Open: Love, Sex, and Life In An Open Marriage

Despite writing a memoir about her open marriage, Jenny Block insists she's "really just a regular boring girl."

"There's nothing exciting about us," she says. "I think we're normal. That's why I wrote the book."

"Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage," chronicles Block's life - from her girlhood relationships with men and women, to her marriage (she calls her husband "Christopher"), to the decision that being with just one person wasn't enough. After lots of discussion, Block and Christopher decided to open their marriage.

They started by having a threesome with a female friend named Lisbeth who they met on a free internet dating site. After a while, Lisbeth wanted to have sex only with Christopher. Block and her husband learned to overcome jealousy, which Block says is a socially learned emotion, not a biologically innate one. Now the couple can have relationships, from one-night stands to long-term affairs, with other people.

Christopher has been with just Lisbeth in the years since they went open, while Block has had several relationships and is now with her long-term girlfriend, Jemma. It works for Block and her husband, and so far, it's working for their 9-year-old daughter, Emily, too.

Emily isn't explicitly aware of the nature of her parents' marriage, and Block says she plans to keep it that way unless Emily asks about it. "Sometimes we spend too much time trying to hide things from our children," Block says. "If she asks me directly, I'll give her a direct answer. But she's too little now."

Block lives with Christopher and Emily, and Jemma has a condo nearby, "but she's over here all the time," Block says.

Her family's reaction to "Open" was supportive, but not everyone thinks Block's marriage is a great idea. After Block appeared on TV in Los Angeles, a woman e-mailed her and told her to stay off the small screen.

"I do find it ironic that people cheat on their spouses, and I'm the bad one?" says Block.

Most of her friends know that she's in an open marriage, but it's not something Block tells everyone she meets. Some of her neighbors in Dallas still aren't aware of it, even though her photo appears inside "Open," because the names of everyone in the book have been changed except for Block's - and Block is her maiden name.

Block acknowledges that, like monogamy, open marriage isn't for everyone, and it requires a great deal of honesty and communication among all involved partners. Nevertheless, she says she hopes readers obtain a sense of normalcy from reading the book.

"Their choices are normal regardless of what they are," she says.