The Janitor

Regardless of what job you’re currently doing to pay your bills, support your family and yourself, always make sure that you’re also taking some time to nurture and cater to your own personal dreams and goals as well. Every day, in some form or another, we work and do things to make other people rich or happy, especially those who work within the service industry. What are you doing to make yourself happy?
Every day, we devote approximately eight hours toward someone else’s business or dream, indirectly making their dream a reality. How many hours (or minutes) per day are you devoting to your own dreams or goals?
Don’t let your day job define you. I understand that you must clean the toilets or bus the tables in order to pay the rent, but don’t let the designer in you, the artist in you, the executive in you, the inventor in you, or the store owner in you wither away or tire you out due to your devotion to someone else’s dream. Be the person you want to be. Define yourself! Empower yourself!
In my own personal life, I’ve cleaned many toilets, and I’ve been on various factory floors working on the assembly line. However, while I was cleaning the toilets or mindlessly checking the parts and products as they traveled along the conveyor belt, in my head I was simultaneously working out my characters’ dialogue for my manuscript, which I tirelessly typed up in the wee hours of the night, sometimes two or three pages on a good night.
No, everyone doesn’t know my name, but this janitor’s dream has come true. Today, I’m so very grateful to all of my fans, followers, and readers from around the world who have bought my books, read my articles, and recently made ‘False Dandelions’ one of my bestselling novels. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all. – Randolph Randy Camp
More at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

A Pinch of Salt: Character Growth

One of the many joys I get from being an author is having discussions or answering questions from aspiring writers via email or during classroom book talk sessions. Due to my recent move from New York to Iowa, I haven’t had a chance to check my inbox as I normally would. After checking my (overflowing) mailbox yesterday, I thought that it might be best to write this post, as it may answer a wide variety of questions regarding character development, and simultaneously offer what I consider to be my greatest advice to aspiring writers of any age.
Along with never having your characters sound the same, I think that adding a little spice to your character is one of the best tools in creative writing because it makes your characters more realistic and it certainly adds flavor and depth to your story as well. In my novel ‘WET MATCHES’, the backstory of one of my adult characters named Jack was revealed as the plot unfolded. In the story, the reader connects a childhood incident in which Jack experiences in the 6th grade with his current, sometimes unpredictable behavior when he’s interacting with certain individuals.
Providing your readers with some insight into your characters’ childhood experiences or their backstory is a very valuable tool. Showing how your characters are different or may have grown from chapter one through chapter ten is another valuable tool in creative writing, and it’s clear evidence of your characters’ growth.
In real life, no two humans are the same and this should be the same in your stories. No two characters should sound or behave in the same manner. Revealing a character’s backstory is a great method of adding spice and seasoning to your character, which will only enhance and make your whole story more interesting and tasty to your readers.  – Randolph Randy Camp
More Writing Tips at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

Changes: New Paths, New Friends, New Life

CHANGES: NEW PATHS, NEW FRIENDS, NEW LIFE...
Stepping out of our comfort zone can certainly be a major challenge for some of us. Moving across town or relocating to a new state is definitely not an easy task but the rewards and benefits from accepting these challenges and taking these risks can be great. Recently, I’d moved from New York to Iowa and it’s been one of the best decisions I’d ever made. In so many ways I still feel as though I’m on my walkabout, at age 54 still growing, still learning. – Randolph Randy Camp
*(photo: Author Randolph Randy Camp with daughter Randie at Gray's Lake, Des Moines, Iowa, September 2015)
More at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

The Journey Continues: Breaking Bread

It’s the middle of August 2015. I’m in my mid-50’s and I’m still on my ‘walkabout’, still learning and growing. Recently, I’d graduated from college and received an Associate of Science (A.S.) Degree in Mental Health Studies – Substance Abuse Counseling.
As I explore and venture deeper into this counseling field, I hope that this college degree and my academic accolades, such as making the Dean’s List three times, won’t be the very thing that will swell my head and, ironically, separate me from the very people whom I’d intended to help. I hope that I won’t become the administrator or the executive behind the fancy oak desk who had never step foot into a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen.
Some of my best conversations have been with “street people” and the homeless. And there’s no better feeling in this world when you’re able to break bread and get to know another human being at a soup kitchen. It would be an outright shame if my fancy college degree actually kept from those who are still finding their way and climbing.
Now that I’m equipped with this college degree, maybe it will open some doors that were once closed to me…and just maybe, I’ll find my way in and prop the door open for those afflicted with an addiction, those in need, and those breaking bread at the soup kitchen. – Randolph Randy Camp
More at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

YOU DEFINE YOURSELF!

DON’T LET OTHERS DEFINE YOU…YOU DEFINE YOURSELF!
DON’T GIVE UP! KEEP WRITING! If you’re a writer in your heart of hearts, then write ’til your fingers are numb. There have been times when I’d felt like throwing in the towel and giving up on my writing dreams, but even after stuffing all of my writing materials underneath my bed and deep into my closet, only two days later there I was digging it all back out again. Even after scanning through your pile of rejection letters, you must (and you will) find the inner strength to fight discouragement. Take your rejection letter and turn it over to use the backside as scrap paper and keep writing. If you’re a screenwriter, you must envision the audience watching your movie as you’re currently writing it. If you’re a novelist, you must envision your readers physically holding and reading your book as you are presently writing your first draft. – Randolph Randy Camp
Learn more at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

A Better World Through Books...Used Books

 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  (#freebooksaturday) to help brighten somebody’s world. And if you have any photos, please post and share them. – Randolph Randy Camp
Learn more at http://www.goodreads.com/randolphcamp

29 Dimes: A Love Story - Book Trailer