R.P. Dahlke's Blog: Infrequent ramblings, page 31

Is it impossible to fold a piece of letter-sized paper more than 7x?

  I was fascinated to see a program on MythBusters about paper folding. The theory proposed to the guys who run the show, Adam Savage and Jaime Hyneman, was that it is impossible to fold a piece of letter-sized (8.5″ × 11″, 216 mm × 279 mm) 20 lb (75 g/m²)copy paper with perpendicular folds [...]

Christmas 24 hour e-Book giveaway

I'm introducing my newest romantic sailing mystery  "A Dangerous Harbor" with a limited e-book give-away to ten (10) lucky winners. In order to win, please reply only to this e-mail address: rp@rpdahlke.com Copy and paste  "free e-book" this into the subject line: This offer is good from Sunday, December 11th through Sunday December 18th

Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History

I got to thinking why I so very much like reading and writing about strong women. To be honest with you, I think it's because I've spent most of my life as a wimp, doing as I was told, minding my manners, saying all the right, and expected, things,  until one day I realized being [...]

I GOT TO THINKING ABOUT SPIDERS, I know, I know, they make me shudder… too many hairy legs, and the big ones…

I GOT TO THINKING ABOUT SPIDERS,  I know, I know, they make me shudder… too many hairy legs, and the big ones… don't get me started. On the other hand, they're also an inspiration, so intrepid.  Look at all that work they do to get the webs made, and in the most incongruous places—like that [...]

I got to thinking, how far is too far?

My husband has been yoddling out directions to me from other parts of the house since, oh, I can't count the years. When we moved from our big home in California to live aboard a sailboat, I thought it might get better, what with the interior being so much smaller and all. No such luck. After one [...]

To the moms at Thanksgiving

Here's to all the moms who decorate the house, roast the turkey, set the table, welcome family and friends to enjoy a beautiful meal and never once let the the sorrow show through because war, cancer, car and airplane accidents, drug over-doses, or genetic diseases took our children from us too soon. I know you, I [...]

A Dangerous Harbor excerpt

The sergeant,carefully ignoring anything that might keep him from his appointed task, plopped a size too-large policeman's cap on his small head, scuttled around to the driver's side, got in, put the car in gear and pulled out into the thick afternoon traffic. Katrina glanced back at Gabe, taking in his sun bleached hair flopping [...]

I got to thinking about Maps

I got to thinking about maps. Folded, they're a tight bud of opportunity, all those tempting colorful dots, waypoints, destinations and the intersections between. What would your life be like if you could do a Yogi Berra, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Go here, or turn there? Are these [...]

I got to thinking about spiders

I GOT TO THINKING ABOUT SPIDERS, I know, I know, they make me shudder,too. Way too
many hairy legs, and the big ones… don’t get me started.

On the other hand, they’re also an inspiration, so intrepid. Look at all that work they do to get the webs made, and in the most incongruous places—like that spot from my sofa leg to the floor, and a corner of the TV to the cabinet, and the dog to his bed.

Yes, yes, the little buggers occasionally go a bit too far, and I’m not just talking about the dog to his bed, either. I was leaning an elbow up against the wall to chat with a friend on the phone and the next thing I know I’m sporting a web from elbow to rib-cage! And, no, we didn’t talk that long.

I can’t, simply can’t spray them, or fumigate the house. Two reasons: I have several pets, and the poison could harm them; besides, the spiders eat other pests, right? Flies, gnats, small children.

Alright, so that second reason is weak, especially if you count the small children, and definitely when guests come over and see cobwebs everywhere and they’re thinking I’m just a bad housekeeper. They’re right of course, I’d rather write mysteries that entertain and amuse readers than kill spiders and sweep out cobwebs. http://tinyurl.com/6hdg3bf

But, I’ve come up with a brilliant solution, getting around the nuisance of spiders and their insistence on building those damn webs everywhere—I’ve put double-backed duct-tape on all the corners. Yes, every corner of the house, the tables, and chairs too. Then, when a spider ambles up to a nice corner of my house, he’s stuck before he ever gets started.

“What?” you say, “You can’t do that to your nice house!”

I can and I did. And as soon as I peel my overly curious cat off the corner of this wall, I’m going to sit down and have myself a congratulatory margarita.

RPDahlke writes mysteries with humor and a splash of romance.
•A DEAD RED CADILLAC
•A DEAD RED HEART
•AMAZON/KINDLE TOP 100 Mysteries/women sleuths
•A DANGEROUS HARBOR - New romantic mystery
• http://tinyurl.com/6hdg3bf

A Dead Red Heart, Excerpt

"Dad?" I called, pounding the dust off my boots on a rug. Since a fire last year nearly wiped out me, my dad, my goddaughter, Maya, and the house, I now wipe my feet on a rug before walking over his newly refinished floor. A dark burn still stains the oak‐planked floor where beams crashed [...]