Happy New Year! We are off to a fantastic new beginning! I spent the better part of last year preparing for, kicking off and then traveling from city to city on my book tour. Running against the clock and never getting into the correct time zone, the chal-lenge was how to remain bright and fresh without getting any sleep! The results are in: The BOOK IS A HIT!!! A first-time author who sells 10,000 copies has done a pretty good job; the publisher will have made its money back and you can bet another book will be in the near future. My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy has sold 68,000 copies to date and the bookstores continue to order more and more!!! I am having a ball, continuing with my book signings and lecture tour. The fans have seemed to love it but not nearly as much as I love doing it. This issue is dedicated to the tour and the fans that made it so much fun. Thanks, guys!!

For the nonce,*

*for the time being; for now

Nancy recently returned from a whirlwind book tour promot-ing her new book, My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy. The tour consisted of visiting bookstores, greeting fans, signing books, and doing numerous interviews with national and local media.

The tour was launched in Kettering, Ohio, where Nancy was welcomed by a very enthusiastic crowd at a luncheon sponsored by The Dayton Ad Club. A record-breaking 300 people attended, giving all their attention to guest of honor and hometown girl, Bart Simpson. Nancy enjoyed sharing with the crowd some personal anecdotes about how much growing up in Kettering had influenced her life.

At the luncheon, Mayor Marylou Smith presented Nancy with a proclamation from the City officially naming November 2, 2000, ”Nancy Cartwright Day.”

Said Nancy, “I am genuinely moved by this gesture. Kettering was so good to me. I intend to continue coming back and helping out my hometown that helped me so much. Thank you all.”

Perhaps even more surprised was Nancy’s dad, Frank, who was asked by his daughter to join her on stage. Nancy presented him with a 16” ceramic platter with Bart hand-painted on it. “

I made this for you, Dad, because you are my biggest fan and the best dad this ‘boy’ could ever have.” Not a dry eye in the house.

That evening, Nancy was greeted by about 400 more fans at the Dayton bookstore, Books & Co. She gave a 20-minute speech and sounded off with some favorite quotes of the characters that she does on the show and the audience loved it.

Next stop was New York City. Nancy visited book-stores in Manhattan, New Jersey and Long Island. Drawing crowds of no less than 200 people at a shot, Nancy signed books, chatted with fans and gobbled up the Big Apple. Then on to London where she was joined by Francine DeVette, the head of Nancy’s entertainment company, who made sure that all went smoothly on a jam-packed schedule of signings, interviews and promo-tions. Public Relations Exec and all-around-good-guy, Colin Midson from Bloomsbury, one of the top publishers in England, was their official escort and bag handler throughout the U.K. and territories.

The first-class flight back to L.A. afforded them a well earned rest, but the break didn’t last long. Back in the U.S.A., Nancy hit the ground running, signing books at stores in Hollywood, Northridge, Costa Mesa, Portland and Las Vegas, before returning to New York to be on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” Once back home again, she visited the animators, writers and musicians of The Simpsons to give out complimentary books in appre-ciation for their hard work.

All told, Nancy’s 17-stop tour was a huge success, resulting in the sale of more than 68,000 books world-wide. Nancy continues to do book signings and lectures, but at a more leisurely pace. You can read and see more about it on her recently updated website: www.thenancyshow.com.