TBR welcomes Paloma Beck

TBR: Welcome to TBR, Paloma. Will you share a little bit about yourself?
Paloma: This is a terrifying question to an introvert! Do I give the cursory information? How much do I want to share? And will that be enough? Should I share a bit more than I’m comfortable with because most people would prefer that? Oh, now I’m stressed and the interview hasn’t even started!

Okay, so that was a bit of an exaggeration but wasn’t that a fun way for me to tell you I’m an introvert? I have dreams of a life as a reclusive author in a house by the lake.

I’m a full-time author but my first love are my three boys who will be allowed to visit me once I get them off to college and become the reclusive author. They keep me busy, busy, busy so I write during the day while they’re at school. I have a traveling husband. True what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder! It’s seventeen years of wedded bliss for he and I. And yes, he gets to come with me to be a recluse by a lake. (It’s his retirement plan!)

I live with all men, including my pug Oliver, named after Oliver Wendell Holmes. This means I am the Queen of my castle. Sometimes I even don a tiara and walk around waving, “pick up that shoe” or “put that dirty plate away”. Yeah, Queen status isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!

TBR: Tell us about COMING HOME and where it's available.

Paloma: Coming Home is my first contemporary romance published by Secret Cravings Publishing. The entire trilogy is the story of Rachel Porter, a romance writer, who has told her three sons tales of finding their true love since they were just boys. Now as men, they have yet to discover their soul mates. That is, until they come home…

In book one, Ryan Porter, Rachel’s oldest son, needs a change from his busy city lifestyle. After five years of living in New York and establishing his own real estate firm, something is still missing. When a family tragedy brings Ryan back to his family’s rural home, he meets Tyra. She just might be the catalyst for the change he needs, redirecting the course of his life. First he has to accept his relationship with his parents and embrace Tyra’s secrets.

Available from Secret Cravings: http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=products_all&filter_author=146  

TBR: Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Paloma: Here’s an excerpt of the first time Ryan sees Tyra when he’s at the local bar with his brothers…

The woman with the fiery red hair tossed a look over towards Henry at the bar, then snuck a look at Ryan and back to Davis. She smiled—a shy smile through her lashes—and Ryan’s heart ramped up. He noticed the shorter brunette standing beside her when she said, “Next game, you’ve got the winner.”

“I hope so,” Davis replied, “I do truly hope so.”

Ryan shook his head and blew out a laugh. How did Davis always pull it off so easily with women? One woman, Ryan could handle just fine—more than fine. But a group of women, no way, it felt like a swarm of bees were attacking him to even be in a room with so many women, gorgeous or not. And gorgeous was only the beginning when he checked out the ass on the fiery red head as she bent down to consider her next shot. She turned quickly at the sound of his laugh and the slap of the high-five he exchanged with Davis.

Caught. Her eyes jumped to Ryan and he gave her a sly grin when she raised her eyebrows at him. Not as broad as Davis, Ryan met his height at an even six feet. All of his brothers took after their father in their height. But it was Davis who looked most like their father with his darker coloring and chocolate brown eyes. Ryan and Henry had their mother’s lighter skin tone and green eyes. It was those green eyes that locked onto hers when she turned around. Yep, she was looking at him—not lover boy Davis.

Ryan definitely liked what he saw. She was tall, with legs that went on forever until they met with the sweet crossing he knew could bring this boy to his knees. As she bent over the pool table for her next shot, her ass stuck up into the air and swayed just slightly as if teasing him to inspect it further. Her entire body called to him. Shit, he hoped Davis had his sights on any other woman in that group because in his mind, he’d already laid claims on this one. And he wasn’t prepared to share. It had been a long time since he had a little harmless fun.

“Like old times, Ry, seems to me this night might be just like old times,” Davis said, bumping his shoulder when he noticed Ryan’s stare. “Knock it off. Quit the staring. You’re going to scare them away before I make our move.”

“I got news for you, Davis. I got moves of my own. It’s been a long time since I’ve needed you to pick up women for me.”

“Interesting. Hear that, Henry? Ryan says he’s got game,” Davis teased.

