ladyshuffler
Check out some of the embroidery boards, they helped me a lot when I first started embroidering. (All have free membership)
http://www.myembroideryhaven.com/forum/index.php
http://forums.marthapullen.com/list.php?f=7 (wonderful ladies)
http://www.sewforum.com/index.php
http://www.landof1000stitches.de/ (this one doesn't pay a lot of attention to copyright so be aware of that)
There are a lot of wonderful ladies on these forums that are willing to help you learn more than you can ever learn from a book about embroidery, just like here about quilting.
Joan