Present Tense Within Past Tense

My first reaction is poor editing in the book that you read. Once in a while I catch myself starting to write in present tense, but usually catch it when I go back and edit.

I write in past tense. The only time I have purposely used present tense is when a character is using a psychic talent, to set that experience aside from the regular narrative.

Sage said:

My guess would be that it's probably something in description that is ongoing. Not part of the action of the story. The author is actually addressing the reader, rather than talking about what's going on in the story.

"Joe stepped off the plane & took his first breath of Parisian air. Everyone knows that Paris is the place to get over a heartbreak. Joe was ready to put that theory to the test."

Or something like that.

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Although if you want that commentary to be a thought in Joe's head, rather than a comment given by the author to the reader above it, you might even put that in past tense. "Everyone knew that Paris was the place to get over a heartbreak."

I catch myself struggling with that now and again. Since I very rarely write in Author Omniscient ("Gentle reader, you will undoubtedly agree..."), I usually end up choosing past tense for that sort of thing. But I usually go back and forth on it a bit before I settle on one or the other.

The times I choose present tense, it's usually because the character's thoughts are being quoted word-for word in some way:

"Joe stepped off the plane and took his first breath of Parisian air. Everyone knows that Paris is the place to get over a heartbreak, he thought. I'm ready to put that theory to the test."

Also, this double tense can be used by a narrator or a character for purposes of voice or characterization. It's quite common when relating a story to slip in and out of present tense. (And, btw, there's only ONE "rule" for writing--Thou shalt not bore the reader!)

For example, let's say I have a rather uneducated guy telling a story. Let's call him Dewayne. Gawky looking fellow, arms too long for his body. Red hair. Freckles. Got the picture? So, Dewayne is in the tavern telling his buddy a story:

"You really shoulda been there, Homer," Dewayne said, gargling the last gulp of brew. "There's this girl, see? She's stacked like a brick outhouse. She swayed up to Clyde and he says 'hullo thar, sexy one.' Well, you know Clyde--the most slapped feller west of the Pecos, he is. Except this time the gal didn't slap Clyde. She leaned over the bar and laid her gorgeous melons in his face. Then she asks him what kinda money he makes. Clyde is curious. He peered at her and yanks a wad of cabbage out and slaps it on the bar. Her eyes widen like a heffer. Clyde peels off a hunert dollar bill and dangles it right between those big gazongas. That's when Officer Bobby pops in the front door and ruins the whole scene."

Here we have a character talking in both past and present tense, which characterizes him as much as his dialect.