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Friday, April 21, 2023

NOW AVAILABLE!

 

YES! My latest novel, Pumpkins On The Road, is now available at Amazon.com in Kindle, paperback, and hardback editions!!!

Here's the Link!!!

Order Pumpkins On The Road

Be sure to order your copy today!



Tuesday, March 21, 2023

New Book Coming Soon!!!!!

      You've been very patient.


     Very patient, indeed.


     It's been almost three years since I've published anything besides a few short stories in several writers' anthologies. But, the time is getting near.


     During all this time, I've been busy with life. No, not much fun, but necessary. It started when I drove to visit my father who lived 250 miles away. I got to the house and couldn't get anyone to answer the door. Dread swept through me. He'd been born in 1933, so the years had accumulated. I feared the worst.


     Entering the house, I found a mess in the kitchen. A container of ice cream had melted all over the counter and was contaminated by a hoard of tiny little bugs, I was later to find out were flour beetles. I hollered out for him. No response. I ventured downstairs, a place he had made his home ever since his second wife had passed in 2016. I hollered again. Same result. I first checked the downstairs bathroom, hoping that he was there and simply having a hard time with the catheter he'd been told to wear by a doctor the previous week. Nope, not there. Then, a foreboding wave of reality hit me. I ventured to his bedroom. There, atop the covers, my father lay, his body showing the signs of several days of being deceased in a house without air conditioning in the heat of a July day.


     The next few hours were spent with the County Sheriff Deputy, the county Coroner, and trying to shake the shock of my discovery. In looking through his home, I found he, who was once the world's most organized person, had become a massive hoarder. Several rooms couldn't even be entered further than the doorway as items had been piled up to the ceiling. In all, over 150 boxes of facial tissue, 200 packages of paper towels and another 200 of toilet tissue were just the beginning. 


     With the inconveniences caused by the Covid outbreak that had just hit its peak, it took me seventeen months to get the place cleaned out myself. Five huge roll-off dumpsters, over 38 huge garbage bags of clothes donated and given away, and over 1000 cans of food tossed as only 13 had allowable expiration dates. Three freezers in the garage, one with packages of strawberries dating back to 1976 had to be emptied, a task that required hand axes to separate the food. And, once the home had been cleared of the hoarding, the next task was awaiting.


     I found paneling had rotted away and would have to be replaced. A plumbing system needed to be completely reworked, as did the electrical. Carpeting had rotted and needed replacing. I took some of the tasks on myself, even though I had never done any real carpentry work before. Alone, I tore down the old paneling and put up new. I ended up having to take a plumber to court as he'd collected money and never returned to finish the job (a situation that I'm still trying to get the money from him that he has promised the court he'd pay several times). I had to paint and reseal the basement to protect against any water leakage, a problem my father had told me about happening several times. 


     Finally, the house was completed. It was time to move all of our belongings from our home in Lexington, Ky. to our new abode, and begin repairing the old home before turning it over to the rental company. Two months later, I could sit back and look at all I had accomplished.


     But, that isn't what you're interested in, is it?


     The new book will be called Pumpkins On The Road. It is a cross between a Suspense/Thriller and a Slasher/Horror. It takes place in a small town in the Midwest, one in which is filled with simple people, as well as power-hungry idiots. With all its inner problems, a violent murder takes place, and then another one, and then another ... well, you get the picture. Advance readers have praised this effort of mine. I hope you will, too.


     I expect to release the book as soon as I receive the hard copy of the copyright from the U.S. Copyright Service. I should receive it very soon. Hopefully, Pumpkins on the Road will be released before the end of April. Keep watching this page for further notices.


     I do wish to thank you for your patience. Life is not always the way we want it to be. Sometimes, it has a way of interfering with what one enjoys doing. I'm back to writing. All is well!


Ciao!!

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

The Wait Is Almost Over !!!

 So, you've been patient ... more patient than I would ever have been.

I appreciate it more than you'll ever know.

