Richard Rumple went from radio personality to stand-up comedian to corporate training director to horror writer. He wrote his own radio shows, his own comedy material, and his own training books before retiring and turning to fiction full time. His novels include Horror Across the Alley, They Lurk in Summer, and the short story collection Gabriela: Tales from a Demon Cat. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association.
Host: Richard Lowe | Guest: Richard Rumple
Interview Transcript
Richard Lowe: How did you get into writing?
Rumple: I’ve been writing all my life. When I first started reading, I’d go to my mother after finishing a book and say, “Why did they finish the book that way?” She’d say, “If you don’t like the ending, write your own.” And I did. From that point on I just kept writing — my own shows on radio, my own jokes in comedy, my training books in business. When I retired last year, I decided it was time to really get down to doing novels.
From Radio to Comedy to Horror
Rumple: I did radio back in the ’70s and ’80s, back when radio was actually radio — you had to prepare your own shows, keep your own music, develop your personality. Then I left radio for stand-up comedy. I got on stage one night representing a radio station, and the club owner asked me to come back that weekend to emcee. From there I was hired by an agent and went out on the road for years entertaining audiences throughout the United States.
Coming from comedy, horror was actually a natural selection. I had a lot of personal experiences with the paranormal when I was younger. When you try to tell people about those experiences, they look at you like you’re crazy. So I decided to fictionalize some of them. That’s what I did with my first novel — some of my real experiences, expanded upon.
Horror Across the Alley
Rumple: My first novel is about an individual who leaves military service, wants to go to college, and finds a tremendous deal on a house — unfortunately finding out why it’s such a deal. There are paranormal experiences, some violence, and social issues addressed through the characters experiencing them, not from a soapbox. Things like how the elderly adjust to being treated as they age, how greed and depression go hand in hand. People don’t want to be preached to — they want to see how other people handle things, and maybe come up with their own plan of action.
I started it in February and had the initial writing done in a month and a half. Another month and a half of editing, a couple weeks to self-publish, and it was out by May — about 67,000 words.
Learning from a Mentor
Rumple: I participated in a mentor program with the Horror Writers Association. Jason V. Brock was my mentor, and he did a tremendous job. One thing I was guilty of was painting too precisely — describing everything down to exactly how far a hat was from the corner of a table. Jason weaned me away from that. He wanted readers to create their own visuals instead of me being meticulous about every detail. Gabriela, my short story collection, was written after that mentorship, and I think it contains some of my best work.
The Writing Community
Rumple: Writers are the best group of individuals in the world. There’s no competition among us — people say, “Let me help you do this, let me help you do that.” For every bit of quality writing that gets in the marketplace, more people become willing to read. It’s like comedy was years ago — there was a big burst, then a lot of subpar comedians killed the clubs because audiences got tired of them. When self-publishing first came around, there was a lot of subpar writing too. But those people have faded out, and now the better quality work is getting appreciated.
I’ve been in so many phases of business where it’s backstabbing and unpleasant. Coming into the writing field, with everyone being so generous — it’s a dream come true.
Why He Writes
Rumple: The sense of accomplishment in being able to take somebody out of the boredom and hatred of the mundane — to put them into a world they can enjoy, whether it’s a little fear, a little laughter, a little love for a character. You give them something they didn’t have before, something that makes their life a little better.
If you’re only writing for yourself, it’s not worth doing. If you’re writing for other people and trying to give them something to enjoy, that’s what it’s all about. I’ve had several people tell me that when one of my characters died, they cried. That sounds terrible, but it makes me feel like I truly accomplished something.
I tend to be very heavy in character development. The hardest part is deciding when to stop rewriting — you can always make it better, but at some point you have to let it go. Get it on paper. If you don’t put it on paper, it’s never going to be published. You’re going to be one of those grandfathers sitting on the porch at 85 telling great-grandchildren, “I could have, if I wanted to.”
Learn more about Richard Rumple at richrumple.com.
Find Richard Lowe at TheWritingKing.com.
Video edited by Bonnie Dillabough.