2/11/2005 Happy Heart Day, gentle readers. Nora and her valentine, aka "Mystery Man" or "Stan the Man," offer a whimsical stance on author Morgan Mandel's recently unveiled gallery of turtles. To check out the list of participating Hard Shell Word Factory authors, aka "turtles" -- their publisher's emblem is a multicolored turtle, as well as Morgan's debut suspense novel, TWO WRONGS, go to Morgan's Web site at http://www.morganmandel.com.     9/11/2005 In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, our thoughts are with those throughout the Gulf Coast who are struggling to recover and rebuild their lives, along with the animal victims. If you'd like to help, too, please consider visiting the Web sites of the American Red Cross at www.redcross.org or the American Humane Association at http://www.americanhumane.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pa_disaster_relief.     4/13/2005 Surprise! Nora attempted doing handsprings when she learned that readers had nominated her short story, "The Gargoyle Who Loved Me," in BEYOND THE MUNDANE: FLIGHTS OF MIND, for a 2004 PEARL (Paranormal Excellence Award for Romantic Literature) in the annual contest's Best Paranormal Novella or Short Story category. Readers nominated over 1,200 books this year, so Nora cherishes the finalist status for her very first published short story and thanks the voters. The finalists in the novella/short story category included: Enslaved by M.A. duBarry (Amber Quill Press) Just Desserts by M.A. duBarry (Amber Quill Press) Rocky Mountain Miracle by Christine Feehan (Pocket Books) The Gift Of Elan by Vivi Anna (Extasy Books) The Gargoyle Who Loved Me by Nora Santella (Mundania Press) Winter Born by Sherrilyn Kenyon (St. Martin's Press) Sherrilyn Kenyon won the PEARL in this category, but Nora is still thrilled to have had her work nominated for such a prestigious award and her name listed with such well known and top-notch authors. The finalists and winners in every PEARL category can be viewed at: http://paranormalromance.writerspace.com/PEARL2004/     2/18/2005 Lucky 13. Thanks for your vote. Nora's paranormal romance short story, "The Gargoyle Who Loved Me," published last year in the science-fiction-and-fantasy anthology, Beyond the Mundane: Flights of Mind, missed Top-Ten-finalist status by "a cat's whisker" in the recent Preditors & Editors Readers' poll. It tied for 13th place out of 80 nominees in the Short Story SF category, according to standings posted at: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/tally.html     11/11/2004 For readers of Realms of Fantasy magazine, the December 2004 issue with Frodo (actor Elijah Wood) from The Lord of the Rings movies on the cover has a full-page color ad on page 89 that features six books, including the Fantasy & SF anthology, Beyond the Mundane: Flights of Mind. Nora's short story, "The Gargoyle Who Loved Me," is among the 29 short stories included in the Flights anthology. The other books sharing the spotlight are by authors Linnea Sinclair, who also designed the ad, Rowena Cherry and S. A. Martin. Check it out at a news stand near you before Dec. 27. Nora would have preferred LOTR's Legolas (actor Orlando Bloom) on the RoF magazine cover, but there's a most satisfying photo of him on the inside Contents page.     9/1/2004 Congratulations to Terri P. from Hackettstown, N.J., who won the swan figurine from Nora's contest last month to mark the first-year anniversary of the publication of Guess Again. Terri correctly identified "Cameratismo" as the title page on the Web site where Nora has an animated sparkle in her eye. !     8/23/2004 Nora is one of several featured authors this month at The Romance Studio. Check it out at http://theromancestudio.com before August goes away. Don't miss out on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to read The Interview To End All Interviews With Yet Another Author Named Nora. Such a deal!     7/21/2004 To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the publication of Nora's award-nominated, romantic suspense book, Guess Again, by Hard Shell Word Factory, Nora will give away a 2 1/2-inch ivory swan figurine accented with 24 karat gold from The Lenox Fine China Collection to one lucky winner. Here's how to enter the contest: Search through Nora's Web site to find the lollipop photo that shows the animated "sparkle" in her eye. Write down the page title (for example, Bio, Excerpts, Links, etc.), along with your name in the body of your