The last seventeen months have been filled with unexpected trials and tribulations. If you're interested, here are just a few:

  • Just A Small Example Of One Room's Hoarding
    I discovered the reason my father used to do his best to limit my access to the inside of
    the house to only one room. He turned out to be a major hoarder. Piles and piles of items were stacked atop each other until the ceiling in several areas kept them from growing taller. Over a thousand cans of food had to be tossed out as expiration dates going back as far as 1994 were found. Three freezers filled with food had to have much of it hacked away with a hatchet in order to get it removed. Frozen strawberry packages dating back to 1976 were found. Paper goods were in huge abundance including over 200 packages of paper towels, 200 packages of toilet tissue, and over 150 boxes of facial tissue were gathered from several areas around the house. I bagged up and took over thirty-eight garbage bags of brand new clothes, still in their factory wrappings, to a charity mission in the local town. And, all of that was only the start. By the time I finally completed every bit of clean-up by myself, I had filled up five huge roll-off dumpsters. I'll never complain about taking out a bag of trash to the Herbie Curbie, again.
  • The house has two garages; a one-car attached to the house and a two-car located
    Just One Of Five Roll-Offs Needed

    beside the home. Neither of the garage doors would go up or down without giving the person trying to lift them a hernia. So, to give me full access to both, I had new doors installed. (Later, I had another installed to the workshop on the back of the house by the same company.) With these doors operational, it made getting the trash and junk out of the home much easier.
  • The house was in bad need of having plumbing work done, so I hired a plumber to do it. His estimate was three days worth of work. Of course, I should have known something wasn't right when he cancelled out the first day and had to review all the work that needed to be done when he finally arrived two hours late on the second. His work ethic was sporadic at best. He constantly showed up late, did little to no work while there, and had to leave several times for other jobs. I stayed an extra day for him to complete the job, but he didn't show until mid-afternoon. So, the work wasn't completed. He left for the weekend without the water being able to be turned back on. Week Two was much the same. I worked my ass off in July/August heat without air conditioning to find that he still wasn't ready to turn the water back on for a couple of days. Finally, on Thursday night, he asked for the rest of his estimated money (I'd already given him half as a deposit) plus another $250 for a pump he said would increase the water pressure substantially. I didn't want to do it, but by this time I just wanted the job done and him gone. Well, to make a long story short, he never came back. He ignored my calls and texts after that, of course. So, I sued him and won. Big deal! Over a year later I still haven't collected a penny from him. I hired another plumber from a reputable dealer who finished the job for $250 in three hours.
  • Yeah, Don't Give Me A Hammer 
    Unless You Want A Mess To Clean Up
    I was worried about the electrical system, so I hired electricians to come and inspect
    what I had, replace an old-style fuse box with a circuit breaker box, and change all the two-pronged plugs into three-pronged. They were done in one day. About a month later, when I finally had enough of the mess cleaned away to see what I had as far as furnace/a.c. was concerned, I called the contractor who had supplied the second plumber to come and install air conditioning. In three hours, they had the job done and the a.c. running cold. I will definitely recommend this company to anyone who needs that type of work completed.
  • I discovered an outdoor heating system using wood burning to heat water that ran around the finished basement walls had obviously leaked and ruined the old dark
    paneling my father had installed in the house back in the late 60s. Now, as you know, I'm a writer, not a carpenter. Yet, I took on the task of ripping off every piece of old paneling with a crowbar, chisel, and hammer. After putting on two coats of sealer paint on the walls, I reconnected and replaced studs on the outside concrete block walls, decided on a light oak paneling, and put up every piece of it by myself ... no help. Now, I don't know if you've ever attempted to do that, but handling a 4x8 sheet of paneling, lining it up, holding it in place, and nailing it to the studs isn't easy for one person to accomplish. Yet, I proved that it can be done!
  • One of the first hints that something was wrong the day I entered the house to find my father passed away in bed was that there was a half-full carton of melted ice cream on the kitchen counter saturated with tiny little bugs that looked like fleas. (I later found out they were flour beetles.) I'd sprayed the house weekly and set off bug bombs each week before going home to Kentucky to try to get rid of them. Well, while tearing down the paneling, I found one section of the wall completely eaten away by termites. So, another battle with them was ahead of me. I kept on spraying and bug bombing, but also called an exterminator to take care of doing his work drilling holes in the ground around the house and spraying poison in them. To this day, I've not seen the first termite or flour beetle. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't.
  • After having contractors put up some oak molding at the top and bottom of the paneling, I decided to take on the task of putting up additional molding strips to cover the seams between the pieces of paneling. I hadn't realized that the paneling purchased wouldn't hide the brown masonite along the edges of each piece, so I needed something to cover them up. I'd tried wood filler but quickly found that to be slow and tedious work. Plus, you could tell it was a little different than the walls. So, I purchased white strips of paneling, cut and painted them to match the pieces up, and installed them myself. Pretty good for a writer, isn't it?  lol
    My New Office With The Oak Paneling I Used
  • Seeing the old carpeting wouldn't cut it as it had been stained and had molded in certain areas, I knew it, too, would need replacing. So, I first ripped up the old, painted three coats of sealer paint on the concrete floor, and had new carpeting installed. It took the work crew three whole hours and was done professionally. I'd debated on replacing the kitchen floor myself, and had even purchased a jackhammer to chip away at the old glue I was sure was under the linoleum laid when the house was built. But, when I saw how quick and good the crew was, I called them back to lay a new kitchen floor. Even with them moving the appliances, the job only took a couple of hours. 
  • Of course, before the move took place, new appliances needed to be purchased to replace the ones bought back in the 80s. So, a new washer, dryer, stove, and refrigerator made its way into the home. Yeah, I'm broke. lol
Now, at this point, one might consider me done, right? Wrong! I still needed to move the wife and possessions up to the house. Thinking we'd keep most of the furniture that was upstairs (it was almost brand new as my father only lived downstairs), I decided I could move everything up in my pick-up truck (a 2020 Honda Ridgeline ... one of the best trucks around). I had underestimated how many trips it would take. With my collections of over 10,000 CDs,1500 old vinyl albums from the 60s & 70s, and over 6,000 DVDs/Blu-Rays/4K's (and let us not forget the 550 VHS tapes I've held on to for some reason) I spent weeks just moving those the 250 miles to our new home. Then came the four closets full of clothes (mostly my wife's), as well as all our eating and cooking utensils and such (plates, pans, pots, etc.) In essence, I was making a trip there and back every other day for over a month. In addition, I had to get the old house ready to turn in to the realty company. So, I spent another month painting, cleaning, and taking down all the cables and satellite dishes we'd had installed during our twenty-five years of inhabiting the residence. Needless to say, if we ever move again, I'm hiring a moving company to do the work.

