A Married Couples Quest

Once upon a time there was a girl, she met a boy and they felt an immediate attraction for one another!  But circumstance made it impossible for the two to be together.  Through a series of miscommunications, internal struggles, and a villain or two, their love grows.  Finally they kiss and ride off together into the sunset, happy at last!

Because obviously, being alone is terrible.  You can only be happy when you're in a relationship.  But of course not marriage!  You can't be happy in marriage either!  Stories about married couples are about abuse, or one of them dies so that the other can find a different person to be in love with.

Why are these the only choices?  Why??  Why do all the romance books out there cut the story off just as it was starting to get interesting?  Because it's the story that sells.  Initial love is high with emotion, fast paced, and very easy to see - and therefore - to write.  Love after marriage?  A marriage that lasts?  Love changes into something more dull and ordinary and CLEARLY not interesting enough to write about. They have to throw in something extra dramatic to stir things up!

Sorry if I'm coming across too strong.  There's an imbalance and it's time to continue the stories beyond the first kiss.  Let's see the couple get married and go through trials.  Health, finances, and family - for goodness sake - are no small feats to manage!  Let's give examples to the impressionable youth and new couples of how to manage these "smaller" crises!  How are people supposed to stick it together when every story out there screams "if you're not happy it's not right!" "find someone new!"?

Okay, I'm being a little dramatic here.  The Mummy Returns is an example where the romance continues on.  They even have a kid!  I appreciate the growth that the characters show from the first to the second movie.  (We will NOT discuss the third movie.)  Spartan Gold By Clive Cussler also features a married couple.  They depend on each other while searching for artifacts in a very Indiana Jones meets James Bond kind of a way.  So I know other books are out there, but why are they so frustratingly hard to find?

So.  I'll make some of my own.  The book I'm currently working on, an urban fantasy entitled The End (subject to change) features Abagail and Dallas.  They've been married for a year or so when the action starts.  It showcases their struggle as they try to figure out how to better communicate and grow closer together in healthy ways.  Not an easy feat when it's the end of the world! 

Another book that's burning in the back of my mind (that will be published end of this year or beginning of next)
also has a married couple.  The main protagonist is trying to reach her husband, but an impenetrable wall is between her and her goal.  Stay tuned for more updates on this one.  It's going to rock!

If you know any other books or movies that feature a married couple and isn't completely about romance, please comment below.  I'm starving for new material, and this fingers can't type fast enough!

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