ROSELLE PARK — Bruce Rule, formerly of Roselle Park, just had his first novel published by Titan Books.
“The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Debutante Detective” is available on Amazon, Waterstones, Bookshop.org, Indigo, ForbiddenPlanet, Browseabout Books, Book-A-Million and Barnes & Noble.
Rule said he wanted to write a book people would find marketable. “Publishers and agents are picky,” he said. “I wanted to write a Sherlock Holmes novel. I figured it would be cool to have Sherlock Holmes come to the United States.”
The twisty New York City-set mystery has Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter, Alice, team up with Holmes and Watson to save the president from a kidnapping and an attempted assassination on the evening of national peace talks.
Rule refers to Alice Roosevelt as “The Princess Diana of her time.” He said, “She was 18 years old in the White House. She was a beautiful young lady.”
About a year after Rule finished writing the novel, he had two offers in the same week – after 69 rejections.
Through the decades, Rule wrote for newspapers, radio, magazines, wire services, websites and social media – on three continents. The jobs included police reporter for a small-town newspaper, general assignment reporter for “The Associated Press” in Philadelphia, a freelancer in Chile and editor in London for “Bloomberg News.”
“The thing I like most about being a journalist (is) I got to meet so many people,” said Rule. “I lived in South America and Europe. It was a great experience to talk to people. I met Joe Biden before he became president. Convicted murderers…”
In 2018, Rule went out on his own and founded Rule Communications, an editing and writing service for a range of clients that included retailers, lawyers, compliance firms, accountants and non-profit organizations. He also gave public speaking workshops and coached individuals on how to be more effective when speaking in the office.
It was his wife who encouraged him to focus on his novel and Rule dropped freelance work to write books. “I like writing the books,” he said. “It’s my imagination. I let my thoughts go free.”
His first book, “Heartfelt Goodbye: How to Write and Deliver the Eulogy Your Loved One Deserves,” debuted in 2023 and received very good reviews. The book was a tribute to his mother.
When his mother died, he said he struggled to write the eulogy. But at the funeral, so many admired the eulogy, they encouraged Rule to write a guide to writing eulogies. “I thought it [the book] would be a nice tribute to her,” he said. “I included her eulogy in the book.”
People who are buying the book are buying it ahead of time, as they have an elderly parent and want to be prepared.
Rule is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the U.K.’s Crime Writers’ Association, International Thriller Writers and Toastmasters International.
To become a member of the Crime Writers’ Association, you need to have published a book. You also must show them that you’ve received a certain amount of money from an advance.
“You really get to enjoy it [the membership],” he said. “It’s an achievement.”
Rule’s second book, “Speaking with Confidence,” is about all the things he’s learned at Toastmasters. “It’s a ‘how to’ book for young people to talk effectively in the workplace.”
As far as writing goes, Rule says he’s enjoying it and will be writing until he can’t type anymore. “You’re not going to retire from something you love,” he said. “You have so many ideas, you don’t have enough time to write them all.”
The former Roselle Park resident is now living in Delaware, just 15 minutes from the beach. He fondly remembers his time living in Roselle Park. “It’s a great little town,” he said. “I was in walking distance from the train, from the library. We had two children there.”
Rule lived in Roselle Park from 1998 to 2004, when he got a job transfer. He said, “We would have stayed there forever.”
To learn more about Bruce Rule, visit: https://www.brucerule.com/.
Photos Courtesy of Peter Kondos and Titan Books