Do we have everything unpacked? Almost. There are still a few boxes left that I've ignored for almost as long as I can. I'll get around to them sooner or late
My Music Room Before All The CDs
And Such Were Put Up

r. I've rushed enough. It's time I take things easy for a month or two.

Which leads me to writing ... the thing you're following me about.

I've written a couple of short stories during this time, but that's about it. If you follow me on Facebook, you've seen the news about them. I'm planning on getting back to the writing grind this coming week. I've a couple of things I wanted to get taken care of first (two trick fingers that lock up on me and make typing difficult), but those look like they'll just have to be taken care of when the doctors decide it's time. My plans are to write two novels and one novella sequel this year. We'll see how they all come out.

Thanks for having the patience you've exhibited. Hopefully, you'll be able to see me here more often in the future.

Ciao!

Monday, August 3, 2020

Additional Writing Delays Due To Family Tragedy

As if dealing with a shoulder/arm injury wasn't enough to hinder my physical ability to write, I am now having to deal with a family tragedy that will delay any writing time until much later in the future.

On July 17th, I hit the road to take a 250 journey to my father's home in Indiana. I hadn't been able to get up with him since the previous Saturday and was concerned that either AT&T wasn't ringing the phones in the house (a previous problem with them) or something else was going on. After arriving, I was unable to get any response to my knocking or phone calls once again, so I used my key to enter the home through the garage and into the kitchen. 

