October 2009 E-News & Clues

Contact E-mail: sleuths@ndsleuths.com

http://ndsleuths.blogspot.com

Hi Sleuths,

I've got a lot of stuff to go over in this month's E-News & Clues Blog since we didn't have one last month. Remember, next year is Nancy Drew's 80th anniversary! Be looking for lots of goodies in our November/December Blogs about the 80th.

Sale at our Cafe Press Shop: $10.00 off an order of $50 or more through 10-29, use code GIVEMETEN.

IN THIS E-NEWS & CLUES: Sleuth Shop Reminder, Convention Leftovers For Sale Cheap!, Absentee Registration for 2010/2010 Convention Registration info and deadlines, 2010 Convention Advertising/Sponsoring, 2010 Nancy Drew calendars, Alicia Klein Nancy Drew Leather Accessories, and The Sleuth: Sept./Oct. '09 + Subscriber Special.

SLEUTH SHOP REMINDER:

Remember at our website in the "members only" section, you can find a lot of our new Vintage Drew merchandise discounted already with your 15% off--log in and visit the shop there!

CONVENTION LEFTOVERS FOR SALE CHEAP! :

I have a number of Nancy Drew mini buttons (pins) left over-1" in diameter and also neat Nancy Drew porcelain ornaments that are 2 7/8" in diameter. You can view them at the website:

(http://www.ndsleuths.com/nancydrewshop6.html)

They're normally 2.49 each for the buttons and 10.00 each for the ornaments but here's my sale:

1.50 each for the mini buttons or 5/5.00 or 10/10.00
2/10.00 on the ornaments

Shipping extra based on weight.

If interested, e-mail me (sleuths@ndsleuths.com) back with your order.

ABSENTEE REGISTRATION FOR 2009 & 2010 CONVENTIONS:

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

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 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 land registration discount if you register by Oct. 31. Deadline to book for land is Jan. 15. Deadline to book for cruise is Dec. 1st, 2009. The block expires Dec. 1, after that, any space that is available will be at higher rates--quoted daily. No guarantees!

Click here to register for land. Sing up for the cruise here.

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! We take Pay Pal (nancydrewsleuth@aol.com) or send checks to:

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

2010 NANCY DREW CALENDARS:

I'm selling the 2010 Nancy Drew Engagement Calendars here and at my website. I'm doing pre-orders again as I'm all sold out right now. They will ship end of last week of November, once I get a new shipment 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.

ALICIA KLEIN NANCY DREW LEATHER
ACCESSORIES ORDER INFO:

Ok, got some scoops on the Nancy Drew leather accessories by Alicia Klein:

Code to save 25%: NDS2009

Products are due in CA by mid-Nov. She has a limited amount of the Nancy Drew taxi wallets (they're really cool!) on hand right now. She suggested that those of you interested go ahead and e-mail/and or call to get your name on a waiting list for the products. The reason being, that they are only producing limited quantities right now as a test product for some of the items and they want to get an idea of interest before doing more. So, my suggestion is to call and/or e-mail quickly. Here's the info you need:

info@AliciaKlein.com and phone number (800) 735-2512. She said it would be very helpful when e-mailing to include your full name, mailing address, and phone number. If you do e-mail I would suggest following up with a phone call. Be sure to mention the discount code!

THE SLEUTH: SEPTEMBER/OCTOVER '09
+ SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL:

Our September/October '09 issue of The Sleuth is ready. For anyone interested in subscribing, check out our zine here.

BACK ISSUE SPECIAL: Any issue just 5.00! or 5/20.00 through November 30. There's a handy form at the website to print out and mail in and we have buttons to subscribe or order issues directly at the website.

Jenn:)

AZ Sleuths Book Discussion Group: The Secret at Shadow Ranch & The Secret of Red Gate Farm

Our AZ Sleuths met again, Saturday October 24th at B&N for our next book discussion meeting. Attending were myself and Tina, Beth Marie, Laura, Sherry, Leone, Arlene, Heather, Dede, and Judy.

