I’m delighted to welcome Bebe Balocca to my site today to talk about her new shifter book, The Curse of the Tiger. We have an interview and a hot excerpt :).
Welcome Bebe, and on with the questions :).
How did you get started writing?
I’ve been writing for years under a different name in the educational field and for parenting and culture magazines. Writing fiction is a lifelong dream, and I decided to go for it in 2011. I submitted my first novella, Carved into her Heart, to Total-E-Bound around the holidays in 2011 and it was released in fall of 2012. It’s been a thrilling literary ride since then.
What was the best piece of writing advice you received?
Don’t get stuck and stare at the screen. Just get the words down, even if you’re not sure about where you’re going. You can always revise.
Yes, one of my favourites is ‘you can’t edit a blank page’ :). What do you think makes good erotica?
Good erotica is a turn-on, of course. It should make you hot and bothered, and it should provide you with fantasies that stick in your mind and add spice to your love life every time they bubble to the surface of your mind.
Where do you get your ideas and your characters from?
Often I’ll have a hot little idea come to me, like the mud bath scene in Bubbles and Troubles and the tattooing scene in A Ghost on Two Wheels. I’ll go from there and figure out just who those people are and what got them into that particular situation. It’s a layering process that starts from one golden nugget.
Who would play Faline and Hunter in the film of The Curse of The Tiger, and why?
I’m seeing Scarlett Johanssen as Faline. In my mind, Faline is petite and curvy. She’s strong and fit, but not a girl who works out at the gym. And I think Matthew McConaughey would make a particularly sexy Hunter. He’s got that great Southern drawl.
What do you think makes a good sex scene?
When readers can put themselves right there, when the descriptions are vivid enough that readers know exactly what the characters are feeling, it’s awesome. I’ve read some great erotica that, I swear, is almost as though it’s happening in real life. Whew! Love it! That’s what I aim for.
Do you have a writing routine? Do you need absolute quiet to write or background music/noise?
I work in my office with my miniature dachshund, Scarlett, in her chair next to me. I drink tons of herbal tea and take breaks to wrestle with Scarlett and grab some fruit from the kitchen. And yes, I need absolute silence. I even have some sound-blocking headphones for when my family gets noisy.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block and if so, how do you get over it?
When I get frustrated with one work in progress, I’ll switch gears and work on another. I generally have at least two books going at the same time. I find that if I let a story rest for a little while and think about something else, it’s easier to get back to it later on.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
A pantser for the most part, although I have a general idea of where the plot’s going when I start.
What do you like most about being a writer?
I love words. I love using them to evoke a visual image or a feeling. It’s extremely gratifying to me.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
Spend time with my friends, go on dates with my husband, and play with my kids.
Out of all your books, do you think you could pick a favourite and why?
Wow, tough one! I was just talking with someone about A Ghost on Two Wheels, so that’s on my mind. It made me very proud when my editor said that it made her cry on two different occasions, and then a reviewer said the same thing. Tears from readers are pretty awesome.
What’s next for you?
I have three releases coming up this fall. Beds and Blazes, the second book in the Prescott Woods series, has its general release on October 4. Like the first book, Bubbles and Troubles, it’s set in the woods of Eastern Kentucky and is chock-full of magic, humor, and hot erotic scenes. Bent out of Shape, also published by Total-E-Bound, is my yoga-centric erotic story. It all starts with a one-on-one yoga lesson at the billionaire’s mansion, but a kink quickly develops in the plot. I also have a second release with Ellora’s Cave coming out this fall. May Day is a contemporary erotic novel told from the point of view of Marcy, a wealthy widow. It’s all about Marcy’s search for love and her personal growth, and, yeah, it’s got some OMG erotic scenes in there, too.
Blurb:
She knew that being close to tigers was her destiny, but she never thought she’d be riding on top of one…
Faline Hopper owns and runs a free-range tiger refuge in northeastern Colorado. She loves the animals and the mission of Kat’s Crest, but the sanctuary is on the verge of financial disaster. A mysterious stranger with deep pockets comes to its rescue.
Hunter Cartwright is one tall, cool drink of Alabama water. Sparks fly immediately when he shows up at Faline’s door. He’s ravenous for the blond beauty, but there’s something he needs to make Faline understand before he can really sink his teeth into her.
Something that happens at sundown, when the tigers roam the sanctuary and the nightly hunts begin…
The curse of the tiger was cast by a Native American witch. Abetzi rejects the Great Spirit and worships a powerful demon instead. Faline is determined to free Hunter from the witch’s spell and to stop Abetzi from abusing exotic animals, but at what price?
Will Faline risk everything to put a halt to Abetzi’s cruelty—And will it be worth it?
Buy Links:
Excerpt:
“What the hell, Hunter?” she gasped. “What are you doing here? I was afraid you’d been, you know…” She swiped the back of her hand over her lips. “Devoured.” Faline glanced around the room. “Is the tiger outside?” she wondered aloud.
Hunter scooted to the head of the bed and raked one hand through his hair. Four long scabs traced over his shoulder like racing stripes. “I’m fine, Faline, but we can talk about all that later.” He reached toward her and yanked upward at the hem of her tank top. “Where were we?”
Faline swatted his hand away, sat up and squinted at him. “And where’s your piercing?” she demanded, pointing at the smooth, unblemished tip of his penis. “I know I felt a stud at the tip of your cock at sundown yesterday, but now it looks like it’s never been pierced.”
Hunter casually lowered his hand to his lap and loosely gripped his shaft. “You didn’t feel a stud there,” he answered. “You felt a barb.”
Faline watched silently as the ruddy tip of his erection disappeared and reappeared at the end of his sliding fist. “But… I don’t understand. What do you mean, a barb?”
“You felt it because I was starting to leave my human form and change into something else. To transform into an animal, Faline. What animal has a barb on its penis?” he asked.
Faline’s face flushed in mounting confusion and fear. She shook her head, refusing to believe. Hunter expediently slipped her top off and tossed it aside before she could protest.
“Well, male tigers, of course, but what does that have to do with anything?” she mumbled. Her breath quickened and her exposed breasts rose and fell. Hunter’s nostrils flared and he licked his lips.
“Don’t you remember when the tiger swiped me last night, Faline?” He indicated his scratches. “I’m glad you got him with the tranquiliser gun before I arrived. Otherwise, last night might have played out quite differently for both of us.”
Frozen with indecision, Faline watched him reach towards her right breast. In her bed was a crazy stranger who’d stripped naked and run into the tiger sanctuary alone. The troublesome part was that this lunatic had her interest piqued and her body responding enthusiastically. Even more troubling was the fact that she was starting to believe what he was saying…
Bebe’s Bio:
I live in a teeny-tiny town in the southeastern United States, surrounded by rolling hills and lots of cows. My house is brimming with my rowdy sons, hot husband, and more pets than I can shake a stick at. When I close my eyes, though, I’m in a white stucco villa on the Mediterranean, sipping red wine and watching the turquoise waves crash at my feet. Next to my hot husband, naturally.
You can follow Bebe on her website, Facebook and Twitter.
