Mama Cracks a Mask of Innocence

My editor asked me to write a third book in my series, Tales from the House of Bunnicula. And did I have trouble getting started! I was afraid I used up all my ideas. But faster than a writer can say “What if?” I came up with a story! It’s about a lovable and smart (not to mention cute) orphan wirehaired dachshund puppy named Howie, who has a mysterious pain in his leg and is mysteriously invited to attend the Dogwiz Academy for Canine Conjurers. Together, Howie and his best friend, the very, very, very smart Delilah, who speaks in a British accent in this book for some reason, discover they must fight a sinister foe…The-Evil-Force-Whose-Nam-C’not-Be-Spoke!!!

After I wrote my first book, It Came from Beneath the Bed!, my editor asked me to write another one. (Another one! This is hard work! I'd like to see him write another one!) So anyway...in this book the lovable and smart (not to mention talented) wirehaired dachshund puppy named Howie and his friend, the beautiful and brilliant Delilah, face their biggest challenge yet: the Mind Swappers from Asteroid 6!™ Along the way Delilah gets turned into a squirrel and has to beg for acorns. (Hey, don’t ask me! Read the book!)

A woman determined to hold onto her land.

Financial sharks out to make a killing.

A life-or-death struggle by the SEA OF REGRET.

A year after the violence and tragedy of AN UNCERTAIN REFUGE, Kate Dalton's life is shattered again. Developers want Evie Hopkins' former dairy farm on the Oregon Coast, want it bad enough to sabotage the Castaway Beach Wildlife Rehabilitation Center she runs there. Aligned with developers and hoping to cash in on his inheritance early, Evie's son claims she's losing her mind and intends to prove that in court.

The wildlife center is both home and place of healing for Kate, for Jackson Scovell who traded alcoholic oblivion for life with her, and for Way-Ray, a boy orphaned by murder. They fear for Evie and the sick and injured birds and animals she rescues and nurtures, but they vow to support her decision-whether it's to sell or to fight.

As Evie agonizes over her choice, protests and politics divide the community. Threats and violence escalate. Then two hired killers trap Kate, Jackson, and Way-Ray at a remote cove. And time runs out.
 

I want to be a writer, just like my uncle Harold, who wrote a bunch of books about our friend Bunnicula. So I wrote this story. And boy! Did I ever get into trouble! My friend Delilah stopped speaking to me because I put her in my book. Uncle Harold stopped speaking to me because I didn’t put him in my book. A writer’s life isn’t easy!

But back to my story: It’s about how a talented and lovable (not to mention smart) wirehaired dachshund puppy named Howie saves the world from a disgusting, evil menace named...oops, that would give away the story. But trust me, this menace is disgusting and evil, all right!!!

Mama's fixin' to get hitched to Husband #5. But first, she coerces her daughter, Mace, to saddle up for some country-gal bonding on the Florida Cracker Trail. The trek takes a deadly turn when Lawton Bramble—wealthy rancher and one-time beau of Mama's—keels over in his Cow Hunter Chili.

Lawton had a horde of enemies and a famously bad ticker. Could a grudge-wielding rival have "spiced" the cattleman's chow? With (or maybe despite) the help of her sisters and her sexy ex-beau, Detective Martinez, Mace sets out to corral a low-down varmint who's determined to kill again.

TV APPEARANCES

◊ NBC's Today Show from November 4, 2008

◊ "Mayor's Book Talk" from January 14, 2009

◊ NBC6 "South Florida Today." from July 17, 2009

◊ NBC's Today Show from August 4, 2009

◊ WJXT-TV from November 17, 2009

Acclaim for Mama Does Time, the first
Mace Bauer Mystery:

"A humorous, touching reflection on familial love and politics."
—Mystery Scene

"Native Floridian Deborah Sharp's acute comic timing and detailed perceptions of old Florida sparkle in her lively debut . . . highly entertaining."—Oline H. Cogdill, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

"Who knew that a who-dun-it would not only keep you guessing—but have you laughing! Deborah Sharp is the new Edna Buchanan."
—Hoda Kotb, NBC Today Show co-anchor