Our assigned books were #5 The Secret at Shadow Ranch and #6 The Secret of Red Gate Farm. Most people who read the originals and the revised versions preferred the writing style of the originals with more depth and characterization but liked the revised story line of Shadow Ranch better with the treasure hunt and phantom horse. They felt like the revision had more of a mystery than the original.

Heather noted all of the major coincidences in Red Gate Farm which were a lot of coincidences! :)

We discussed Sleuth business and news and also decided we'll resurrect our Shadow Ranch theme for a local convention here in AZ sometime in the next year or two.

Members of the AZ group will be coming to the house on the 30th for my Nancy Drew The Secret in the Old Attic Halloween party with a Nancy Drew treat bag exchange. Our next meeting is in December and Judy is also throwing a Christmas party at her house with a Nancy Drew ornament exchange.

Jenn:)

2009 Bouchercon Mystery Convention Begins!

The 2009 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention has begun in Indianapolis, IN from Oct. 15-18! Sleuth member and author Penny Warner will be at the event, doing a great craft activity! Some of our Nancy Drew Sleuths members are attending as well. Would love a report on how much fun you all have :)

Our fan group is advertising in their program for membership and our 2010 Nancy Drew convention in Florida/Bahamas.

Jenn:)

September/October 2009 Issue of The Sleuth

Our September/October issue is ready--mailing out on Friday! Check it out online and order back issues/subscribe.

Issue Contents:

Calling All Sleuths: Editor's Note By Jennifer Fisher

The Clue Conundrum: Bewitching Match Game

Nancy Drew Sleuths & The Forgotten City Mystery: Convention Report By Jennifer Fisher

The Nancy Drew Crookbook Part VII By Caroline Stellings

Series Spotlight: Kay Couldn't Get Any Respect By Dawn Allen

Nancy Drew: A Canadian Perspective – Review By Anthony Fournier

Deconstructing The Digests – Debunking The Misconceptions Surrounding The Nancy Drew Paperbacks #85 – The Secret of Shady Glen By Todd H. Latoski

Series Spotlight: Penny Parker By Faye Kisker

Crazy Eights with Michael G. Cornelius – Jane, Stewardess of the Airlines By Michael G. Cornelius

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries: A Look Back at TV's First Nancy Drew: Episode 2.4 (18) – The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom Part I By Todd H. Latoski

Nancy Drew News

Cleverly Crafted Nancy Drew Invitations

All The Gossip That's Fit To Print: Sleuths Chat About The Sleuth Convention

In Our Next Issue…

2010 Nancy Drew 80th Convention Blurb

Nancy Drew Sleuths Merchandise Shop

Nancy Drew's Survival Guide: Sleuth Lesson #19

The Scoop on Upcoming Issues, Clue Conundrum Answers

Classic Nancy Drew Book Illustrations Series #7: The Clue in the Diary

Jenn:)

September 2009 E-News & Clues

Sorry guys, there was no Sept. 2009 E-News & Clues Blog--I was so overwhelmed with convention plans I had no time to get it done. So, look for a larger October E-News & Clues in a week or so.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Sleuths 2009 Convention Recap

Jenn & Mary at Nancy Drew Disco Party

Disregarding a warning from Fleetfoot Joe to “Stay out of Nevada,” members of the Nancy Drew Sleuths converged upon Las Vegas for our 2009 convention held September 30 – October 4. Between searching for the Forgotten City, disco Nancy Drew-style, CSI: ND, and a Sleuth Survivor challenge, the week was a whirlwind! Read on for more of our adventures…

Wednesday, September 30: Nancy Drew Disco Meet & Greet Party

We donned bell bottoms, platform boots, wigs, and psychedelic patterns to converge on the Bristol Suite at the ESPN Zone restaurant at the NY NY Hotel and Casino. Our mission was to recreate a 1970s Nancy Drew atmosphere complete with disco ball, disco tunes, and a montage of 1970s covers, internals, and groovy 70’s speak playing on half a dozen large screen TVs in the room.

