Girls, I Am Telling You, When It Comes To Mysteries, It All Begins With Nancy Drew!!!!!!!!!!

                                      Darlings, with its plethora of obscure and self-created publishers, mystery writing has become a cottage industry, from Greg Herren and Barbara Colley, with their New Orleans mysteries (Colley is the author of the Charlotte La Rue series, another New Orleans based sleuth, and I cannot wait to read those!!!!!) to what's-his-name??????????   Yet no one writing mysteries today, no matter who or what you are, can ignore the debt of gratitude they owe to.....Nancy Drew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      Aside from awakening some of us burgeoning gay boys to our sexual consciousness, Nancy Drew became the Twentieth Century template for mystery structure.  I dare say, even adult writers, following in her wake, were influenced by Nancy, when it came to detailing style, dress, manners, and sophistication!!!!   I learned so much from Nancy Drew that, by the time I was in fifth grade, I was ready to face the nightclub scene in Manhattan!!!!!!!!!  If only I had been able to, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     So, if you have not read Nancy at all, what better time to discover her than now??????   And, if you once did, it is time to discover her all over again!!!!!!!!!!!  And if you aspire to mystery authorship, you had damn well better read her, because if it weren't for Nancy, you wouldn't be here!!!!!!!!!

                                      And remember, girls, a car is called a roadster, and the midday meal is always called luncheon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!