Buck Naked Marriage: An Interview with Corey Allan

I have often said that the greatest thing about blogging is inspiring others. But the second greatest thing about blogging is getting to meet new people. Corey Allan is one of those guys that I have had the privilege of meeting during my journey into blogging.

I have followed his site, Simple Marriage, for quite some time and have always appreciated his approach to marriage steeped in commitment, love, and selflessness. When I had the chance to speak with him on the phone this past summer, I was not surprised to meet a humble family man with a genuine desire to help others succeed in their marriage… not to mention, a Marriage and Family Therapist with a Ph.D. who knew what the heck he was talking about.

When he told me that he was coming out with a new e-book about simplifying marriage down to its bare essentials, I was immediately intrigued. And now I am proud to partner with him and promote its launch. Buck Naked Marriage is available right now for $9.50 and is designed to offer key insights into keeping your marriage lasting and successful. To celebrate its launch, Corey allowed me the opportunity to read it in advance and conduct a short interview with him to find out more about the e-book.

1) Corey, introduce us to yourself and your website, Simple Marriage.

Simple Marriage began almost 2 1/2 years ago as a place I could house articles I was writing for a small town newspaper. After several people began commenting, I gave up writing for the paper and began blogging more. Simple Marriage is about simplifying things in relationships in order to experience more out of them.

2) Tell us about your book. What’s it about? How did you compile the research? And what are you hoping to accomplish through it?

Buck Naked Marriage is about the basic elements necessary for a marriage to thrive. In 2009 I did some research with my readers and asked them what they think are the basic elements necessary for success. After 1,028 people responded, I compiled their answers and uncovered the top ten elements. They’re pretty much common sense things – like communication, love, respect, honesty and the like. But in the book, I take a slightly different look at each of these elements and how they play out in relationships. More specifically, I believe marriage is designed to help us grow up into better people, so each of the elements are covered through the lens of growing up and creating a better marriage.

3) The first section of your book discusses these ten essential elements for a successful marriage. Which two or three do you find married couples struggle with the most?

The biggest struggle I hear about from my readers and see with my clients would be communication, trust, and respect (the last one is more in my counseling practice – since most of the time, couples seek out counseling far too long after the problem has become a problem.) The simple truth is, every couple will have some struggle with each of these aspects of relationships at some point – how you address them is what matters.

4) What part of the book was the toughest for you to write? And why do you think that was?

There were a couple of chapters that were tough to begin with but the toughest to write was the chapter on honesty. I consider myself an honest person, especially to others, but I have discovered lately that I’m not always honest with myself. I struggle with the rationalization monster when I need to face some harder truths at times. For me it was hard to write about honesty while at the same time owning some of my own lies.

5) In one paragraph or less, convince a reader why they should buy this book.

There are many things that bog down relationships and for many people, when struggle occurs, the problems or issues get all the focus. When you can focus on the essentials of every relationship however, you keep things simple and increase the potential of the relationship in the process. Stated another way: when you maximize strengths you minimize weaknesses.

Thanks Corey. And good luck, man. You deserve it.

Buck Naked Marriage is available starting today for $9.50. If you are interested, you can find out more at his website, Simple Marriage.