Mary G's Nancy Drew Bell Bottoms

Our Meet & Greet Party was complete with yummy appetizers and entrees as well as Bess’s favorite—desserts! Present were myself, my mom Linda, Amanda, Lea, Garrett, Dean, Mary T., Mary G., Anne, Marilyn, Brittany, Ellen, Kelly, Meredith, Christine, Lisa, Karen, Elizabeth, A.B., Judy, Dede, Laura, Arlene, Kathy, Patricia, Bob, Maria, Patrick, Kathleen, and Gudrun.

AB, Elizabeth, & Meredith Strike a Pose

Giveaways, info packets, and goody bags were given out. Goody bags included neat pins from Popcorn Posters, Beware! A snake/lizard warning, whistle/compass containers to wear at the Sleuth Survivor challenge, Forgotten City pins, and a really neat leather bookmark from new Nancy Drew licensee Alicia Klein (www.aliciaklein.com) complete with images of Nancy and quotes with a space to put a photo.

Lea & Amanda

Thursday, October 12, 2009: Forgotten City Day

Our main theme was the classic Nancy Drew book, #52 The Secret of the Forgotten City written by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Since our goal is to walk in Nancy Drew’s footsteps, we bused up to the Valley of Fire and the Lost City Museum which Harriet visited for research and which Nancy and her chums visited in the book. Upon our arrival at the Lost City Museum in Overton, Nevada, we were greeted by museum staff and curator Katherine Olson.

The Whole Gang at The Lost City Museum

A large banner was hanging out front welcoming our group to the museum. A local woman had made the sign and another had made us a delicious spice cake and punch. We listened to a talk by Ms. Olson who compared things in the Forgotten City book to what was around and inside the museum. We took group photos by Indian dwellings and browsed through the museum and gift shop. After purchases were made, we entered the residence attached to the museum for a talk given by Ann Sandstrom who was present during Harriet and Nancy Axelrad’s visit.

She spoke about meeting Harriet and Nancy and of their visit and pointed us to things in the museum that inspired Harriet and mentioned a colorful local character who most likely inspired the villain Fleetfoot Joe named Valley of Fire Charlie.

After our museum visit, we lunched at Sugar’s in Overton – a local mom and pop restaurant featuring delicious sandwiches, burgers, salads, and soups. During our lunch there, I was sitting at the counter with Patricia when a man approached me. He asked about our group and told me he had the Forgotten City book that Harriet Adams sent to the museum once it was published—signed. His father in law had been the museum’s curator at the time. It had been given to his daughter, the curator’s granddaughter, who sadly died tragically in 1991. The family had been holding on to it for sentimental reasons. He brought the book inside for us to see and we took photos of it and Harriet’s signature. It was a nice surprise and a nice way to wrap up our visit to Overton and the museum.

Balance Rock at Valley of Fire - From Cover of Forgotten City

After lunch, we converged upon the Valley of Fire making a stop at a nice area for pictures—Seven Sisters—and then headed to the Visitor’s Center where you can hike to the Balance Rock—featured on the cover of Forgotten City. The gift shop inside provided some souvenirs for members and there was a nice museum of sorts for everyone to learn about the history of the area.

