F*ck Me: A Memoir

Excerpt from: F*ck Me: A Memoir  Introduction W hen I split with my husband in the fall of 2019, I came to terms with the fact that I’d possibly never fall in love again, never have a romantic relationship again, or ever even have sex again. To move forward, I had to be OK with that. I had to believe that my life would still be better. At that point, I’d forgotten how important intimacy was for the body and soul, how important physical affection was to my personal well-being and happiness. And it certainly didn’t occur to me that sexual fulfillment would make the difference between me being just a mother and me being a woman .             To say that sex was the last thing on my mind is an understatement. Those first few years following my separation were decidedly the worst of my life. Apart from the ugly, drawn-out divorce taking place, I was also grieving the recent passing of my father and dealing with his messy est...

  The giveaway is closed at this time.  Thank you to the MANY participants and congratulations again to the winners!  (All winners have been notified by IG story and DM.) ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY!!!!  I never thought when I started promoting F*ck Me: A Memoir on Instagram, Facebook and Goodreads  one year ago that I'd have:  over 10,000 followers over 12 million views  a sales ranking in the  top 5%  of its categories on Amazon a  4.9 star  average dozens of thoughtful and heartfelt reviews! Not to mention, that I've connected with so many incredible people! :) And all based on the sh*t show of my dating life! lol So, in honor of an extremely successful year, I'm giving away  signed copies of my book!!   To enter*:      1. Follow my Instagram account .      2. Tag a friend in the comments section of any post I make this week. Have fun and good luck!! *To enter you must be at least 18 ...

  When I started telling people about my sex and dating memoir , I received a similar response from nearly everyone:  “You’ll use a pen name, right?” Each time I’d respond with a laugh.  “Nope.” A look of horror would then takeover the faces of my well-meaning loved ones (who didn’t want to see me “ruin my life” for a book). At first, they’d try to convince me to change my mind. Some gently, others firmly. They'd remind me that I had children ( oh, really? ) and that one day I might want to work for someone who wasn't too thrilled by my exploits ( um, no ), that I might regret it one day ( oh well!),  and that I Really. Should. Think. About. It. But it didn't matter. I'd made up my mind. I was determined to publish my story as a 100% factual memoir, not a thinly-veiled piece of fiction - with my real name attached. This was for two reasons: Firstly, I'm proud of my life. I’m proud of my story. I don’t feel the need to hide anything. So why wouldn’t I put...

  People talk about how important it is to be vulnerable on dates, in relationships, with loved ones; talk about how difficult - but crucial - it is to open up, be honest, ask deep questions, answer uncomfortable questions and be willing to put yourself in a position where you might get hurt. Interestingly, I have the opposite problem of most people. I don’t know how NOT to be vulnerable; how NOT to be completely honest; how NOT to lay it all out there, come what may - love... or rejection. In fact, the advice I usually get is: Maybe hold back a little? Maybe they don’t need to know THAT much THAT soon? Maybe give people time to get to know you before you mention...? And to some degree I get it.  Most people need a minute to settle in with information about your past, your kids, your finances or health before they’re willing to commit to joining their life with yours (despite the fact that they're most likely bringing a similarly messy reality into the mix). BUT…on the...

  It seems an obvious topic to write a blog post about being single… but the longer I boldly brandish this title (as a woman, as a woman over forty, as a single mom), the more deeply I realize it is as taboo a topic as any other I’ve covered. Why is that? From what I can tell being single these last five years, there a few common responses to announcing this status: You obviously aren’t ready for a relationship yet. When are you going to finally settle down again? How are you meeting people? In other words, most people assume that singlehood is both a temporary condition and an unwelcome one. Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, but plenty of people are single by choice . No, seriously. It’s not because we’re broken, it’s not because we’ve been searching frantically and haven’t found ‘the one,’ it’s not because we’re cynical and believe love is dead… for many of us it’s simply the best of all possible options. Maybe for now. Maybe temporarily. Or maybe forever. I'm not sur...

Closure. What a stupid idea. Don’t get me wrong, like so many others, I’ve spent months, years of my life seeking “closure” in relationships. I’ve foolishly reached out, ad nauseum.  I’ve imagined happenchance meetings and the conversations that would inevitably (fantastically) ensue:  “Oh Arielle, I’m so glad I ran into you,” they'd begin. “I have to tell you… all these years... it’s just tortured me that…” etc. etc.  (I warned you, fantastical .) I’ve even gone so far as to write a book about my dating blunders, disappointments and failures in hopes of achieving some measure of “closure.”  So, when I say I’m a world-class, hopeful, hopeless fool, having wasted lifetimes waiting for the inimitable, imaginary, ethereal concept of “closure” to land in my lap like a beautiful, rare, mini rainbow unicorn, I assure you, I am a world-class fool. And I can, therefore, further assure you that through my painstaking – and entirely wasted – efforts, I've determined...

  "Do I really want to be 'sex mom?'" I asked my therapist when I'd completed writing my memoir . She laughed. "Sure, why not?" "Because... well, because... do I wanna be 'sex mom?'" "First of all, you don't know that you'll be 'sex mom' because of your book. And even if you are, so what?" she challenged. "One book, one act, one nickname doesn't stick with you forever... When you're done being 'sex mom' you can be someone else. Anyone you want to be." It was a powerful statement - we can be anyone we want to be at any time, regardless of our past.  Powerful. True, even. But not completely helping to quell my fears...  My anxiety wasn't just about a nickname, obviously. It was about my identity and the way I presented myself to the world; it was about what people would think of me.  Which was ironic, of course, as the core message of my book is about how I learned to be true to ...