My friend, Deborah Sharp, has just written her first book. “Mama Does Time” is a gentle murder mystery with colorful characters and a brilliantly developed sense of place. It is set in central Florida and is full of Southern wit and details. The caper begs you to keep turning the page. It reads like an Alexander McCall Smith novel. It won’t scare you or keep you up at night except that you won’t be able to put it down because you’re losing sleep trying to figure out who killed Jim Albert and stuffed him into the trunk of Mama’s car. You’ll be guessing until the last chapters when her daughter, Mace, puts all the pieces together. Deborah hit it out of the park with “Mama Does Time” http://www.amazon.com/Mama-Does-Time-Bauer-Mystery/dp/0738713295 and is enjoying well deserved reviews and accolades at book signings and parties in her honor.

This past week with my book in hand I visited Deborah and her husband Kerry at their home in Florida. “Mama Does Time” had risen to the top of my book stack and it was a coincidence that I was reading it when I arrived. Deborah was so tickled (I’m sure she would come up with some witty Southernism to describe her delight) to see someone holding her book, reading it and talking about it. She autographed it for me in a turquoise pen (the perfect touch since Mama drives a turquoise convertible.) She and Kerry spent alot of time putting labels on postcards that announce book signings (new authors do lots of heavy lifting in the sales department) and every time someone sent her a good review she danced around the house. She even bought a turquoise jacket to wear to her first book signing and modeled it for us.

I have heard that writing a book is the hardest work anyone can do. Even though Deb had 20 years of newspaper reporting under her belt it took a whole different skill set to crank out fiction. The first draft she sent to her publisher was about half as long as it needed to be. Once she got going she nailed the dialogue and ended each chapter with just the right line to keep the reader plowing ahead. Her writing is so vivid that I swear I saw Mama on my flight home. She was there with her platinum hair, turquoise sweater and silver cross around her neck. Deborah already has written the second book in the series, “Mama Rides Shotgun,” (out in July 2009) and is working on book number three. Hopefully more will come after that. You can read about Deb on her website at http://deborahsharp.com/. If you happen to boat by her house you’ll see her on her deck sitting in a chair with her avocado smoothie, a pencil and a notebook writing longhand (yes, longhand!) It’s an exciting chapter in Deb’s life.

For more information on Vicky Collins visit http://teletrendstv.com