"...to peer gently into the light of your hearts."

Reminds me of a certain author... Things are getting into full swing here at Her Interactive. The closer we get to Christmas break, the busier it gets! We have so many loose ends to tie up. Message board rules, Venice design elements, holiday Nancy Drew accessories, and general housecleaning.

We've also been very lucky to have Intern Ian (who is actually no longer an intern) helping us out this year. He's worked very closely with me on the Her Interactive and Cody Capers website in addition to a million other things. :) He also happened to be the judge for the Nancy Drew Comparison Essay contest and had a very tough time picking the winner for the picture cameo appearance. I asked him to give our fans some insight into his thought process for the contest, and he actually wrote quite a bit:

"Intelligence, craftiness, and wit are just a few of the many categories we often associate with Nancy. With this contest I wanted to impress some of the same elements into the minds and hearts of all the contestants. I encouraged everyone to learn something new, research all the facts, and create something inspirational. My canvas of choice was comparative essays. Nancy is a hero to all of us, but I wondered if someone real (non-fictional) could embody all, or at least most, of her qualities. Is there or has there ever been, a person among us that could match up to her greatest strengths? That was the heart of this contest..."
Read more contest judging criteria

Figgy Pudding

Our company holiday party is on Wednesday and I'm so excited! We have lots of festive decorations, food, and gift exchange planned. The gift exchange is what we call White Elephant. Everyone brings a wrapped gift and then everyone draws a number to see who gets to pick a gift first. The first person selects a gift and opens it. The second person can then either choose take the first person's gift or open another gift. If the second person chooses to take the unwrapped gift, then the person who originally had the gift can choose another gift. And so on and so on until everyone has chosen either a wrapped or unwrapped gift. It's interesting to see which gifts are the most popular. I wonder if we'll have pictures - I'll make it a point to bring my camera!

Anonymous Fan Question:
Will we ever see Ned in one of the games?

Tough question! Well, does anyone really want to see Ned in the games? I know we showed the Hardy Boys, but sometimes characters are best left to our imagination. Perhaps players will be able to play as Ned so he's more than just a phone friend, but I don't know if we'd be able to bring him to life perfectly. I think that playing as Bess was fun for a lot of fans and I think that playing as Ned could be a great way for giving him a bigger part of the mystery to solve.

PS - I spelled everything correctly before using spellcheck today! :)

Water Rising

Sorry for the absence - we hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Things are a little crazy here at the office. It's raining locked doors and unintelligible clues here in Seattle and we've been evacuated from our office. You see, we all have wonderful views of a slough and wetland teaming with wildlife, including herons, rabbits, beavers, salmon, and wood peckers, here at Her Interactive. However, with all of the rain in the past few days, the slough has risen above the banks and is currently flooding the parking lot of the office complex. The rains are forecasted to continue through tomorrow, but in the meantime, the building maintenance has gated the entrance and sent us home to safety. We're on the second floor of the building, so don't worry about us - we'll be fine. We just hope all the wildlife and neighbor tenants also escape unscathed. On the bright side, it should be yet another great ski season in the Northwest!

The essay contest to compare Nancy to a famous/historical (non-fictional) role model is well underway. We've received lots of excellent essays already! Tthe deadline to send your entries to webmaster@herinteractive.com for a chance to have your picture in the next Nancy Drew game is December 17, 2007. Good luck!
Essay contest details