Kids – the ultimate romance blockers

We didn’t hear the first knock on the door. But the second knock was unmistakable, vibrating the pictures that hung on the wall.
“I know you’re awake,” the muffled voice called from the hallway. “I’m trying to sleep, and between your racket and Joey talking in his headset, it’s kind of hard.”
John groaned in frustration. The moment was gone as fast as it had come, neither one of us getting to the point of completion before it was over. He rolled away from me and rubbed his eyes.
“You might as well stay up, Sam,” John called back to his fourteen year old son. “We have a ton to do in the yard today while Rachel and Joey are shopping.”
“Whatever, Dude,” Sam replied. “I’m going back to bed. Don’t wake me up.”
– Chapter 1, page 6, A Symphony of Cicadas

If there’s anything that will ruin your love life in a hurry, it’s having kids. I don’t mean to scare those of you who haven’t yet traveled down the path to kid-town, but it’s true. After that little tyke is brought home from the hospital, getting in a little alone time with your mate becomes next to impossible. It starts with being too tired to even feel the slightest bit sexy. Then the kids become too needy whenever the moment does strike. Once you become parents, you have to be creative about when the time is sexy time. Of course, the jig is up when they become teenagers because they’re all too aware of what’s going on behind closed doors.

Alright, so I’m exaggerating a bit. It’s totally possible to have a healthy love life while raising kids. But keeping the fire burning does require some creativity and seized opportunity. Stolen moments, from those that are planned to those that arise without warning, are key to keeping the romance going when kids demand the majority of the attention.

The main characters in A Symphony of Cicadas are John and Rachel, a soon-to-be married couple who are also raising two teenage boys. For any engaged couple, romance is at the forefront of their mind. But as an engaged couple who already have kids in the house, they must also work around parenting – thus, early mornings become the perfect time to prevent interruptions. However, as this scene portrays, even perfect timing can be cast aside since interruptions aren’t truly preventable.

The idea about this book came from a dream I had last year. I was in the throes of planning my own blended family wedding when I woke from a dream that was so vivid I had to get it down. So naturally, I also included the realities of trying to raise teenagers at the same time as beginning a new chapter in romance. Of course, I’d like to point out that this scene is NOT a play by play of my husband’s and my love life, MOM. But it is an example of how the joys of romance and raising snarky teens make for an interesting combination.

This scene is also when we first meet Sam, Rachel’s stepson – at least on the other side of a closed door. And it’s a prelude to diving a little deeper into the complex relationship that exists between a child and their stepparent.

This is just one of many posts to come that dissects the chapters of A Symphony of Cicadas and the inspiration behind them. For all sneak peeks at the novel, CLICK HERE. To purchase the book, go to http://amzn.to/YZYB8w. Stay tuned for more!