The house was silent, uncommon for 1pm as he'd usually be watching television. I noticed a mass of dead flour beetles on the counter ... another uncommon occurrence even though he had battled with them for several months. Normally, they would be cleaned up. I searched the upstairs before heading into the basement where he had taken up residency since the death of his wife (my stepmother) in 2016. It was ominously quiet and dark.

I first checked to see if he was in the bathroom. Having suffered the last few months with prostrate problems, I figured this would be where he was at. No, I was wrong. It was empty. Finally, I headed back toward his bedroom thinking he might be taking a nap. It was there I found him ... dead.

There is no shock like finding the dead body of a parent.

As my father didn't believe in air conditioning, the heat had obviously been a factor in his body decomposing much faster than normal. In fact, he didn't even look like himself at all. I won't go into any further detail out of respect for him, but I will say it's a sight I'll never forget.

I immediately called 911. The call went something like this:

"Yes, my name is Richard Rumple. I just drove up from Lexington, Ky to check on my father and found him dead. I don't know who you need to contact, but please do so."

"Are you sure he's dead?"

"Ma'am, there is no doubt."

"Why don't you go and check to see if he has a pulse?"

"Ma'am, there is no doubt he's dead. He has started decomposing."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt for you to check and see if he has a pulse."

"Ma'am, there is no damn way I'm checking. He is dead. Take my word for it."

"Alright, if you're sure ... I'll contact the sheriff's office and ambulance service. What's the address there?"

Why is it so hard for someone to believe that we're not all dumbasses? I wouldn't have called her if I hadn't been sure ... at least not to report his demise.

Anyway, first the deputy arrived and I had to go all over the discovery details with him, and then did the same with the County Coroner. Finally, they'd taken him away and I was alone in the house.

I look back at my thoughts at that time. He was eighty-six years old and had been suffering. He'd just been told he'd have to wear a catheter for the rest of his life, was beginning to show signs of dementia and Alzheimer's Disease, and we'd discussed the possibility of him entering a nursing home. He'd told me several times he was lonely and ready to give up. I thought I'd talked him out of that direction. I guess I was wrong.

We buried him the following Wednesday.

I am now dealing with what he left behind. If you follow me on Facebook, you've seen the pictures. Yes, he was a hoarder. I am in at least a six-month process of cleaning up all he left stacked and piled behind. This last week was spent checking the expiration dates of canned goods and such, finding all but thirteen cans or bottles had become outdated. Over sixty trash bags await a dumpster that will arrive soon. That is only from the kitchen and it's not even completed yet. I have a long way to go.

My wife and I plan to move into the house after I finish the clean-up and necessary remodeling. This could take up to a year depending on the speed of myself and contractors. Obviously, they cannot start before I clean the place out of the mess that would only hinder their efforts. Thus, writing will just have to take a backseat for the time being.

I hate this, more than you know, but life must go on. I do still plan on making my appearances at Scarefest 2020 and the Haunted Majestic in October (if they go as currently planned with pandemic concerns rising), but I'm afraid I won't have any new offerings at either show. My apologies. I hope you understand.

It may also be a while before I post again. The clean-up is taking most of my time and I'm sure you're not interested in a play-by-play account of its progress.

So, until next time, "Ciao!"




Monday, July 6, 2020

So, You Wonder, "Where Has He Been?"

Okay, it's been a while since I've done an update on my blog, so let's do it!

What have I been writing lately?

Nothing!

I know that sounds bad, but there is a reason. Let's go back in time a bit.

September 2019, Scarefest.  It was a great show. I met many great people and I sold a lot of books. But, about a week after, I came down with what is commonly called the, "Scarefest Crud of 2019." It took most of two months to get over a major cold/flu type virus that seemed to originate at Scarefest.  Needless to say, there wasn't much writing take place.

I managed to do a show for a couple of nights in West Virginia at the Haunted Majestic. This had the best promoters around ... business-oriented, caring, and did exactly what they said they would and more. Again, I sold a lot of books and met a lot of great people. The only bad thing was being exposed to the cold of the evening as our booths were outside. After just coming off of the "Scarefest Crud", this put me right back down on my back in bed.

