Hal Kempka was born in Des Moines Iowa, and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. He served six years in the Marine Corps, and was awarded three Purple Hearts during a combat tour in Vietnam in 66-67. Once he returned to civilian life, he settled in Southern California to raise his family, continue his education, and spend a career in sales and management in office equipment and fine printing paper for printers, book and periodical publishers from Mexico to Canada. During that time he discovered his passion for writing, and eventually gravitated into horror fiction. His close proximity to a Southern California state mental hospital will make family visitations easy if he is ever committed for his stories.