It’s a Launch Party! Let’s Celebrate Tamra Baumann’s IT HAD TO BE HIM
Today is the launch party for our very own Tamra Baumann, winner of the Golden Heart Contemporary Series category 2012, whose debut novel, IT HAD TO BE HIM, comes out today! **Cue confetti**
Please take a glass of virtual champagne and join us in toasting Tamra with a few … well …personal questions about her protagonist, her hero, and her favorite scene to write in the book. …
First, let’s see that great cover:
Isn’t that flirty and romantic?
And here’s the blurb:
Even though Meg Anderson’s hell-raising days are over, coming home to Anderson Butte isn’t easy, especially when her impossible-to-please dad is the mayor and her do-gooder siblings run the place. But with another job lost and the gorgeous father of her daughter trying to make contact after disappearing three years ago, a break is definitely in order. Hopefully the little town filled with big, juicy secrets can help.
After being off the grid for years, Josh Granger, a man with his own secrets, wants Meg and his daughter back. But first he has to get past townspeople as protective as a pack of rottweilers. He’s not the man Meg thinks he is, but he can’t tell her why…not yet.
As Meg slowly warms to Josh, it’s clear the old spark is still there. But when his secret is exposed—along with Meg’s own shocking revelation—will it tear their family apart again, or bind them forever?
Okay, first of all, Tammy, we want to hear how you got The Call. What went through your head? Did you go flying off your treadmill desk?
Ha! I didn’t have my treadmill desk quite yet when I got the call. But after ten years of “no’s,” it was a little surreal to finally hear the word yes! And super exciting after it all sank in. I may or may not have done a little dance in my yoga pants! *Off to check You Tube to be sure there’s no actual proof.* ;0)
Your secret’s safe with us. Now, this is the first in a series of books in the small town of Anderson Butte. What inspired you to write a small-town story?
My parents told stories of growing up in small towns—barely dots on the map in IOWA! And my sibs and I grew up all across the country as military brats, sometimes moving every six months. When we were “forced” to spend time on my parents’ family farms, the big attraction was finding ways to escape the boredom and walk the railroad tracks into town.
Once there, we’d tug open the diner’s door, complete with a bell that announced our presence, and then we’d hop up on barstools at the counter, hopeful for some forbidden ice cream cones before dinner. The whole idea of not needing money and running up our grandparents’ tab seemed pretty slick at the time.
Depending on who was behind the counter that day — the scary waitress with the big teased hair or the kind-hearted owner (who’d always had a crush on my mom growing up) — determined if we got ice cream or if we got sent home for dinner. It was the same in every store on main street. People who I could never recall meeting knew who we were the moment we walked through the door. It kinda freaked me out at first, but as I got older and wiser about ice cream sneaking methods, I became fascinated by what it’d be like to live in a place where everyone literally knew your name.
And voila, Anderson Butte, Colorado — a beautiful little lake town, filled with nosy folks who banded together to create a secret celebrity hideaway to save their town from extinction — was born.
Meg is the feisty heroine of this book. I just loved her and her spirit. What did you most like about writing Meg?
Meg is a reformed bad-girl with a heart of gold she fiercely protects. Her father can’t stand her and Meg never knew why (until I wrote this book for her so she could figure it all out), so I made her snarky yet vulnerable at the same time. Since I’m SUCH a stranger to snark, I had to do a TON of research on the subject, as I’m sure you can imagine :0)
So then I had to create a hero who sees through Meg’s defenses, and who could match her snark for snark. ;0) Their banter was my favorite part of writing this book.
Josh is the sexy hero of this book. Was he inspired in any part by your own loving hubby? What do you think are the most important aspects of a good romance hero?
I suppose my heroes must be influenced by my kind, funny, always-patient-with-my-antics husband. He works for homeland security and can’t talk about his work, so many people see him as the strong, silent type—unless he’s talking about football or 100-mile bike rides, then you can’t shut the man up! When people call him out for being quiet, he says it just appears that way because of his chatty wife. I’m still not sure if he’s joking when he says that…
I’m a lover of beta heroes who can be alpha when they need to be. Mostly because my heroines don’t want to be taken care of, rather they want a man who can match their wit, and strength, but at the end of the day will take her car to have the oil changed because she hates doing that.
RT Book Reviews gave this book four whopping stars (yayyyyy!!!) and called the characters “vividly drawn.” Who was your favorite secondary character to write?
My favorite secondary character to write was the heroine’s feisty grandmother, Ruth. This character is based loosely on my own grandmother, but I took a lot of liberties with her and made her a little more fun and a lot scarier, with her gun-toting ways. She’s a complex character that we’ll learn a little more about as each book progresses. Just a little hint: in book 2, It Had to Be Love, the reader finds out that at nineteen Ruth had been married to a notorious bank robber. (Unbeknownst to her until it was too late and the guy robbed her father’s bank!)
There are so many funny, quirky scenes in this book. What was your favorite scene to write?
Hmmm. That’s a tough question. It might be the scene where the townspeople— who have long memories of Meg’s antics as a kid— forget that for a moment and band together at the diner to shield her from Josh when he first comes to town. It’s like in those goofy old “B” westerns when the good guys bumble around, and then despite themselves, manage to run the bad guy out of town.
You have some really fun family antics going on in this story, too, with a crazy – but, ultimately, very loving – fam. Inquiring minds want to know: Does your own family resemble any of this?
Ha, absolutely! I have a HUGE family and with that comes lots of drama. I didn’t have to look far for character ideas. But then I had to tone some of them down for the book to make them realistic to the reader. Believe it or not, I’m considered one of the normal ones in my family! (I have some real doozies for relatives, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world!)
Tell us three quick things about you that would surprise people who think they know you:
I was a drummer in high school—first chair!
I wanted to be a professional tennis player until an ankle injury in high school ended my chances. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)
I’m a writer who doesn’t know how to type! I missed typing while moving around the country as a kid.
Publisher’s Weekly (in a starred review! whoo-hoo!) called this book a “perfect balance of lighthearted humor and true emotion.” I have to say, I agree! Which part is easier for you to write, the humor or the emotion?
Oh, the humor by far! Being a goofball is easy, but being serious and digging deep takes major work for me. I added a few characters as tools to help remind me to add true emotional depth to what otherwise would have been just a silly romp. Ten-year-old Eric, an orphan, Charlie, a beloved old horse, and even a few puppies and a momma dog who are the only ones who love Eric until the hero and heroine save them all. ;0)
What more can we expect from Anderson Butte? What’s coming up next from you?
I just turned in book 2, It Had to Be Love—The quiet sheriff of picturesque Anderson Butte unexpectedly falls for the beautiful new dentist who’s hiding a dangerous secret that could cost her life if she can’t overcome her past and learn to trust him. It releases September 8th.
And I’m just starting the third book, about Casey, the oldest sister, and a bad-boy rock star she wants nothing to do with at first, until she unearths his deeply buried secrets. (Can you sense a secrets theme here?)
Oooh, this is going to be such a fun series to own ALL of the books! Okay, tell us where we can buy them:
IT HAD TO BE HIM:
IT HAD TO BE LOVE (preorders):
And now … Giveaway Time! Tammy would like to give away a $20 Amazon gift card to a randomly selected commenter below, answering the question: Have you ever lived in a small town? If so, thumbs up or down?