“Can’t wait to see this,” Henry snorted as he sat down at the table. They’d made up back in the bunk house but Henry was still sore. He knew how to hold a grudge, damn little shit. But Ryan knew just how to take his mind off his troubles tonight.

Ryan licked his lips, considering how much more interesting the night just got. He certainly liked what he saw and he knew she liked what she saw by the way her eyes roamed from his head to his toes. Ryan was dressed in an old pair of jeans that were tighter than the usual suit pants he wore and a tight black t-shirt he’d pulled out of his old dresser. He didn’t feel like himself but it felt good. Actually, maybe he felt more like himself than he had in awhile—the Ryan before his business became his life.

When Henry poured the beer out, Ryan grabbed up two glasses and headed straight for his target. Her eyes were glazed a bit, definitely looking down and he gave a little cough to catch her attention. Busted—guess they were even now. She blushed and it was beautiful—her flushed cheeks brightened her eyes, mesmerizing. When she reached out to take her beer and their fingers brushed, her hand shot back and some beer sloshed over the glass. Her soft feminine fragrance mixed in with the faint scent of the beer touched his nose and he took in a deeper breath to savor it.

She cleared her throat, seeming as taken in private thought as he was. “Thanks,” she said, giving him an intense stare while a smirk spread across her face right up to her gorgeous blue eyes, “So, you like my ass?”

Ryan swallowed back his surprise. She was forward…this was going to be fun. “Sure do,” he grinned, “And I’m pretty sure you like what you see too.”

Her look of surprise was priceless.

TBR: What inspired you to write about the theme?
Paloma: I wanted to weave a tale around a family where most of the story comes from the men. Readers love strong heroes –heck, I’m one of those readers- but I wanted to tell the story about how they become strong. I believe there are moments in a man’s life that define him. Readers will get to see those moments for the Porter brothers.

TBR: Are you a plotter or pantser?
Paloma: I allow my characters to guide me so I’m a pantser. There is a piece of me that has some idea where I’d like to head but I am not dumb enough to fight my characters when they have another idea.

TBR: How do you develop your characters?
Paloma: Organically. Most come to me with their story. I get all this running commentary in my head so I start writing and the characters evolve from there as I write everything down. Then as they go through their journey and the story is written, elements of their character develop. Life emerges from the actions they take.

TBR: Did any music inspire your book? Do you have a playlist?
Paloma: When I wrote Coming Home, I listened to a lot of alternate rock. The Maine, Dashboard Confessional, and Cartel mostly. The characters are in their late twenties, still young and I needed to get into that mindset to tell their story. Alt Rock helped me get there.  

TBR: While creating your books, what was one of the most surprising things you learned?
Paloma: I had to learn medical terminology, specifically how injuries affect the body. I dislike anything involve blood or doctor talk so I squirmed through sessions with one of my beta readers (thank God, she’s a nurse) to be sure I had the injury details correct.

TBR: What's next for you?
Paloma: I am finishing a seven book paranormal romance series that releases through mid-2013. Then I want to get to work on book two of the Porter Brothers. Henry’s story comes next and I think it’ll surprise readers the journey Henry will take before he finds home.

TBR: Any other published works?
Paloma: The Seven Sin Sisters is my PNR series about seven sisters entwined in a legacy bigger than anyone ever expected. One by one, they will find their mates from the immortal Valendite breeds and secure their place in history. Each sister embodies one of the seven deadly sins only to be cast aside once claimed. But claiming comes at the price of separation, causing a weakening of their combined powers, which none want to happen. The first two books are available now at http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=products_all&filter_author=146 but you can read about the whole series here: http://palomabeck.weebly.com/seven-sin-sisters.html.

TBR: Where can readers find you on the web?
Paloma: 

BLOG: http://RomanceBeckons.blogspot.com

WEBSITE: http://palomabeck.weebly.com

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/PalomaBeck

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/PalomaBeckAuthor

FACEBOOK PAGE: http://www.facebook.com/thePorterBrothers

TBR: Readers, Paloma will give away a copy of the Coming Home ebook to one lucky commenter. She'll pick a winner next week and announce the winner here. Be sure to leave your email address so she can contact you.

Thanks for visiting TBR, Paloma! Best of luck to you.