Saturday, July 31, 2010

Sushi, Hush Puppies on the Side?



Big news! The first novel in my funny, Southern-fried mystery series just hit the shelves .... in JAPAN! My U.S. publisher, Midnight Ink, nicely mailed me a couple of copies so I could add them to my collection of international volumes. (Right now, it's a pretty meager ''collection,'' consisting of ... the Japanese edition.)

I love the anime-style, cartoony cover. A Japanese friend says they've translated the title as ''Don't Look in Mama's Trunk.'' Pretty good advice, since a corpse lurks inside.

I'd wondered how in the world they'd handle the colloquial ''Mama Does Time'' title, not to mention all the Southernisms sprinkled throughout the book. I hope someone who reads Japanese will tell me how they translated what the owner of Hair Today, Dyed Tomorrow Beauty Parlor says in Chapter 7: "Honey, why don't you sit right down and relax? You look like a pair of pantyhose been put through the spin cycle.''

I was pleased to see they show an alligator on the Japanese cover (or, his head at least), as there are PLENTY of 'gators in Himmarshee, Fla. They also have Mace's eyes as blue, and Mama's convertible as turquoise, both correct.

Pretty cool, huh?

Now, since I was raised up right, I'm going to give a little *bow* here and say: Domo Arrigato, Hayakawa. That's ''Thank you, (Japanese publisher) Hayakawa.''

Y'all come back now, hear? Remember, there are three more titles in the Mace Bauer Mystery series, just itching to be translated!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Blog Tour stops at .... ROMANCE?

Considering the fatal flaw of my main character, Mace Bauer, is that she can't fall in love .... have to wonder what I'd have to say to the Southern Magic Romance Writers.
But they nicely invited The Great MAMA GETS HITCHED blog tour today anyway:

http://romancemagicians.blogspot.com/2010/07/meet-deborah-sharp.html


Thank goodness Mama knows a lot -- too much -- about romance.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

New Blog on the Whistlestop Tour

The smart, creative WONDERFUL Cozy Chicks host me today on Stop No. 4 on the Great Mama Gets Hitched Hard Luck Blog Tour.

We talk about fashion faux pas. What's yours????

Friday, July 9, 2010

Mama Hijacks Blog Tour

This character is out of control! She hijacks Stop. No. 3 on the Great MAMA GETS HITCHED Guest Blog Tour . . . and manages to tick off all of New Jersey in the process. Check it out:

Killer Crafts and Crafty Killers

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

I Love You, Ruth B. Ingram


Oh, how I love to see all five of those little gold stars filled in on Amazon's ''Average Customer Review.''

Average rating for MAMA GETS HITCHED? Five stars, y'all! What's that I hear? Must be the sound of a champagne cork popping.

Of course, only one reader has thus far reviewed Hitched. The book just came out officially July 1.

Thank you, Ruth B. Ingram, of East Texas, USA, for making my night.

Others will invariably weigh in. My golden stars may end up with a slice of their shine shaved off. But tonight, MAMA and I will revel in our All-Star status. Who needs Oprah's couch when you have a 5-star ranking on Amazon?