July 2009 E-News & Clues

Contact E-mail: sleuths@ndsleuths.com

Hi Sleuths,

I've got a lot of stuff to go over in this month's E-News & Clues Blog! So much so that I'm also pasting all this info into the e-mail reminder sent out to you all about the Blog. There's been a lot of activity in the news lately in regard to Nancy Drew! I got to do an interview on Good Morning America recently and they had a film company come out and shoot me and the collection. I also published an article in the Arizona Republic on Nancy Drew. And a NY Times piece was published that ran a quote from me which was fun. Look for those links below if you're interested in seeing and reading them.

Our 2009 convention merchandise shop is almost available! I'll let you all know shortly in a future Blog/e-mail about what we're up to this year! Sleuth Lea Fox created our Sleuth Survivor badge shown above for this year's convention!

If you couldn't attend this year's convention and can't attend next year's, we've got absentee registration that's perfect for you! You'll get all the goodies without the travel. Almost the next best thing ;) See below for details.

Don't forget our 2010 convention! It's the 80th anniversary of Nancy Drew! Our 10th anniversary. The 105th anniversary of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. So many milestones next year! We're also inviting Hardy Boys fans to join us for the first time! "Double the Mystery. Double the Fun!" See details on the convention below.

IN THIS E-NEWS & CLUES: Absentee Registration for 2009/2010, 2010 Convention Registration info and deadlines, 2009 Convention Raffle Donations, 2010 Convention Advertising/Sponsoring, 2010 Nancy Drew calendars, Nancy Drew in the News, Local Sleuth Book Discussion Groups, Nancy Drew at UCSD, and The Sleuth: July/August '09 + Subscriber Special.

Any payments/subscriptions from below can be sent to the following address:

For Pay Pal: nancydrewsleuth@aol.com

For Checks/money orders:

Jennifer Fisher
P.O. Box 128
Higley, AZ 85236-0128

ABSENTEE REGISTRATION FOR 2009 & 2010 CONVENTIONS:

If you can't attend this year or next, you can do an absentee registration! No form to fill out, just payment and an address to ship to suffice.

2009 VEGAS CONVENTION OPTIONS:

You'll receive our goody bag from Vegas this year, plus relevant handouts and the program and the DVD from the convention covering events and the presentations. Price quoted below includes shipping for USA buyers. If you're in Canada or Overseas, it's 20.00 extra for shipping.

DEADLINE TO GET SIGN UP FOR GOODIES FROM VEGAS: Aug. 31st.

$30.00 for goody bag/handouts/program/DVD/shipping.

OR

$50.00 for goody bag/handouts/program/DVD/shipping plus sponsorship with your name in the program!

Sponsorship helps us advertise!

Goody bags/etc. will be shipped late October '09 once the DVDs are produced and picked up.

I invite you all to check out the conventions and the absentee registration info here:

http://www.ndsleuths.com/ndsconventions.html

2010 FLORIDA/CRUISE CONVENTION OPTIONS:

For 2010, if you are not able to attend, we're also offering absentee registration for the land/sea events combined.

For $85.00: You'll receive goody bags from both land and sea portions/handouts/programs/DVDs/shipping.

For $150.00: You'll receive goody bags/handouts/programs/DVDs/shipping plus sponsorship with your name in the program!

2010 goody bags/etc. will be shipped late May 2010 once DVDs are produced.

Deadline to register absentee for 2010: Jan. 15, 2010.

2010 CONVENTION REGISTRATION & DEADLINES:

We've got land (April 6 to 10) and cruise (April 11 to 15)--attend one or both. Hardy Boys fans invited--we're focusing on both Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys! Lots of fanfare being planned and so it's going to be one not to miss!

There is an early registration discount if you register for the cruise by September 1st and a discount on registering for land by Oct. 15. Deadline to book for all is Jan. 15--that is, if we still have space available by then! It is suggested, since cabins go quickly on the cruise, to book ASAP! We've got Sleuths and fans already booking, so don't miss out! When you book you just have to put down a deposit. Deadline to register for both land/sea is January 2010.

Visit our website for all the convention details and how to register/book!

FYI: Our group is running a half-page ad in the Bouchercon mystery convention program this coming October advertising our fan group and the 2010 convention. With over 2000++ mystery fans in attendance at that convention, my suggestion is booking by October is a good idea, in case we really fill slots after our ad runs. Of course, we'll keep our website updated as to how space is filling.

2009 CONVENTION RAFFLE DONATIONS:

We are going to have a raffle at our 2009 Vegas convention for all those attending. It will help benefit the local Las Vegas-Clark County public library! We're accepting donations for the raffle from anyone who has something to donate. Books, memorabilia, collectible items, etc.. Donations can be sent to me at:

Jennifer Fisher
P.O. Box 128
Higley, AZ 85236-0128

Please send them by Sept. 1st to ensure I receive them in time before the convention. Those donating will have their name printed in our spiffy program!

2010 CONVENTION ADVERTISING/SPONSORING:

We are hoping to do more advertising next year for our conventions and our group! If you'd like to help us out with advertising, we have a donation button at our convention website.

Those donating will have their name printed in our program. We thank you!

2010 NANCY DREW CALENDARS:

I'm selling the 2010 Nancy Drew Engagement Calendars here and at my website. I'm doing pre-orders. They will ship end of 2nd week of August once I get them in.

I am offering them to Sleuths for a discount!

10.50 each plus 3.75 shipping=14.25. Add .50 each for shipping for additional calendars ordered. That's USA shipping. If you're in Canada or elsewhere, contact me for a quote.

To view the calendar click here. It will feature 52 classic covers--Tandy, Nappi, Gillies and internal illustrations from some of the books.

