I love stories about second chances at happiness - life's important do-overs. I've got a story just begging to be told, thrumming in my head. He's an empty-nester in his late forties, his son just out of college. She's not far behind, with two battling teens and a calm, eleven-year-old mediator for a daughter. Oh, the possibilities!
You see, circumstances may change, our lives progress, but romance never dies. Men and women will always check each other out. Attractions happen and age is irrelevant. The spark is the easy part. It's all the adjustments, compromises, clashes, and sexual chemistry that keep things interesting and intense.
Considering the divorce rate, reentering dating later in life, not to mention remarriage and the blending of households and families, occurs hundreds of times a day. That's rich soil to till.
Even as a kid I enjoyed this sort of thing. I wasn't alone. Yours, Mine, and Ours, was a wonderful and popular movie. So was, With Six You Get Egg Roll.
Not every crisis will have global impact. In fact, a personal crisis can be downright funny in the right situation, like say ... a dance floor! One person's anxiety over something potentially embarrassing can turn into a memorable belly laugh. How about simply seeing each other naked for the first time? How do they talk themselves down from that insecure ledge and take a chance? How many false starts will they have before they finally hit a home run? It's even better if they're raring to go but thwarted by kids, pets, phone calls, and emergencies. Better yet, present them with a rare opportunity to get intimate only to have them both realize at the same time that neither came prepared with a condom.
How badly do they want it, and each other? Let's make them work for it. These are the stories that have readers and writers pulling for the characters. Life is an adventure, but love is the destination. I can't wait to put people back on those glorious horses. It's a fun ride.
-Tara Mills
Image courtesy of Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Very nice, Tara. That's right, make the characters work for love. The harder the better. Makes that love scene all the hotter for the reader.
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