e-mail. Use "Swan Contest" as your subject heading. Send your entry to contest@norasantella.com. Only one entry per person, please. Contest will run through August 31. The winner will be randomly selected from entries with the correct answer and announced Sept. 1 on Nora's What's New? page.     6/10/2004 Reviewer Donna Zapf of eCataRomance considers Guess Again "a keeper" and rates it Four Stars. "Espionage, technology, gorgeous characters, passion and suspense, all blend to make Nora Santella's Guess Again, required romantic reading this summer!" To read the entire review, check out this link: http://www.ecataromance.com/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=111     5/6/2004 Want to increase your pulse rate without aerobic exercise and enjoy the process? On Friday, May 7, eCataRomance.com will feature a tantalizing "kiss" scene from Nora's book, Guess Again. It's one where the hero's fiery touch makes the heroine shiver with desire. Nora submitted the scene for your reading pleasure as a Smooch Award contender and you can rate it with stars numbering 1 to 5 by visiting www.ecataromance.com/html/index.php. Happy smooching!     4/12/2004 Nora's short story, "The Gargoyle Who Loved Me," is scheduled for publication in trade paperback and ebook format this month in the science-fiction/fantasy anthology, Beyond the Mundane: Flights of Mind, from Mundania Press, www.mundania.com. Nora wrote it as an affectionate tribute to paranormal romance stories and horror flicks, especially those populated by vampires, shapeshifters and bad boys. For a mini preview, check out Nora's Excerpts page. "Move over Laurell K. Hamilton. Nora Santella is about to claim the crown for penning sassy and sexy shapeshifters, vampires, werewolves and others you definitely want to bump into at night! The paranormal genre needs more heroines like Beryl Magia." ~ Linnea Sinclair, award winning author of FINDERS KEEPERS and GABRIEL'S GHOST, www.starfreighter.com     4/09/2004 Congratulations to the winner of the trade paperback copy of Guess Again in The Romance Studio's book-a-day-giveaway contest on April 8: Laurie Damron of Delaware, OH.     4/6/04 Nora Santella will give away a paperback copy of her contemporary romantic suspense book, Guess Again, a 2004 EPPIE finalist and double CAPA nominee, to the lucky winner of The Romance Studio's Book-a-Day giveaway on Thursday, April 8. To read a chapter excerpt of Nora's book, go to the Hard Shell Word Factory Web site at http://www.hardshell.com/sample.php3?ebookid=16936 or to read an award-winning "best first kiss" scene, visit her Web site at http://www.norasantella.com.     3/17/04 Nora answers a dozen questions posed by Pamela James, senior editor for The Writer’s Room Magazine, during a recent interview after Guess Again earned an Honorable Mention in TWRM’s Annual Book Contest – Fiction (2003). Here’s a sample: PJ: “Let's talk about Hunter McCrary and his world. You paint a great love story. Your in-depth plot line and your subplots are all great. So, let's start with the man himself.” Nora: “Hunter came across to me as a macho but nice-guy hero, silent and unpretentious, but a real man in a variety of ways. I liked that he was a maverick who pushed the boundaries of his FBI job, and thought his flaws fashioned him into a believable character. His parental trauma made him sympathetic, too. I can understand why the heroine trusted the guy and fell under his spell.” PJ: “Your fictional heroine, Lynzee Beryl, in Guess Again has a lot of knowledge of computers, virus and the techno world. Do you or was it pure research?” Nora: “I hate to disillusion my readers, but my knowledge of computers and the techno world is based on research. I am not now, nor will I ever be, a hacker, computer programmer or even my own Web site designer. It’s only a freaky coincidence that NLS, an early hypertext system, bears the same initials as those found in my own monogram. Cross my heart.” To read the complete interview, look for the “Book Contest Winners” heading on the home page of The Writer’s Room Magazine Web site, http://www.thewritersroommagazine.com click on “Learn More” and then “Nora Santella.”     2/29/04   Guess Again garners top ratings from three reviewers in February: Overall: 9; Suspense: 9; Sensuality: 8. Suspense Romance Writers http://suspenseromancewriters.com Five Stars. The Writer’s Room Magazine http://www.thewritersroommagazine.com Five Roses. Love Romances http://www.loveromances.com/guessagain_alma.html