Shana was born in Pennsylvania, but raised in Miramar, Florida, a suburban community between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. It was her mother who bought her the first three Trixie Belden books and suggested she read them, since the Nancy Drew collection had been exhausted. When she was 18 and on a trip to England, her mother cleaned out her room and gave the entire (complete) collection to charity. Shana survived, but kept the memory of Trixie, a soda and chocolate chip cookies warm in the back of her mind. Shana had always written stories of one kind or another, but when life got too stressful for her late in 1998, she started a Trixie Belden story of her own. In January 1999, she found the Trixie Belden Homepage and realized there might be a ‘market’ for her fan-fiction. With a nervous and trembling hand and the support of her devoted husband, Chris, she sent in her first story.
Shana holds to the unpopular opinion that Trixie’s true Soul Mate is Dan Mangan, not Jim Frayne. She holds to that opinion anyway. Her stories are adult in nature and mature in tone. They are NOT your mother’s Trixie Belden. Shana tries to envision and write a Trixie Belden Universe as realistically as possible and set it in the present-day modern world, while still preserving the essential personality of the series and the characters.
Shana’s stories will eventually encompass Trixie’s life from 15 – 30 years old. The first story in sequence is Have You Seen This Child? which introduces Anne Maypenny, an invented character. More than just an avatar for the author, Anne is used as a catalyst for conflict and change among the Bob Whites and Sleepyside. Shana writes her stories out of sequence, but always in continuity, moving from the teenage BWGs to the adult versions. Currently, Shana is busy completing her latest, full-length work, The Pleasure of Your Company, which deals with the complications and problems in the weeks leading up to Brian and Honey’s wedding.
My name isn’t going to be here. I like being anonymous. : ) But I can shed some light on my stories and what the future holds.
I’ve written three stories thus far; two mysteries and a "romance". I am a little depressed that I couldn’t make better mysteries for Trixie to solve, but I hope I improve someday. I am definitely a fan of the traditional. I like Jim with Trixie, Brian with Honey, and Mart with Di. I don’t promise an easy road to happiness for them, but I want them to wind up together eventually!
And I have no problem with Dan being with Hallie. I know some people don’t like Hallie, but I think she’s spirited and really very much like Trixie. Not exactly like her, of course, but there are similarities. And I think the differences are interesting.
I wrote The Wrong One on a whim. I thought it would be fun to throw Jim, who many people consider to be dull (not me!), together with Hallie, who I envision as having a wild streak. Never would Jim have ended up with Hallie, of course, because he knows Trixie is the one. I plan on using what happened in The Wrong One in a future story about Jim and Trixie. I’ve decided that so far all my stories are in the same Trixie universe, but The Wrong One takes place when the BWGs are older. Oh, and I never expected it to be controversial. I tried to be true to Jim's character, making sure he behaved honorably. I think Jim's great and I would never intentionally taint his character.
The other two stories take place in one long summer when Trixie is fifteen. I have a few more stories coming about that summer and then I have others planned for the following school year. Plus, more stories with the Bob-Whites as grown-ups as I indicated above. I have a goal to make the Mart-Di relationship much deeper. I hope I will succeed.
Right now, I’ve been working on the same story for several months. It’s entitled Mystery in Hollywood (a.k.a. The Movie Mystery). I have finished a good portion of it, but I’ve hit a brick wall for the moment.
Oh, and I know I’ve had the Bob-Whites traveling all over, but I am planning many stories that will take place in Sleepyside. The story I write after MiH will be one of them.
Hello. My name is Erin and I live in Clemson, South Carolina. One of my favorite Trixie moments is when they go to Virginia in the Emeralds, and the Bob-Whites go on about the honeysuckle and Southern mansions and accents and such--as any good South Carolinian will tell you, Virginia is hardly to be considered the Deep South!
Anyways, I started reading Trixie books after my mom recovered a huge box of them from my grandparents' attic. We like to go to antique stores and buy hardcover editions that we don't already own. In fact, searching for books was how I stumbled across this web-page. I became totally addicted to fanfic, and after a couple months decided to submit my first story.
I am, I must admit, a big Dan and Trixie fan; Dan was always my favorite for some reason. Most of my stories deal with the Bob-Whites in their late teens and early twenties, as this is my age range and anything else would sound too contrived on my part. My stories at this point (I've only written three after all) can stand on their own, but I am taking pains to make sure they are related, too. I love the stories that take place in Chicago, as I am a huge Chicago Cubs fan, and might write one later on, but I've only been there once so I'll need to go again and refresh my memory (and, oh I don't know, maybe drop by Wrigley for a few). Well, happy reading!
I'm a reporter and columnist for my hometown papers in southeastern Massachusetts. I first started reading Trixie Belden's in kindergarten or first grade, and they have been among my favorites ever since. I collect a bunch of kids mystery series, but Trixie has always been my favorites, second only to the Hardy Boys. I think it's because I was a tomboy as a kid, and have always been short. (My 11-year-old brother is my height.) Maybe it's because Trixie always seemd so real.Anyway, I've just started writing, and try to keep things traditional. They are going to get older, though, so expect more romance in future stories. I'm a huge traditionalist, so it will always be Jim and Trixie, plus I'm bringing Hallie in full-time for Dan. And the oldest ones will be heading off to my alma mater soon, but you'll have to wait and see where that is.
I am 38, married with 2 kids and a children's librarian. I clearly do not have time to
write, but Trixie didn't listen to my excuses and insisted I write her a story. Hopefully
she will continue to hound me (in the nicest possible way) so I will not leave her
hanging.
I started reading Trixie at about age ten, eek, that was 28 years ago! I loved the family
feel of the Bob Whites, the great adventures they had, the places they visited, the fun
activities they did and, gotta admit it, the great food they had! But the best part was
Trixie, she was such a realistic girl: so enthusiastic, stubborn, intelligent, and funny.
My brothers and sisters were not such a handful as Bobby, but I could definately identify
with her baby sitting duties.
Over the years I have often imagined how the Bob-Whites would grow up. If I visited some
place interesting, I would occasionally go so far as to wish someone would write a new
story set in that location. Little did I dream that other fans out there did give Trixie
and the Bob Whites new life and new adventures. What a thrill it was to find this site.
And an inspiration to write one of my own.
It may not be a surprise I loved the two mysteries (#8 and #9) in which the Bob-Whites
skated when you see I set my mystery in a skating rink. The Bob-Whites have grown up, and
in addition to the strange events happening at the rink (owned by Mr. Lynch) Trixie is
going to be dealing with some issues in her own life. As far as the Trixie with Dan vs
Trixie with Jim, I keep changing my mind. I wish Dan's character hadn't been
neglected so much in the book, but now that I am frantically juggling characters, I see
why the authors left some Bob-Whites out. Any way in this story Dan has a non Bob White
girlfriend (coincidently a librarian and puppeteer, maybe I just want Dan for myself!)
Well, thank you all for giving me an opportunity to try something new. Hope you like
Mysteries on Ice.