Come Selahway With Me…

from No Boundaries Press

All Andrew wanted was the typical American dream: a good career, a nice house, and a typical loving family. Instead he has a menial job, a small apartment, and children that remind him of creatures out of a sci-fi movie. To add insult to injury, he’s well aware that he’s not the only man who inhabits his wife’s thoughts and daily life. But how can he put up a fight when he’s reminded of the competition every time Bethany turns on the CD player? After one eventful dinner conversation when expectations, disappointments, and secrets collide, life may never be the same.

I’ve had this story kicking around in different forms for a long time, as close friends and beta readers can tell you. It’s one of those in-between content/genre stories that I wasn’t sure I’d ever find a home for – I’m very lucky that NBP is willing to explore the unusual. It’s a quirky mix of humor and tension and explores those arguments in relationships that none of us want to admit to. Come on, we’ve all had them. Your partner has that one habit that used to be cute and now it drives you absolutely bonkers. Somehow, what you thought you both wanted suddenly changed and you find yourself not quite getting the happy ending you hoped for. And sometimes, despite how much you love your spouse/partner/lover/significant other you may get the feeling that there’s someone…else…always there. It could be a favorite actor that inhabits your entire shared DVD collection/Netflix queue. Maybe it’s an ex that creeps up into more discussions, stories, and photo albums than you’d like. Maybe you feel like you’re living with a teenage girl or guy who feels the need to always talk about their celebrity crush and display magazines, posters, etc everywhere (This gets even better if said celeb is in any franchise that warrants toys or action figures).  Or maybe, like in my story, it’s a musician who is worlds better than you’ll ever be so every note, every image, every lyric ceases to be inspiration and becomes competition. And maybe these irritations become a convenient argument to hide your own apprehensions and emotions behind.

Granted, it’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with this, but I’ve definitely dated people where this suddenly becomes an issue. And what intrigues and tickles me is when I’ve had people look this story over or bring this into conversation, more often than not everyone has been through something like this. We just hate to admit that it bugs the hell out of us because it brings to light our own insecurities, or (if you’re like me) we are passionately invested in things we like and don’t mean anything by it – our geekiness is our geekiness and our relationships are our relationships. We’ll get into this more when The Other Man is actually released – if I’m feeling brave enough to bring up a few examples 😉

But add to this relationship grey area a pair of kids who are typical kids, and a drastically different version of the American dream…well, I think there’s a lot in this story to enjoy and talk about. I’m really excited for it to release and I hope you’ll check it out.