Our last stop at the Valley of Fire was at the Mouse’s Tank where you can hike in about a fourth of a mile to the Mouse’s

Tank and view Petroglyphs on the walls along the way. This location is mentioned in the Forgotten City book. It was here that we participated in our Sleuth Survivor challenge. We had formed 3 tribes (like the CBS show Survivor) at the Meet & Greet: Nancy tribe, Bess tribe, and George Tribe. Each member had a colorful buff with our Sleuth Survivor Logo to wear. Nancy was blue, Bess pink, and George green. The challenge was laid out in four parts and members of each tribe were divided up for each challenge. The first group in the parking lot had to untie a rope that was wrapped and tied around a bag of puzzle pieces. Upon untying the bag, the next group took the puzzle pieces to a location at the start of the hiking trail by their flag to assemble them. Once assembled, the next group used Mrs. Wabash’s dictionary to decipher the petroglyph symbols on the puzzle—each petroglyph representing a letter. The letters were unscrambled to reveal: Go To Mouse’s Tank. The last group from each tribe took their flag and hiked into the Mouse’s Tank, took a photo with the flag, and the first team to hike back and cross the finish line won a prize!

George Tribe Wins Reward: Her Interactive Computer Games

As I was setting up and dodging pesky bees (that stung Amanda and my mom), a woman was coming off the trail and asked if we were doing a Survivor challenge - I told her it was a Nancy Drew Sleuth Survivor challenge—she thought that was so cool. Once the challenge began the Nancy and George tribes were almost neck and neck and the George team deciphered their puzzle just moments before the Nancy tribe did. The Bess tribe followed several minutes later. After about 15 minutes, we caught sight of Ellen and Brittany, hiking (or should I say jogging!) for the George tribe heading back on the trail. They crossed the finish line and the tribe was awarded computer games from Her Interactive: Ransom of the Seven Ships and the Dossier game Resorting to Danger. Everyone who participated was also given a mini book made by Lorraine Rogers of Forgotten City. I thought it was ironic that life imitated art in that the George and Nancy tribes were off and running and the Bess tribe was lagging behind.

After a stop at McDonald’s for refreshments, we headed back to Las Vegas and met for dinner at the Excalibur Buffet. Some members participated in a Knight’s Sword choose your own adventure challenge throughout the hotel that evening. Knights and chocolates were awarded to those who found me out front of the hotel next to a Knight.

Friday, October 2: CSI: ND

Before members were let loose to do whatever they wished for the rest of the day and evening (as they say what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas—unless Nancy Drew’s on the case!), we met for a CSI: Nancy Drew challenge at the hotel. In our challenge, 4 teams visited miniature crime scenes to solve a mystery. A Nancy Drew villain had come to life and was burglarizing homes of 4 Nancy Drew collectors. To discover the villain, they had to search for footprints, fingerprints, decode numbers found, and look for invisible letters to unscramble with a black light. Clues led to them discovering that it was Bushy Trott from The Secret in the Old Attic who was the culprit. Two young girls from a local school joined us along with their chaperone from the school and had a lot of fun. They filmed the event for their video broadcast they play at the school.

Following our mini CSI event, we headed to the MGM Grand hotel for CSI: The Experience in which we went through crime scenes, noted evidence, and then processed various pieces of evidence in labs in order to discover the identity of the suspect who committed a crime. It was a neat attraction that has just opened there—and I recommend it to anyone visiting Vegas. Once we solved the case, we checked out the gift shop and signed up to receive our CSI diplomas via e-mail.

At 7pm, my mom and I met up with Kelly, Mary, Garrett, Meredith, Christine, Kathy, and Dean at the hotel’s steakhouse for dinner—and they gave us a small private room to dine in, which was perfect. Good conversation and food rounded out the evening.

Dave Farah & Rubber Chicken

Saturday, October 3: Nancy Drew Sleuth Convention Day

Today was the big convention day. And it began too early for this “night owl” at 5:30am—whaa! Set up went quick and we had a nice large room and plenty of table space to spread our Nancy Drew raffle items which benefited the Las Vegas-Clark County Library. We raffled off some of the props from the week’s events: Survivor Flags/puzzles, 70s party decorations, and the CSI: ND miniature crime scenes. I had merchandise from Café Press and crafty Nancy Drew items for sale and Lea brought neat crafty items too.

