Ron Kempton

Ron began writing at an early age. At age eight he began writing stories and by the age of ten, he was learning guitar. He listened to early 45’s endlessly and music became part of his life. Self taught, guitar became a passion. Later described as a “world class guitar player,” he excelled at songwriting too. Some decades ago he began teaching, which eventually led to forming young teens into bands at a place in Temecula, CA called “Musicians Workshop.” That led to taking groups of performers to the NAMM shows held annually.

Several of his students won scholarships to The Berkeley School of Music. Some went on to earn good livings in bands performing and touring all over the USA and overseas.

In recent years Ron has had published two novels (so far) with the help of his wife, Kathy. She taught piano for a while, but became more involved in Ron’s writing as proofreader and editor. A fair enough grammarian, she became instrumental in helping him publish his first two books: Child of the Heart and more recently, Finding Wendy.

Both books have been well received, and have proven to be a fun read. Ron’s most recent creative endeavor has been to collect his stories, poems, videos, and books into his web page, librettosongs.com We hope you take the time to look through and enjoy the music of song and word that took a lifetime to create.

Child of the Heart

Young Adult and Older

"Child of the Heart" is a dreamscape written while suffering the sad pain of anxiety disorder. The author was instructed to write a letter to his "inner child." The result is an exciting tale of capture and escape that takes place in the mind of our protagonist. While written about serious and debilitating disease, it is filled with humor and recognizable voices that all of us deal with all the time.

It also has fearful and frightening images that are a manifestation of a disease when it's out of control.

Two of the characters you will find are "Wort" who personifies worry, and "Mort" who personifies the tendency to predict catastrophe. They are twins, tiny men who sit on the protagonist's shoulders, squabbling and fussing their way through the landscape of inner angst. Child of the Heart is a look into the human mind through the personification of its symptoms. If you've ever suffered these sad feelings you'll recognize and sympathize the voices of the inner mind that find faces in Child of The Heart.

An award-winning songwriter, he has written lyrics for Grammy-nominated musical artists. He is also a published poet and author of short stories such as "Blue Note Souls." He has written for a lifetime, taught and played music, and recently had two songs for which he wrote the lyrics sent to the Grammys. He has personally experienced the reality of anxiety disorder, one of several forms of depression. It never really goes away, thus the story of a man in search of his "inner child" is the author's story.

His writing is energetic, imaginative, and a personal outlet for dealing with depression and anxiety. Often readers of the early writing have found themselves immersed in a narrative that could very well be their own. This is something the author finds greatly satisfying - that others recognize themselves in his story.

Finding Wendy

Young Adult

Midnight came. All was quiet. I revisited my reasoning and all of it was sound and logical. I wanted to clear my name, and I wanted to be with Wendy. I checked the things in my bag, got ten bucks from my change jar, went to the window, and slid it open. I stepped up from my desk chair, lifted the screen out and eased myself out the window.

The air was cold. It was a clear night. There were still lots of sounds, but mostly my footsteps. I went down the street, around the corner, and up to the main road that went to the highway. I was sure I would reach my goal in a day or two. The cars moaned past, then slipped away.

Some turned, some kept going until the sound of them slowly faded. I thought about Lyn and how she would pray. Samantha might go looking for me, but grumble about it the whole time. My parents would worry a little at first, but get used to the fact that I was out on my own. “On my own.” That sounded just about right.

So many have learned about the real world by running away. Richard Allen in his fight for love, did the same. He was to learn more than he wanted in a short time. But his quest and path to the love he knew he could win does not stop there. Growing up at any age is hard enough. Finding out how things really are is the road that changes the shape of who we are. Finding Wendy is not just about the war for true love and the fight against lies - but also a humorous read. Take a trip through the seventies as Richard Allen finds out how to be himself.