Belgian-born beauty Anika Kunik has some tales to tell. She’s an actress and a screenwriter; she’s a single mom holding down a day job. In a few weeks, it’s a good bet she will be something else as well – a hot new novelist with a top-selling book in stores for the holiday season.

Her latest creative adventure, “45-1/2 Lovers,” is not a novel for the timid reader, and it’s certainly not for people who don’t find major humor in the spicier aspects of life. The tragic sex chronicles of Amanda Buffington – as told by Kunik – explores the mysterious realms of the female libido, a world Kunik portrays with nuance and wit, a world divided 45 ways into stories she filled with hope, lust, desperation, love, stupidity, romance, detachment and redemption.

“Sex is flawed; sex is funny,” Kunik said.

She hopes the book uncorks some interesting dialogue between women and men.

“I want to start a conversation,” Kunik said. “I want women to tell their story, and I want them to have some fun with it. In America, you’re either a good girl or a bad girl. When you’re a mom, you better be a good girl. Why can’t we be mothers and still be sexual?”

Fearless, Kunik applies the same guts to writing that she does to acting and parenting. Sitting at a table in Trianon coffee shop one afternoon last week, she deftly fielded questions about the new book while waiting for her triplets to meet up after middle school. She admits that single parenting can be, well, challenging, but she said being a mom has always come naturally to her. She sticks with one simple idea – never be afraid to look like a fool. Never.

Case in point: in an airport once, while traveling alone with four kids, she found herself head-to-head with her young son, who was throwing a temper tantrum on the floor. Undaunted, Kunik decided to mimic the same behavior and began throwing a fit of her own on the airport carpet. Her son, stunned, stopped his own tantrum to stare at the unlikely sight of his mom losing it in a crowded, very public place. Was she embarrassed by the spectacle? Nope.

“It has guaranteed me 13 years of carefree travel,” she said.

Some people might find Kunik’s talent hopping back and forth between actress and writer a little unusual. To Kunik, it’s not much of a leap at all.

“Both acting and writing help people understand stories, understand life, understand each other,” she said. “In acting, you can explore any motivation, any wish. It’s lovely to be able to help people feel something, to be able to help them relate.”

Born in Antwerp, Kunik began acting in local Flemish productions at the tender age of 12. After high school, she moved to Israel, where she converted to Judaism and found success as print and runway model. She moved to Texas in 1989 and graduated from the University of Texas magna cum laude with a degree in French dramatic literature. Soon, she found herself immersed in raising a family, but she never lost the creative itch and continued her acting career in independent productions.

Kunik started writing five years ago, when she befriended Austin writer Bud Shrake, who died in May. Shrake became more than her mentor, he became a close friend, giving her the courage to pick up a pen and put her thoughts to paper.

“In a sense, he opened up a world,” she said.

“I had never considered myself a writer, but you have to find some outlet somewhere for all the things you feel,” Kunik said. “In the beginning, you just write about yourself. It’s what you know. As you get more comfortable, you expand. You write about other aspects of the world.”

Expanding into a subject as dicey as sex is a pretty big step for a first-time novelist. Kunik said that, initially, she had a few trepidations about it. She wondered what other mothers in her neighborhood might think of her writing a novel that focused on sex – an unabashed look at the topic from a woman’s point of view. But then she thought about Shrake and how he would chide her for worrying about what other people thought.

“He always reminded me of the same thing he told other writers – if you are going to write, you are going to embarrass your mother and irritate a hell of a lot of people,” Kunik said. “I’m pretty sure I am going to do that.”

The multitasking novelist sticks by her subject.

“I wanted to take a look at sex at different times in life,” she said. “Each time, each relationship is a different story. Each story is a chance for conversation and understanding.”

“45-1/2 Lovers” will be available online at 45-5lovers.com on Nov. 14. For more information on Kunik and her career, take a peek at her acting and screenwriting resume at imdb.com/name/nm1195212/.