Forty girls from the local school came with ten chaperones and they were very excited to be at the convention and learn about Nancy Drew! With our members and guests, we had about 85 in all attending. Speaking were myself (about Forgotten City and Harriet’s research plus Nancy Drew 101 for the kids), Lea (Nancy Drew in French Translation), Dean (BOLO Books – Be On the Look Out), and David Farah (The Mysterious Appearances of Rubber Chickens in Nancy Drew Mystery Stories). We had a snack break in the afternoon of various desserts and fresh fruit and presented David Farah with our Sleuth Award.

A funny story – when David signed up to speak, he jokingly gave me his speech title—and I took him literally and threw up the title on the website. I kept wondering what he was up to with these “mysterious rubber chickens” and it turned out even with his humorous prop of rubber chickens and rubber chicken key chains for the school girls, that there are no rubber chickens in Nancy Drew mysteries. HA! He instead spoke about how he got into Nancy Drew collecting and related interesting stories from over the years including the reason why Mildred Wirt Benson said she was so sick of Nancy Drew she could vomit. It was great and everyone enjoyed it very much. He gave out envelopes to everyone who had to literally say The Password to Larkspur Lane which had a mixture of Nancy Drew modeling shots that Rudy Nappi took when creating the Nancy Drew covers. Everyone poured over theirs trying to figure out which covers they came from. One of mine was the cover shot for The Secret of the Forgotten City which thrilled me since that was our theme.

Brittany & Ellen Scrapbooking Nancy Style

Following our convention, we participated in a scrapbooking activity put on by Sleuths Judy and Dede to create a Nancy Drew convention scrap page with space for a photo. Everyone enjoyed the event and it went off very well. Our first crafty activity. Look for Nancy Drew sleuth kits with Penny Warner in 2010!

After setting up for the mystery dinner party—a 1947 gangster theme set at the old Flamingo Casino in Vegas—I changed into my costume complete with a large white and black feather boa. And as everyone said, if I’d committed a crime that night, I would have been caught immediately, as I was molting everywhere I went. A trail of black and white feathers followed me from Tower 2 in the hotel to the 3rd floor meeting rooms and all over. I wasn’t responsible for any feathers found in the food either!

Dean & Jenn's Molting Feather Boa

Our decorating crew had decked out the room in pink flamingos, decks of cards, and poker chips featuring the silhouette of Nancy Drew. Our red felt panels with the 2 sets of silhouettes of Nancy and the 3 girls from the endpapers used at the 2005 conventions made a nice backdrop for photos. In the center of each table was a Nancy Drew silhouette hurricane that glowed from the candle inside. The food was Italian and we had 5 suspects who participated in skits throughout the evening. Dean was mobster Meyer Lansky, Garrett was mobster Gus Greenbaum, Mary was mobster Molly Capone, and Elizabeth and A.B. were mobsters Virginia Hill and Bugsy Siegel’s ghost. We alternated with evidence reports from Nancy Drew and everyone had a chance to solve the mystery of who committed the casino heist. It was Virginia! Laura won free land convention registration for next year for her correct solution.

Lea and Amanda ran our gift exchange and many neat hand-crafted Nancy Drew items were exchanged including towels, paper bag albums, textiles, decoupaged boxes, items made from Nancy Drew fabric, and Nancy’s blue convertible. Gudrun presented me with a neat Swedish anniversary edition Nancy Drew book that I’ll treasure as my first Swedish book. David Farah spoke and related more stories to the crowd and gave out more of those neat modeling shots, copies of the Nancy Drew Cameos flyer, and the original text outline for The Bungalow Mystery.

Some of us met for breakfast the next morning before heading off in search of other adventures. All in all, I think it was a great convention and everyone seemed to have a really good time. Quite a few of us are meeting up in just six months in Florida for mystery and mayhem—might you join us? If you do, grab your magnifying glass and blaze a trail in your snappy roadsters, for it’s going to be an exciting 2010 celebration of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys that you won’t want to miss!

Jenn:)