A Bit of Sugar

A Bit of Sugar is a preteen novel, set in the early 70s, with strong family values.

Laura Maynor is a fourth grader obsessed with getting her own pony. Her father thinks it’s a great idea, but her mother, Rose, objects. Rose has never gotten over the loss of her own pony, Trigger, in a tragic accident years earlier. She wants to shield her daughter from such pain.

Rose’s father, who feels responsible for that accident, cannot bear to see his mistake now deprive young Laura of her own pony. Finally, after much pleading and a heart-to-heart talk with her mother, Rose reluctantly agrees.

Laura’s grandfather quickly finds an ideal, but expensive, pony at the well-respected Hadley Pony Farm, but the deal unexpectedly falls through. Determined not to disappoint his granddaughter, he pursues a risky, alternative course of action that produces surprising results. Will Laura’s mother and grandfather ever heal the emotional wounds connected to the death of Rose’s pony? And, even more importantly, will Laura ever enjoy a pony of her own?

Deborah was born Deborah Ann Bearsch in 1970 in rural Harford County, Maryland. She and her two siblings enjoyed growing up surrounded by big trees, open land and plenty of space to explore. Her love of horses was fostered at a very young age by her beloved grandfather, Tom, who spent most of his life raising and selling horses. She spent countless hours following Tom everywhere, learning everything and anything she could about horses.

Deborah began riding and by her teens, was both teaching younger children how to ride and competing herself in various events. She took first place in the intermediate division of the Fair Hill in 1995, an event that ranks only one level below the Olympics. She also trained with Olympic riders. Deborah participated in showing, three day eventing, and breaking young horses.

When she was 16, her grandfather purchased a pony named Sugar. In 1994, Sugar gave birth to Hip-Hop, the pony that inspired Deborah’s current line of stories. Hip-Hop was the cover pony for a local equine magazine and appeared in a national publication for young girls.

Deborah met her husband, James Wilson, when his excavating company was hired to assist in the construction of a horse riding ring on her family property. They have three children, Her daughter has inherited her mother’s love of horses, and oft en rides and competes in shows herself. Hip-Hop was Laura’s first pony. Deborah hopes to use her writing, and specifically Hip-Hop’s story, to cultivate and nurture children’s interest in the horses and their care.