I was tagged over on MySpace for this.  Thanks, Zinnia.  LOL

1. Number of books I own - 300+, not sure really, but I know there’s at least that many.

2.  Last book I read - Sudden Pleasures by Bertrice Small.  It was all right, but not as good as the first two in the series.

3. Ten books that mean a lot to me -

a. Sheik by Connie Mason - This was the first historical romance I ever read and I’ve been hooked ever since.

b. Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Medeiros - I wrote to Teresa to ask her when her next book would be out.  She used my last name as her heroine’s name.   

c. A Real Husband - This was the first book I wrote.  It’s been revised again and again, but it will be published this fall. 

d. How Faerie Dust Is Made - This was the first book I had published.  I found a new publisher for it a few weeks ago and it will be available again around November. 

e. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein - This was the first science fiction/fantasy type book I read and I loved it. 

f.  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain - This was the first time-travel type book I read.  

g. The Bible - While I’m not bible-thumping fanatic and my views on how it should be interpreted often differ dramatically from others, there was a time when it was my only source of comfort and support.  I wouldn’t be here today without it. 

h. Fire Cloud by Cassie Edwards - To date, this is the worst romance novel I’ve ever read.  It was the one that pushed me to write.  I thought, “Even I could do better than that.” 

i.  Tender Fury by Connie Mason - This was the only one of Connie’s 40+ books that I didn’t like.  And it was because I hated the hero.  But it’s also the book that proves an author can evoke very strong feelings from the reader if she writes vivid characters, settings, plots, and emotions. 

j.  The Wagonmaster - This is the working title of my current work in progress.  It’s very important to me right now because I’m trying to finish it and I think it will be some of my best work yet. 

4.  Tag 5 people  Hmmm…. Who do I think might do this?  And more importantly, who’s list of important books would I really like to see? 

Highland Lassie
Seeley deBorn
Fun2bwif
Kelley
Lainey 

Those are MySpace friends, btw.  

That wasn’t too bad.  In fact, it was kinda fun. 

Nita

I meant to do this last week and it slipped my mind.  But better late than never. 

My online RWA Chapter, Celtic Hearts Romance Writers, announced the winners of the Golden Claddagh contest. 

2007 First Annual Golden Claddagh Winners

Historical

1st Elaine Powell - A Lord’s Obligations
2nd Judy Ridgely - Threatened Loyalties
3rd Cynthia Arends - Lord Andrew’s Match
*Honorable Mention - Ruth Ram – Wicked Game

Romantic Suspense

1st Cathy Perkins - The Professor
2nd Faye Hughes - To Kill a Greek
3rd Terri Richison - Deadly Inheritance
*Honorable Mention – Debra Andrews – Dangerous Paradise
*Honorable Mention – CJ Ernise Earth’s Only Paradise

Fantasy Futurisitc & Paranormal

1st Tracey O’Hara - Night’s Cold Kiss
2nd Cathy Leming - Angels at Almack’s
3rd Mary Worden – Hidden Truth
*Honorable Mention – Gail Francis – Birthmark

Contemporary

1st Kerensa Brougham - The Princess Shoppe
2nd Paul LaFerriere & Dorrie Parini - Hard Wiring
3rd Kerensa Brougham - Publish or Perish
*Honorable Mention – Sue Dickinson – Her Sisters Husband

Mainstream with Romantic Elements

1st Leslie Tentler - Say Nothing
2nd Lorrie Kruse - A Life Worth Living
3rd Deborah Nemeth - Wronging Mr. Right
*Honorable Mention – Tanya Freedman – Tangled Chains
*Honorable Mention – Kristina McMorris – Flaherty’s Crossing

***

Congrats to all of the finalists and winners!

Nita

I just love to play around with pretty or unusual fonts.  One of my favorite fonts is Lucida Calligraphy and I’ve used it on my web site.

But unfortunately, without Lucida Calligraphy installed on your computer, when you view my site it appears to be done in plain old Times New Roman.    Here’s what much of the lettering on my site should like like:

Compare that to the Times New Roman and there’s a major diffence!  TNR is not pretty.  And even worse, I’ve yet to find a place where you can download Lucida Calligraphy for free.  It came with one of my programs, but I’m not sure which one.  You can get it here for $20, which is the cheapest I’ve found. 

I’ve also recently discovered a couple of new fonts I think are pretty cool.  They’re on the cover of How Faerie Dust Is Made.  See the previous blog post for a picture.  The top lettering is called Carolingia.  And the lettering at the bottom is Morris Roman.  Both are categorized as Celtic fonts.  I’ve used Morris Roman on my site when I type the title of How Faerie Dust Is Made to match the cover. 

But again, if you don’t have these fonts installed, it looks like plain old boring font.  LOL  The good news is that both of these fonts are available in a free download.  Yay!  Go to http://www.dafont.com/.  Search for the fonts (Carolingia and Morris Roman) and download the file by saving it to your desk top.  Then right click on the new icon and click “Extract All.”  The extraction wizard will pop up and you extract the files to your font folder which is usually C://WINDOWS/Fonts, but you can click “browse” to find the correct folder. 

Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to see the difference in how the lettering is displayed on my site and any others who use that font.  Note:  You may have to close, reopen, and/or refresh the page before the font display changes. 

I wish there were a free download for Lucida Calligraphy.  Everyone should have that font.  LOL  It’s just too pretty to do without.    There are lots of free font sites.  I just listed the one above because it’s easy to use and they have LOTS of different fonts.  It’s also easy to find the type of font you want by clicking on the “Theme” link.  Want a scary looking font?  Check under Halloween in the Holiday section.  Want something more futuristic?  Take a look under Sci-Fi in the Techno section.

Just be warned:  While you can use these fonts for any of your printing projects or as text in picture files, if you use them on your web site, only people who have the same font installed will be able to view it as you intended. 

So what about you?  Do you have a favorite font? 

Nita 

OMG!  I just got my new cover for How Faerie Dust Is Made.  It’s so cool!  I’m doing a little happy dance.    Take a look:

Well?  What you think?

Nita

There’s a chat tonight at Enspiren Press. It’s called The Inspired Author Chat and it happens every Friday.

It’s at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.  This will be my first time to join in, but I’m told that the chats are very interesting and informative for readers AND writers. 

First time Enspiren chat users should register here. If you get a chance, stop by and say “hi.”

Nita