today, I wonder where my words will eventually take me...just like the water in Rappahannock...where is it going?...where I am going? 

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.

Connect and 'LIKE' Randolph Randy Camp on FaceBook at http://www.facebook.com/rcstories

‘FALSE DANDELIONS’ is available in paperback and eBook (Kindle) on Amazon.

*Look for 'WET MATCHES: A NOVEL' on Amazon.

MORE INFO at  http://randy0312.wordpress.com/