I'm all a-buzz today with the need to give some ebooks away! The contest from last week gathered a fantastic response, so thank you to everyone who entered and I'd now like to announce the winners Because I'm feeling the love at the moment, I'm giving away TWO copies of the titles I put into the contest, so more winners!

We have:

Shadow K wins a copy of Sexnip
Gayle O wins a copy of Hard as a Rock
Patti P wins a copy of Hard as a Rock
Mona wins a copy of Suffering and Salvation
Allison PW wins a copy of Taming The Wildcat
Victoria Z wins a copy of Taming the Wildcat
Tara Lain wins a copy of Running from the Pack
Anne wins a copy of Running from the Pack

I'll be contacting the winner's shortly so watch those inboxes!

Come join me chatting about my new paranormal romance release, Running from the Pack, over on Tara Lain's Blog

Poor Mr.C. It's not easy being the hubby of a romance / erotica author. On a day when most people would expect me to be all loved up and in love with the day etc, I must admit that I'm decidedly NON-romantic when it comes down to Valentines day.

Why? I'm glad you asked me that. I loathe and detest the commercialism of the day. For weeks leading up to 14th Feb the shops are filled with cards, and chocolates, the price of roses (and assorted other flowers go through the roof). For one day.

I have a thing against cards anyway. They're cute, yes. But in a few days time (a couple of weeks if they're lucky), they're gonna be bin fodder. I detest clutter with a passion, so cards are whipped down and fed to the shredder and dumped into the bin forthwith. So I banned Mr.C from buying them a few years ago (along with christmas cards, anniversary cards. He's allowed to buy a birthday card - just) and freed from the necessity to buy the things - he happily agreed.

For me, Valentines day is expected, so it becomes a non-event. As in the fact that it 'has' to be done whether the person wants to or not, just because it's expected. I don't like that. If someone doesn't want to be romantic, or isn't given to romantic gestures like that then it just strikes me as false, y'know?

Likewise, what if the recipient doesn't like roses? I'm not particuarly fond of them. Chocolates? I'm on a diet (permanently it seems).

So what's Mr.C to do? He got me a pot plant I hate roses but I happen to love Irises. So meet Fred, who now lives on my kitchen windowsill. As a gift, its thoughtful, as romantic as Mr.C ever gets without either slinking off or getting a fit of the giggles (yes, my husband does giggle. Since he's built like a rugby player, not many people argue with that) and it's kinda sweet.

So, what would be your alternative valentines day present?

Yup, that's right. I said free ebooks... Drop your name onto the new eInkslingers mailing list and we'll spam you with new release news (of course ) but there's also going to be healthy helpings of freebies and other goodies too!

Today I'm switching up from Sci-fi princes over to hot werewolves for the release of Running from the Pack Some of you might remember this as Moon Madness but it's been all spruced up and re-edited with a pretty new cover, and to add to the party, we're having a random ebook giveaway! In addition to a copy of Running from the Pack, we have...

• Sexnip by Celia Kyle
• Suffering and Salvation by Celia Kyle and Kenzie James
• Taming the Wildcat by Yours Truly and Bethany J Barnes
• Hard as a Rock by, again, Yours Truly

To enter, fill out the form below! You have until friday 17th Feb 2012 to get your entry in and then we'll draw a winner!

*Contest has now ended*

I thought I'd switch up a little today. I'm happily between cover art and the writing cave at the moment. I'm currently working on a couple of Sci-fi romances in the world of Prince's Courtesan.

The first is called Harem Mistress and picks up with Colonel Jareth Nikolai and the Prince's Harem Mistress, Keliana. Just to whet your appetite, here's a little snippet from the scene I'm working on at the moment. (Warning: This is the story in it's wild format. No editor has been near it!)

So, to celebrate signing a contract for my little M/F paranormal fantasy erotic novella - Owned by the Elf - I thought I'd introduce you to my hero's and the inspirations behind them. 

First up we have Bane, afore-mentioned elf. In the imagined world of Owned, faeries and elves do not get on...like seriously hate-each-others guts type of don't get on. They're on opposite sides of a war that's been raging for centuries that no one can really remember starting, but that most aren't really interested in finishing. The elven army is comprised of big, bad warriors more than eager to spill faery blood and they don't come any more lethal than Bane.

Known as the 'Destroyer', the 'Terrible' and other, less charming epithets (well out of his range of hearing of course) Bane is the elf-king's bulldog and commands Braic's armies, although he's not adverse to a little reconnaissance himself when the mood takes him.

Of course, being shaven-headed and with a build like a rugby player, the natural choice of inspiration for Bane was Mr.Diesel himself.

Moving on, we have Briac the Bloody-Thirsty, King of the Elves.

Also referred to as Briac the bloody-annoying,  the elf-king is and always has been a thorn in Bane's side. Silver of eye and tongue, Briac has made it a mission to steal any woman Bane show's an interest in, turn up at the most inopportune of moments and generally piss Bane off.

Older, and more experienced in combat, the only reason Bane hasn't killed Briac yet is due to a promise he made to his father not to kill the little runt until he'd fathered an heir. Perhaps wise to this, Briac shows no inclination to settle down and beget said heir.

Briac's story takes place after the events of Owned and his inspiration is Jason Behr.

Last, but by no means least, we have Gnalt. Master of the King's Troll Bodyguard, Gnalt is the biggest bad amongst them.

A half-breed he has had to fight for everything he's ever had in his life, from mere survival as an infant right through to working his way up to his current position. Mostly he glowers and people go running. Seen as a sub-being by most elves, Gnalt is used to being looked down on (even when most have to look up to meet his eyes) and metes out justice with his fists. His story is the last of the trio.

The inspiration for Gnalt is Jason Momoa, hair and all, as Conan and includes his habit of referring to the heroine as 'woman'. A fact which doesn't go down too well with his lady, a dragon with no problems singeing a man to get him to behave.

So, those are my guys and the inspirations behind them. Tell me, what sort of heroes do you go for? Looks or personality-wise?