NANCY DREW IN THE NEWS:

Nancy Drew Good Morning America article and video of the piece.

New York Times Piece

My Arizona Republic Nancy Drew Piece:

LOCAL SLEUTH BOOK DISCUSSION GROUPS:

I'd really like to see more Sleuths getting together with other Sleuths in their areas to have meetings and book discussions. It's really not that heavy on time commitment! I've organized our AZ Sleuths and we meet every other month at a local Barnes & Noble store. Our Carolina Sleuths do the same--at a Borders store. And our NH and VA Sleuths are working on getting together.

This is a great way to meet new Nancy Drew fans and have fun with local collectors--especially for those of you who cannot afford to attend conventions! It's like a mini convention in your own backyard ;)

All it takes is one organized Sleuth with the motivation to set it up and keep it running smoothly. I simply talked to my local B&N store with the manager, they set us up, put it on their calendar and we just meet there and chat. I contacted members in my area via e-mail/snail mail and asked if they were interested, got a list of those interested and each month we're having the meeting I send out an RSVP reminder e-mail of the date/time, and get an idea of who's coming. We discuss the books and have so much fun. So I'm really encouraging everyone to try this out. As you can see, my work with it is not that time intensive if you're worried about that.

Those of you interested in doing this, contact me and I'll send an e-mail out to all those members who live in your area. If they're interested in doing this, I'll have them contact you directly to facilitate it. Smooth sailing!

It's great publicity for Nancy Drew and our group. It would be so nice to see this being done in other areas in 2010 for the 80th. Besides discussing the books you guys can go book hunting and plan parties and visits to see each other's collections. The sky's the limit!

NANCY DREW AT UCSD:

If you're nearby or in San Diego, the Univ. of San Diego is putting on a Nancy Drew exhibit in August - 1st through 31st with Nancy Drew collectibles/books on display. They're having live events on August 15 and 17 with lots of fun stuff going on including a "radio" interview with me where they'll phone me and we'll chat for the audience to hear!

Here's a blurb from their website which has the dates/times/directions:

"This summer, we celebrate all things Nancy Drew. Does she represent ''girl power'' better than any other pop icon? Is she our favorite feminist? This exhibit of Nancy Drew books, Nancy Drew memorabilia and serious Nancy Drew scholarship will feature a live event with refreshments prepared from the Nancy Drew Cookbook. At the live event, classic Nancy Drew mysteries will be performed in the style of old time radio drama entertainment. Actors from San Diego's Write Out Loud project will assist. Sounds & music provided by Scott Paulson and the Teeny-Tiny Pit Orchestra. A live phone-in radio interview with Nancy Drew expert Jenn Fisher is featured at the live events."

THE SLEUTH: JULY/AUGUST '09 + SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL:

Our July/August '09 issue of The Sleuth goes to print next week. For anyone interested in subscribing, check out our zine.

BACK ISSUE SPECIAL: Any issue just $5.00! or 5/$20.00 through August 31st.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Article in NY Times Sunday 7-19

I was interviewed this week for a NY Times piece that's now up online. Will be in this Sunday's NY Times paper --Sun. July 19th.

I talked about with the writer about all things Nancy and there's an interesting quote from me that made it into the article.

Here's the link:

NY Times Nancy Drew Article

And it does mention Nancy Drew fan conventions so maybe we'll get some Googling to find us as a result. I'm not sure if the print edition will have more images or links in it. Looking forward to seeing a copy.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew on Good Morning America

On Monday of this week, I heard from a producer at Good Morning America (ABC) that they were doing a piece on Nancy Drew. With many famous women being inspired by Nancy Drew, they were trying to get to the bottom of that phenomenon. They wanted to see if I would be interested in being interviewed and have my collection be filmed, provide book covers and so forth.

And they wanted to come Tuesday morning ;) Of course, I was thrilled and happy that most of my collection was already set up still so I didn't have to get out a lot of extra things. I have a lot of misc. items like novelties and hand crafted items and paper ephemera that aren't displayed as I really don't have a great way right now to do so, so a lot of that is boxed up. Some of my books are boxed too and the books/series by Mildred Wirt Benson are stored.

2 freelance guys--Travis and Charlie--came out to film. One filmed, the other was the sound tech. They spent about an hour setting up the equipment--lots of cables, cameras, lights, and stuff! Then GMA called in on speaker phone fed to me through an ear piece hidden by my hair and I spoke to the producer for about 15 minutes answering questions. I had to look off camera at the sound guy so I wouldn't look directly at the camera. They put me on this bar stool so the camera angle was kind of from below which is in my opinion not too flattering ;) In one segment my right side of my nose looks larger than my left. Uggh :)

After the interview, they filmed some of the books in the collection. They had me pull some that Sonia Sotomayor might have read as a child which I narrowed down by her age and when she'd have been around 8 and then determined the first 42 to 43 books would have been available during her reading years.

I also read a passage from one of the books and some quotes from my book which never made it to air. I was filmed walking to my shelves and picking some books off the shelf and thumbing through them. Thumbing through them while standing at a table--some of that made it in. And filmed coming down the stairs as he filmed my Staircase painting at the same time.

I had the large felt banner with the black silhouette of Nancy we've used at past Nancy Drew conventions hanging and they imposed that in the piece over some book covers. They also filmed the orange silhouette endpapers which they used to impose over the White House.

They had me send them some images of villains and Nancy and those made it in. I also sent them images of Mildred and Harriet which they didn't use. All in all they filmed for nearly 2 hours for what you can see goes into a small 3 minute or so segment. Lots to work with. Lots left on the cutting floor.

It was a nice experience and I had a lot of fun doing it!

Jenn:)