Home stretch! Yipeeeeeee!

So I got another essay in tonight and it is BEAUTIFUL--so great to have gathered so many amazing essays in one place, for one project. And FUN! My book is due December 1st, and this is what I have left to do:
1) waiting to get and edit 2 essays that are being revised
2) Waiting for 2 more first drafts
3) write up author bio page
4) do final, final polishing
5) figure out order of essays

This last is a tall order. This book, which is about sex in real life--what really goes through women's heads, the gap that so often exists between our expectations and reality--has convinced me that quality of sex does not necessarily have a relationship to a woman's age; sex can be very different for the same person depending on the partner, where they are in their life, how they feel about themselves. You can have boring sex in your 30s and amazing sex in your 40s; older does not equal sexual decline. So, that's a long way of saying that when it comes to organizing the book, I don't want to do it by age. Any category--sex and singles, married sex, post-divorce sex, etc.--feels artificial. I was thinking of organizing the book by the tentative subtitle: getting it, giving it, loving it, missing it, but as time goes on, I'm liking that less and less. And it doesn't work as an organizing principle; I've tried it.

So I am going to try and organize the book in an organic way--like a "playlist" as one of the contributors and a friend, Val Frankel, suggested: You want to start off extremely strong, then have a nice rhythm where the tension builds, then there is some levity, then it builds again, then finally there's a knock your socks off ending. It's going to be a challenge, but I'm hoping to just get in the groove and go with my gut, which seems to be working pretty well, vis a vis this project, so far.

It would be so nice to feel as sure of my gut when it comes to romance as I do when I'm editing something. It's amazing how once two human beings are interacting, there's suddenly room for a wealth of interpretations and possibilities. Speaking of, dating is a whole new thing these days. I'm really loving it. I never thought I would say that. Everything feels lighter and more fun--and I feel lighter, too.
Buona notte--
Paola