Mabel Maney, her cheeks flushed, lay back like a contented kitten on her comfy bed. A recent back injury had left her bedridden, but her hair was neatly combed, her nightclothes were fetching, and she had just finished eating a warm, nutritious meal.

"Hey! I'll have the time to write a book while my back heals!"

In 1993, San Francisco visual artist Mabel Maney published the first of her Nancy Clue series, The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse (Cleis Press), starring wide-eyed heroines Nurse Cherry Aimless and famous girl detective Nancy Clue. It was the book that dared to answer that long-standing question about Nancy Drew and the lesser-known Cherry Ames: "Was she or wasn't she?"