So let’s be honest — when you first heard the title of my book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility, what was the first thing that came to mind? Understanding the mysteries of your body? Enriching your amazing sexuality? Avoiding pregnancy naturally?  Increasing your chances of conceiving?

If you are like virtually all women, you probably thought it was a book designed to help you get pregnant, right? And while that’s true, it only refers to a third of the book. And therein lies the problem with the title. When I first published the book 22 years ago, I brainstormed a good 30 or so titles, and I can tell you that Taking Charge of Your Fertility didn’t even make the cut. Why? Because charting a woman’s menstrual cycle is about so much more than just achieving pregnancy. Your menstrual cycles are a reflection of your health in general, so observing your primary fertility signs of waking temps and cervical fluid allow you to access facets of your health that you normally would not even be aware of.

So you may be asking yourself, why then did she use that inaccurate title? Trust me, it wasn’t my choice. In fact, I vehemently opposed it. But when I offered my publishers my list of titles, they nixed them all in favor of the current one. But if I had had my druthers (what are druthers, anyway?) I would have called it Cycle Savvy. The funny thing is that I realized only after zillions of the book were already printed that, in the end, my contract stated that I did have the final say. Sigh.

Alas, all was not lost. In 2006, I finally got to use the title I wanted for my book for teen girls:

Cycle Savvy: The Smart Girl’s Guide to the Mysteries of Her Body