Some women give their husbands clothes or gadgets for their birthday.

Charla Muller surprised her husband with a gift of sex — every day for an entire year. "365 Nights" is now a book.

"Sex was one of those things that fell by the wayside. I was tired. We were busy. And it just sort of sneaks up on you," said Muller, who lives in Charlotte. "At the time, we were married eight years and had two young kids and I thought, 'What could I give him that would be highly memorable and not cost a lot and be something only I could give him?'"

Muller, 41, will talk about the experience and the memoir Thursday at Wordsmiths Books in Decatur.

The AJC caught up with her by phone and asked her three questions.

Q: What was your husband's response to the gift?

A: At first, he almost turned me down. He was saying "What about the passion and spontaneity?" And I said we have jobs and two young kids and busy lives. We don't have any spontaneity any more.

Q: How did it impact your relationship?

A: It was the most transformative year of our marriage. Women know intellectually that it's an important part of marriage. But you need to make it a priority. We stopped watching TV. We planned for it and scheduled it. We learned to keep a dialogue going. And we learned about that daily kindness we needed to keep going to make it happen.

Q: Did you really do the deed every day?

A: We averaged 26 to 28 days a month. ... Intimacy every day is not a long-term sustainable model. But neither is intimacy hardly ever. So [these days] we've landed somewhere in between.

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