Mystery Writer Deborah Sharp Solves the Case of Publishing Success

The setting: the backwoods and Southern-fried crevasses of Central Florida.

The crime: a body is discovered in the trunk of a senior citizen’s blue convertible. But this isn’t any senior citizen, this is Mama: “a true Southern woman with impeccable manners, sherbet-colored pantsuits, and four prior husbands, able to serve sweet tea and sidestep alligator attacks with equal aplomb.”

The culprit: Deborah Sharp, quick-witted and hilarious author of Mama Does Time, the first in her series of Mace Bauer mystery books. Sharp is a one-time USA Today journalist who hung up her reporting hat for the world of mystery writing…and hasn’t looked back since.

WordHustler sat down with Deborah Sharp to discuss writing, murder, and of course, bitchy literary agents with British accents. Lock the deadbolt, grab your rifle, and read on to learn how Sharp hunted for an agent, got her book published, and more!

WordHustler: How did you get your first big break in journalism? When you started, were you aiming to write for a national paper like USA Today? What was your first USA Today story?

Deborah Sharp: I took the long and winding approach to journalism, starting out as a psychology major, and only transferring to the J-school and writing for the University of Georgia’s newspaper after I was halfway through Ph.D. program in psychology. It was my first identity crisis (I expect to have a few more). I had no idea I’d ever work for a national newspaper. My only criteria for my first newspaper job was that it was somewhere warm and near the beach. Have I mentioned I’m not a super-ambitious person? The Fort Myers (Fla) News-Press satisfied both of those stringent requirements, and turned out to be a great training ground, too.

I probably would have stayed there forever if an opportunity hadn’t come up to go to USA Today, which is also owned by Gannett, the media company that owns the News-Press. I went up to the newspaper as what we used to call a ”loaner,” which meant the News-Press was still paying my salary while USA Today reaped the benefits of my incredible talents. Did I mention I was free?

I can’t remember the very first story. I was doing mainly little health briefs and celeb items in the LIFE section: “Scientists say: Beets are Good for You!” “Madonna’s Top Ten Tummy-Trimming Tips!”  But the first memorable story I did for the paper was one on illiteracy. It was the first time I ever flew anywhere for a story (Dateline: Racine, Wisc.), and the first time I rented a car. I just remember being incredibly grateful that this man I profiled would open his life to me and talk about what he felt was a shameful secret, and the struggle he was making at age forty-something so he could learn to read to his new grandchild. It turned out to be a cover story.

WH: Then the big transition- journalism to mystery novel writing. Had you been working on fiction pieces during your years as a reporter?

DS: Like a lot of journalists, I had a fiction manuscript tucked away in a desk drawer, and I worked on it every once in while.  The main character was a hard-hitting reporter on the trail of a serial killer (gee, how original!). I now think of it as good training, but it stinks to high heaven, and shall forever remain in that bottom drawer.

When I finally quit the paper, I had the time to finish it, but I didn’t like the character anymore. And, I figured, if I didn’t like her, why would anyone else? Plus, I wanted to do something COMPLETELY different than the news, which is why I hit on my funny, light-hearted ‘‘Mace Bauer Mystery” series, featuring Mace’s crazy mama.

WH: Now for the part everyone wants to hear about: how did you land an agent? Was your first book, Mama Does Time, finished at the time? How many agents did you approach before landing one?

DS: Kids, don’t try this at home. I did everything completely backward. Completed book in hand, I met my editor at a conference before I found an agent. Then, I took the very first offer I got, which was from that same Midnight Ink editor. Once I had her offer, I phoned around to some of the other authors published by Midnight Ink, and asked if they liked their agents.

Whitney Lee is my fellow author Sue Ann Jaffarian’s terrific agent, and she agreed to rep me.

Before that, I never really shopped the book around much, but I did collect four or five rejection letters from agents I’d met at conferences or had recommended by friends. I also took a chance and called a woman who had represented the late Anne George, who I greatly admired for her funny, ”Southern Sisters” mysteries. She read the first 10 pages, and her rejection letter was one of my favorites.

She said the plot of ”Mama Does Time”  just didn’t seem realistic — and this from a woman whose most famous client wrote about thirty be-spangled Elvis impersonators whose performance is interrupted when one of the Elvi tumbles, dead, from the stage. The murder weapon turns up in the sensible purse of one of the main character sisters.

You know, like in real life.

