Stuck in Love

Published novelist Bill Borgens has a modicum of fame, especially within literary circles. He has fostered in his two offspring, 19-year-old college student Samanta and 16-year-old high-schooler Rusty, a love of writing; he has made them keep journals since they were little to express whatever was on their minds, never reading them without permission. Bill himself has stopped writing; he's been obsessing over his ex-wife Erica, his teens' mother, who left him for a younger man, Martin. He has a a steady F-buddy in married neighbor Tricia Walcott, but that's it: he doesn't date, having every expectation that Erica will return. He even sets a place for her at the table every Thanksgiving Day. Sam hasn't spoke to her mother in over a year, hating and blaming her for the divorce, which has resulted in Sam becoming a cynical young woman who protects herself from being hurt by engaging in promiscuous no-strings sex. Her cynicism is reflected in her just-published first novel that she had started writing after her parents broke up. Louis, one of her classmates who is unlike anyone she's ever slept with, tries to change her perception of relationships between people as he pursues her romantically. Conversely, Bill doesn't feel that Rusty, who wants to be the next Stephen King, has yet exposed himself enough to life to be a successful writer. As such, Rusty opens himself up in his pursuit of classmate Kate, part of the popular crowd--including her boyfriend--but she has her own troubles.