Author S.E. Holden Returns For A Visit

It’s my pleasure to welcome author S.E. Holden back to Thoughts in Progress as the special guest blogger to talk about his new book.

S.E.’s latest release from Breathless Press is BACK ON TRACK. Here’s a brief blurb about the book: “Julie and Ray, a young couple, trying to bring some semblance of normalcy back to their lives after the birth of their son, are finding it exceedingly difficult. And while Jayden is the type of child young parents dream about, his arrival has created a potentially devastating rift between his parents. Will their love and commitment to each other be strong enough to bridge that gap and get their intimacy back on track?”

Thanks to S.E., one lucky visitor to Thoughts in Progress can win a copy of his new book. Visitors can win a copy of BACK ON TRACK by leaving a comment within three days of this blog posting. The giveaway is open to international visitors and one visitor commenting will be selected at random to receive his or her copy. Be sure to include your e-mail address with your comment if it’s not included in your profile. In addition, S.E. will be dropping back by today to answer any questions you might have.

S.E. joins us to talk about ‘interruptions - take two’ and has a very interesting take on it.

Hello readers of Mason's blog. It's good to be back. Thanks, Mason, for granting me another spot. Last time I started blogging about interruptions, but it transformed into a piece about the fear of sounding like an idiot when writing a blog. This time I will stick to the interruptions piece, really, I mean it. No interruptions during my blog about interruptions.

Instead of talking about writing interruptions, though, the interruptions I'm talking about today are those that occur when we're involved in something, shall we say, intimate. I'm betting that most of us can relate to those frustrating moments. Maybe when you were a teenager, you and your partner got all hot and heavy in the back of mom's wood-paneled station wagon. The windows were steamed up, cutting the two of you off from the outside world. A romantic collection of Journey, Foreigner and Air Supply played softly from the mix-tape you'd made the night before with this very scenario in mind. Heart pounding, breath gasped in quick excited gulps between sloppy lip locks, you think, "Oh my god, please touch me…touch me." A hand tentatively slid across your Jordache jeans, inching towards your slice of nirvana. With the whisper of a fingertip grazing bare skin, you thought your world was coming to blissful end.

Then TAPTAPTAP on the side window. Like two horny deer locked in front of a thousand headlights, you froze, hoping you imagined the noise, but deep down knowing you didn't. Seconds dragged by as you waited for a repeat of the sound. Five seconds. Ten. Nothing. You both smiled and jumped back on each other until…TAPTAPTAP followed by, "Rebecca, are you in there?"

Nothing gets the blood pumping faster than having Daddy knock on the steamed up car windows when your bra is on the floor and your boyfriend's pants are around his ankles. Yikes. 

Fast forward fifteen years. You're married now and eight weeks ago had a beautiful baby boy. He's your pride and joy and you love him more than life itself. You're finally catching up on your own rest and feeling human again now that the little guy is sleeping through the night. Your body is back to normal, well, post-baby normal anyway, and you and your spouse are ready, no, beyond ready, to make sweet, sweet love like you used to. The doc gave the all-clear and you're both chomping at the bit.

Trying his hand at romance, he slides the old mix tape to which you both lost your virginity in the bench seat of the Vista Cruiser into the cassette player and hits play. The plastic wheels squeak, but Lou Gramm still sounds good after all these years. You eye each other across the king-sized bed and smile. He makes the first move and crawls across the wide expanse of clean sheets. You lift the straps of your nightgown, let it slide to the ground, and meet him in the middle of the soft arena. His hands reverently cup your breasts, but a mischievous glint flashes in his eye and he tackles you, planting big sloppy kisses all over your glorious naked form to a chorus of giggles, moans and little gasps.

The red light on the baby monitor flickers and the barest coo broadcasts through the speaker. You both stop dead, heads prairie-dogging, breath held, ears perked for the slightest noise, the barest hint that little Johnny is awake. Nothing. A full minute passes before you feel like you can move again. He smiles at you, hitches up one eyebrow and jumps back into the fray. Two minutes later, Johnny whimpers, takes a deep breath and wails. You jump up, frantically grab a robe and scoot off to check on Johnny. Sexy, bouncy time killed, but there's always tomorrow night.
Interruptions like that happen all the time for a couple with an infant. Most parents figure out a way to work around it, finding odd times to be together and reveling in those stolen moments. But not all couples are that lucky. In my latest story, BACK ON TRACK, Ray and Julie are the proud parents of a beautiful little boy. And while Julie could be cast in the HBO adaptation of the scenario I described above, Ray falls far short. Ever since the birth of little Jayden, Ray lost the spark. He loves Julie, but can only see her as a mother, not the hot, sexy vixen he married. It's been fourteen months since their little blessing arrived and still Ray is a no show in the bedroom. Julie is at her wits end and desperate to have her man back. Will their relationship survive? Can they find the spark and get their intimacy back on track?
You'll have to read the story to find out.

S.E., now that’s definitely two different takes on interruptions. Thanks for returning to Thoughts in Progress and telling us about your new book.

For some background on S.E. Since he was a kid, S.E. Holden wanted to be an author and explored many genres through high school and college. After greasing the gears of the corporate machine for many years, he escaped the Information Technology vortex to focus full-time on his writing dream. A romantic at heart, S.E. loves to write about committed couples struggling with and overcoming life's obstacles only to emerge stronger. The fact that they have steamy, mind-blowing sex along the way makes it even better.

S.E. lives with his wife and two children on the west coast of Florida. He can be reached by e-mail at beholden@verizon.net, at his website at http://www.seholden.com , on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001173999283&v=wall , and on Twitter at: @seholden25.

BACK ON TRACK can be purchased at Breathless Press - http://www.breathlesspress.com/erotic/romance/back-on-track.html, All Romance eBooks - http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-backontrack-512081-144.html, and Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/Back-on-Track-ebook/dp/B004MDLP8M/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1298498579&sr=8-9

Here’s an excerpt from BACK ON TRACK: "Turn it off? Turn what off?" Julie exhaled loudly, her hands settling on her hips. Realization hardened her expression and added a cold, crispness to her tone. "I thought we were past this, Ray."

"Maybe you were past it, but seeing him reminds me of…everything. I can’t go from devoted dad to loving husband to hot lover that quickly." Shoulders slumped in defeat, the words caught in Ray’s throat as he fought back his frustrated growl. "I’m sorry. I know that’s what you want, but I can’t help it, Jules. I’m trying."

"We went through all this in counseling months ago, Ray, remember?" Voice softening, she wrapped her arms around him. "We are allowed to be a couple too, not just parents. In fact, Dr. Richards said we needed to be a couple." With a tender yet firm grasp, she cupped his face and pulled him down for a kiss. It started sweet, an innocent press of soft lips, but intensified as he relaxed into her. She pressed her body tight against his; her full, round breasts crushed eagerly, desperately against his muscular form.

On autopilot, his tongue slid out to meet hers for a quick caress before he pushed her gently away. "I’m sorry. I’m not in the mood." He turned and walked down the hall. "I’m going to get on the computer for a while. Don’t wait up." He imagined her face, expression rife with disappointment and confusion, tracking him to the door. He didn’t dare look.

"I thought I had you this time."

Do interruptions cause you stress? What type of interruptions have you encountered recently?