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Free Teen Writers Workshop August 29 in Vero Beach

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Contributed by: Pam Proctor on 6/23/2009

Want to learn the secrets of good writing?

Mystery writer Deborah Sharp, a former journalist with USA Today in Miami, will reveal her techniques at a Teen Writers Workshop from 12:30 to 3:30 P.M., Saturday, August 29, at the Indian River County Main Library, 1600 21st Street, Vero Beach.

The free workshop, which is open to students in grades 9 to 12, is funded by a grant from Suzanne Bertman, under the sponsorship of the Laura Riding Jackson Foundation, College Application Consultants, and The Charlotte Terry Real Estate Group of Alex MacWilliam.

During her two decades as a USA Today reporter, Sharp covered everything from killer sharks and rampaging alligators to riots and murdered tourists. Not long ago, the Florida native traded the hard-edged stories of the news business for mystery writing, creating the funky, tongue-in-cheek "Mace Bauer Mystery" series. The series, which debuted with "Mama Does Time" (Midnight Ink, 2008), features Mace Bauer, a no-nonsense female investigator with a mother who is destined for trouble. In Sharp's second novel, "Mama Rides Shotgun" (Midnight Ink, 2009), Mama is out of the slammer and into the saddle. To research the book's setting, Sharp completed the week-long Cracker Trail horseback ride through Central Florida.

Mystery writing beckoned, says Sharp, because it's "a world where I can punish the bad and reward the good - where I get to say how the stories turn out." Instead of writing thrillers or dark suspense with serial killers stalking kids, she says, "I chose to write light, funny mysteries - which basically means very little blood and nobody gets autopsied. And, I throw in some romance, too."

Along with her Mace Bauer novels, Sharp writes short fiction and essays, which have appeared nationally, on lifestyle, writing, and women's topics. She's a humor commentator for WUSF-FM, a National Public Radio station in Tampa. She also appeared on NBC's TODAY Show to talk about ''Mama'' and making the transition from journalism to fiction writing.

Sharp's comic flair makes her a natural for The Teen Writers Workshop, a nationally recognized program that offers high school students a series of half-day seminars with professional poets, novelists, journalists, playwrights, and nonfiction book writers. Since its founding in July, 2000 by Charlotte Terry and Pam Proctor, the Vero Beach program has conducted more than twenty workshops, reaching more than 1400 high school students in six Florida counties. Past support has included the National Endowment for the Arts and the State of Florida's Division of Cultural Affairs.

Through the Teen Writers Workshop, local students have won college scholarships and earned top honors in state and national contests, including the Guideposts Young Writers Contest, the Parade poetry contest, and the Zora 2001 poetry contest. Five students have published poetry chapbooks, which have been sold on consignment at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco and at Gotham Book Mart in New York City. This summer, workshop member Brooke Willis received international recognition when her essay on crusading journalist Nellie Bly was published in "The Concord Review," a prestigious journal for high school history students.

To register for the August 29 Teen Writers Workshop with Deborah Sharp, please call Pam Proctor at: (772) 231-2221. www.teenwritersworkshop.com Registration is required.

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