One more agent story: I started my pitch to one I met at a conference by saying, ”I was a journalist for 20 years…” at which point he interrupted me in this supercilious British accent with: ”That doesn’t mean you can write.”

Next!

WH: What is it like working with an editor? Is it hard to let someone else into your creative process?

DS: Ohmigod, after working with chainsaw-wielding newspaper editors, who spare NO feelings for the tender-hearted writer, fiction editors are a piece of cake. I’m probably an editor’s dream, because I’m extremely willing to make changes, re-do scenes, pump up character motivation, whatever they ask.  I think the creative process is over-rated and romanticized. Fiction-writing is a business, and they know their business better than I do at this point.

WH: Do you have any say/input over your book covers?

DS: Luckily, I have had input, and it’s been very collaborative (which is not always the case, as other authors have horror stories of covers that bomb, that misrepresent the book, that completely miss the point). I wanted a real Florida feel, and wanted them to be funny, too. I’ve been very fortunate. Midnight Ink’s Lisa Novak is an excellent designer, and the illustrator, Mark Gerber, is incredible.

WH: Your second book, Mama Rides Shotgun, comes out in July 2009. How many books do you have planned for your Mace Bauer series?

DS: I have a contract through No. 3 (Mama Gets Hitched, out in 2010, in which Mama ties the sacred knot of matrimony for the 5th time). But I have lots of ideas in case the series continues. Think of a title, and I could probably write a book: Mama Hunkers Down (a hurricane threatens, things go murderously wrong in the hurricane shelter); Mama Hits the Jackpot (Mama and Mace set sail on a gambling cruise; things come up snake-eyes); Mama Makes a Movie (a fancy Hollywood film crew comes to little Himmarshee, mayhem ensues). Stop me when you’ve heard enough.

I do have a recurring nightmare, though, that I’ll get crazy fans like Kathy Bates in MISERY if the series goes on too long. I can’t just hear one shouting as she breaks my kneecaps: “You KILLED Mama! I’ll kill you!”

WH: Let’s hope not. Now, you write your first drafts in long-hand and then revise on the computer. Why is this your preferred method? Do you think writing the first draft on the computer encourages writers to be too verbose?

DS: Good point. Getting a hand cramp from holding that pen does tend to cut down on verbosity. But I do it because I’ve kept a journal all my life, and that was always where I really let myself be free, writing-wise. As opposed to the computer, which was often reserved for cut-and-dried news stories. I also like the portability of my little notebooks… I can stick one in my backpack and head out anywhere I want. I love to be outdoors when I write.

WH: What a great answer. What are three things you’d advise aspiring writers to do?

DS: 1. Join a writers’ group for the experience of sharing your work with others and learning from critiques.
2. Try to attend seminars or writing conferences held by professionals in your genre, whether it’s travel writing, romance novels, journalism…whatever. Joining Mystery Writers of America and attending the Florida chapter’s annual national conference, Sleuthfest, was a huge help to me.
3. This one seems obvious, but WRITE. Paul Theroux says: “You can’t WANT to be a writer. You have to be one.”

WH: Touche. What are three things you’d advise aspiring writers to NEVER do?

DS: 1. Avoid some of my rookie mistakes, like telling too much info too early in the book, the dreaded info dump. Picture your characters as guests at a party. You don’t really want to know EVERYTHING about them before you get to know them, and the reader doesn’t either.
2. Show, don’t tell, and don’t overlook all the senses when writing a scene. For example: It was very windy at the beach. Better: The flag on the lifeguard’s chair snapped in the wind. Blowing sand stung my bare arms and legs. Salt spray overwhelmed the faint coconut smell of suntan oil.
3. Don’t talk about what you want to write; write it. If it’s crap, you can always rewrite (which is actually more important than the first draft).

WH: Do you think WordHustler is a valuable resource in helping writers successfully get their work out there, professionally and effectively?

DS: I think WordHustler is incredible. It’s chock-full of great resources, and a boon to writers who want to learn, and then present themselves in the best possible light.

You heard it here first, WordHustlers! Deborah Sharp had the guts, the stamina, and the courage to make her writing dreams happen- and so can you. Take a note from Deborah (and Paul Theroux) and stop WANTING to be a writer…BE ONE!

Why not send out your work to a literary agent like Donald Maass, who represents mystery writers (among others)? Or what about sending your novel to a publisher like Bleak House Books? Once you use WordHustler to get your work out there, the mystery of getting published will be SOLVED.