R. P. Dahlke Reveals Inspiration for A Dead Red Oleander
I asked Rebecca aka R.P. Dahlke to tell me why she wrote A Dead Red Oleander and here's her answer:
This is the 3rd in the Lalla Bains mystery
series, and though I've wrestled with continuing a series based on a woman
cropduster since my son and muse for this series died, readers have made one
thing I didn't see, very clear: It's never been about the flying. All they talk
about are my characters.
Well, gee, I can do that. So I decided that I could
continue to create mischief with yet another gang of miscreants, the kind of
people that readers learn to love, or hate, but they don't forget them, either.
So I added some new characters, one or two who will continue into the next
book, and a few who won't.
Now a whole year ago, when I started working on the
outline, nobody had any books out on the subject of Witness Protection… well,
okay, not anybody who wrote humorous mysteries featuring the tenacious,
exasperating, Lalla, and her taciturn, cranky ol' cropduster dad, Noah Bains.
See how important she is?
So I had this idea that Lalla would be desperate for a
late in the season replacement for a pilot, and this guy comes highly
recommended, and besides with a name like Dewey Treat, what could go wrong?
And, yes, that name alone conjures up all sorts of images, doesn't it?
But naturally, just to be perverse, I have this character look like Howdy
Doody.
And then there's her gun-toting Texas relatives, who fly
in for Lalla's and Caleb's wedding, much to her dad's distress. Second cousin, Pearlie,
is enough to drive Lalla around the bend, but then that's what makes a book
fun, isn't it? I hope you'll enjoy A Dead Red Oleander, and if you do, I'd love
to hear from you. You can reach me at my website: http://rpdahlke.com
One more thing I asked her was to share was her favroite writing tip and here it is:
Write the best book that you
can, then use a read back program like Text-Aloud to read it aloud for you. I
always load up a chapter at a time on text aloud document, then do a
side-by-side with the original document so I can stop the reading and do
corrections right then and there. There are other read aloud programs, but I
think Text Aloud is just fine at $40.00
Author RP Dahlke
Mystery/romance/humor
on Kindle Amazon
Like Sue Grafton?
Janet Evanovich? Then you'll love this series.
When a late in the season emergency forces Lalla Bains to
accept a greenhorn ag pilot for her dad's cropdusting business, she sighs in
relief . After all, he comes highly recommended, his physical is spotless, and
with a name by Dewey Treat, what could possibly go wrong?
Then her quirky relatives arrive from Texas and things go
south in a hurry: Dewey Treat drops dead, his tearful widow claims he was
murdered, clobbers Sherriff Caleb Stone with his own gun, and makes a run for
it. Lalla, convinced the widow is innocent, sets out to prove it—against the
express wishes of fiancé Caleb Stone.
Feds, local law, suspicious ag-pilots, nutso relatives, and
her daddy's new sidekick, Bruce the goat, make life a living hell for Lalla.
Will her nosey nature solve the crime and save the day? Or put them all in
mortal danger?
"I'm so happy that Lalla Bains is back! This is was my favorite
book of the three and it's all there: crime, mystery, suspense and great
characters! I really liked the glimpses into Lalla's thoughts as she goes back
and forth with new theories. Her dad completely lost in a house full of women
as Lalla's great-aunt and her cousin (Pearlie) come from Texas for her wedding
is hilarious. I Matos, Amazon review
"This author is an exceptional talent bringing her
characters to life--you feel like you've met them before! My only regret--I am
finished reading and have to wait who knows how long for my next
"fix" from this author! Read it and enjoy!" Tech Teacher, Amazon
Review
Amazon/Kindle: $2.99
About Rebecca:
I sort
of fell into the job of running a crop-dusting business when my dad decided
he’d rather go on a cruise than take another season of lazy pilots, missing
flaggers, testy farmers and horrific hours.
After two years at the helm, I handed him back the keys and fled to a
city without any of the above. And no, I was never a crop-duster.
I write about a tall, blond and beautiful
ex-model turned crop-duster who, to quote Lalla Bains, says: “I’ve been married
so many times they oughta revoke my license.”
I wanted to give readers a peek at the not so-perfect -life of a
beautiful blond. Lalla Bains is no Danielle Steele character, she’s not afraid
of chipping her manicure. Scratch that, the girl doesn’t have time for a
manicure what with herding a bunch of recalcitrant pilots and juggling work
orders just to keep her father’s flagging business alive.
My blog link:
I got
to thinking about my favorite quote about well-behaved women & why Lalla
Bains tends to piss men off: http://rpdahlke.com/?p=424
GoodReads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4714290.R_P_Dahlke
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RPDahlke
Library
thing:
http://www.librarything.com/home/1vibrantwoman
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