TOME TACKLES BIGGER MIDLIFE PICTURE.

Byline: Gayle Vassar Melvin Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

They met nearly a decade ago in the locker room at the El Cerrito Swim Center and became fast friends.

Over the years, Melene Smith and Naomi Lucks shared bits and pieces of their lives between laps. Lucks, 48, of Albany, Calif., talked about raising her daughter, and her work as a free-lance editor and ghostwriter. Smith, 53, of Richmond, Calif., shared the ups and downs of returning to school in her 40s to become a marriage, family and child counselor.

One day, Lucks told Smith she'd love to collaborate with her if she ever had an idea for a book.

As it happened, Smith did have an idea, based on her own fruitless search for information about menopause and midlife. She wanted to create a resource guide for women such as herself.

``(The beginning of menopause) was a difficult time,'' says Smith. ``My body was changing. There were three family deaths all at the same time. I'd look in the mirror and realize I was aging.''

When she turned to her doctor for advice, all she heard were recommendations for Premarin and Provera, the most common hormone-replacement therapies. There had to be more to navigating the midlife transition, Smith reasoned.

Indeed, there was about 368 pages more. That's the length of ``A Woman's Midlife Companion: The Essential Resource for Every Woman's Journey'' (Prima Inc.; $18). Written by Smith and Lucks, the book covers an array of midlife issues from menopause to skin care.

The writers acknowledge their book isn't the only one on the market dealing with midlife. While there was a paucity of books on the topic when Smith needed them 10 years ago, bookstores now devote entire shelves to the subject.

What distinguishes ``A Woman's Midlife Companion'' is its breezy, user-friendly style and its willingness to examine both traditional and alternative therapies.

Lucks credits the questioning spirit of aging baby-boomer women with the surging interest in midlife and accompanying demand for information.

``This is the generation that wouldn't accept anything on face value,'' she says. ``We were always protesting.''

However, there was little protesting or conflict during the writing of their book. Instead, it was a period of collaboration and deepening friendship, the women say.

``My writing was influenced by her nicer, gentler voice, and she was influenced by my more glib style,'' says Luck.

Now that the writing's over, the women are touring bookstores, meeting their readers. It's a shift from the isolated world of writing, but one they are looking forward to.

``It's a new journey, and midlife is a time of journeys,'' says Smith. ``The important thing is to keep your eyes open and see what's out there, what is coming up next.''