During December, all the junk I'd caught turned into pneumonia. Some called it "Double Pneumonia" as pneumonia is generally only when one lung is affected, but both of mine filled up with junk. I've since found out that this has hit many people and some are saying it was Covid-19. I'm not saying it was or wasn't, but I did have to go to the hospital for outpatient treatment several times a week.

During these preceding months, I was able to write a few short stories that have been published, but any major writing was put on hold.

Just as I started to get better, one afternoon I decided to chance a trip to the mailbox. I got to the porch and became extremely light-headed and very dizzy. I fell, shooting out my left arm to break my fall. There was immediate pain upon impact. The diagnosis was a cracked shoulder blade. Treatment was scheduled, but then delayed as hospitals closed their doors to all except Covid-19 patients.

So, for almost seven months, I've dealt with unrelenting pain from the middle of my back, down through my arm, and ending in my fingers (which become very numb after typing for five or ten minutes). I have to sleep for a few hours at a time in a recliner as it limits my movement. Sleeping in my bed was fruitless, as any time I'd start to roll over the pain would wake me up mercilessly. So, numbness, pain, and lack of sleep have been my constand companions.

Needless to say, all of this ruins the flow of storytelling as I have to stop typing the rest of the day, or until the pain subsides and I get feeling in them back. I called several times for appointments, but was put off due to Covid-19 and told they'd contact me when they were accepting them again. They didn't.

Finally, after another one of my calls, they said they were accepting appointments, but since it had been so long since mine had been scheduled, they needed the doctor to request it again. She did, and I had one set for June 9th, one day before my 66th birthday. What a birthday present!  I couldn't wait. But, a few days before it, I was called and told it had been rescheduled for July 8th. A few weeks later, they rescheduled it for the afternoon of July 9th. Since then, they've changed it to the morning.

As this writing is of July 6th, no further changes have taken place. I'm hopefully a "Go" for Thursday.

So, that's why you haven't been receiving writing updates. I'm not complaining, nor making excuses. As things happen, they happen. You just have to deal with it and handle it the best you can.

I'm hoping things get better so I can complete a sequel to "Train of Blood" and part two of "Garbriela: Tales From a Demon Cat" in time for this year's shows. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

So, until later,

Ciao!

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Join me tonight at the Haunted Majestic!

I will be in Huntington, West Virginia tonight for Part Two of my appearance there at the Haunted Majestic. Would love to see all who can make it. I'll have copies of all my books and be available from 6-10 pm. Stop by and say "Hello!"  


Check out all the information 
at the link below!





Monday, September 9, 2019

Train of Blood NOW AVAILABLE and Scarefest is this weekend!

Train of Blood is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle versions. Make sure you pick up your copy today!!!

Okay, sounds like a sales pitch, right?  Well, damn it, when a writer spends months of their life putting down and fine-tuning a story, they need to find an audience who appreciates their efforts. Let's be real, when was the last time you devoted six to eight hours a day toward something and received nothing for it? That's what I thought. So, you can see why it's important to a writer for his audience to purchase a copy of their efforts.

In addition, a writer has many expenses most don't realize. Editors aren't cheap. Neither are cover creators. And, advertising isn't free. It takes quite some time just to break even. I'm not bitching, just being honest. We love creating, but aren't here to give our efforts away for free, either. 

Anyway, here is the link to pick-up your copy. I sincerely appreciate all who decide that they're not too good to purchase a book from someone they know who puts their heart and soul into each word they put into print.




In addition, if you don't want to use your credit card on Amazon, I'll be at the Deadman's Tome table at Scarefest this coming weekend, Sept. 13th - 15th. Along with me there will be three other fantastic authors ... James Watts, Chris Miller, and Tony Evans. Stop by and see us there if you can. This year's Scarefest has a shitload of special guests you'll want to see. In fact, here's a link for you to take a gander at and drool.


So, that's it for now. Train of Blood and Scarefest ... two things you need to break open your piggy bank for this week. Hey, if you get a cup of coffee at Starbucks every day, you can afford the book and the event.

Till next time ...

Ciao!