As funny as it was that pornographic movies were discovered at Bin Laden’s compound, it should be no big surprise— a lot of people watch porn. I wondered if Bin Laden had watched the type of porn that explored the taboo of having sex with women that wear burqas (I discovered this at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo) or maybe he secretly had a thing for “decadent” Western women. We may never know for sure. What’s more interesting to me about Bin Laden and his fellow terrorists stashing porn is that porn is a powerful symbol of American civil liberties.... Continue reading

My father once said, “It’s a witch hunt and I’m one of the few people who knows what those unscrupulous, publicity seeking authorities are doing to free speech in this country.” This was a quote of his from an article that appeared in The Inquirer Magazine in 1977 and he was referring to his indictment on obscenity charges for distributing Deep Throat. His words are just as relevant today. Recent letters urging Attorney General Eric Holder to prosecute pornography distributors have made me wonder if it’s possible to prosecute today’s porn industry with the same fervor it was subject to... Continue reading

Over the years people have asked a lot of questions about my experience growing up with a family in the porn business and more recently about my memoir in progress Daughter of Pornography. Here are some answers to those questions. I appreciate those who are curious about my life and expressed concern for me. How old were you when you became aware of what your father did professionally and what was your initial reaction? I can’t remember not knowing my father was in the porn business so there was never one moment when I was told about his job that... Continue reading

The Movable Type Literary Group (that reps for me) is promoting this clever Twitter hashtag #WhyIWrite to encourage people to share why they have a burning desire to write. It’s an interesting question since I believe everyone has a story to tell. So I joined the conversation @porndaughter and posted ”I write so my family’s rich history and fascinating story never dies or fades away.” This also got me thinking about all the reasons I wrote before I started my memoir Daughter of Pornography. Writing has been such an important part of my life and career. As a social worker... Continue reading

We welcome Stacy Juba to Six Great Books to share her experience about publishing her first book. Stacy is the author of the mystery novels Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and the soon-to-be-released Sink or Swim, as well as the patriotic children's picture book The Flag Keeper. Her young adult paranormal thriller Dark Before Dawn will be released by Mainly Murder Press in 2012. She is also the author of the young adult hockey novel Face-Off, published under Stacy Drumtra. On a personal note our husbands were college roommates at Florida State University. We’ve come a long way. Who would’ve thought... Continue reading

The first time I read the Stockbroker to Pornbroker article was when I was home for spring break during my freshmen year of college. I was curious about the stories I had heard growing up and dug through a stack of news clips my mother had collected about my dad from the 1970s. It was strange to read about my father depicted as the Philadelphia stockbroker turned notorious pornbroker at the helm of a successful strip club and the target of a federal indictment. To me, he was just my dad. This article was published in May of 1977 in... Continue reading

The 2010 American Independent Writer’s (AIW) conference was a great time to learn more about publishing my book Daughter of Pornography. This event left me feeling confident that I will get published despite what seems like very tough odds. After all, publishers are nothing without the great content that potential authors provide. The workshop, “What Will the Proliferation of the Electronic Reader Mean for Writers?” posed an excellent question. I have been wondering about this all year! Consider this: In 2009 four percent of all books sales were e-books E-book sales have increased by 176 percent in the past year... Continue reading

When I saw Jeffery Lewis’s website www.jeffreylewis-novels.com (click here before reading further) mentioned on Twitter I didn’t know whether to think this was a brilliant marketing strategy or be saddened by this author’s ignorance about the importance of marketing on the Internet. The pure contempt he conveyed was comical. For example #5 - I’ve never seen a Website, least of all for an author, that looked attractive to me. They always look too busy to me. Or #8- I don’t want to have to maintain a website. Numbers 5 and 8 make me agree with #11- It could turn out... Continue reading

I’m a pop culture junkie and love the reality show Survivor. The social game theory that plays out week after week with starving contestants in unusual locations is fascinating to me. The blend of personalities, ambition and push-to-the-limit qualities I think is a blueprint for many work and personal situations and indicative to publishing and writing my family memoir. Here’s what I mean. The sandy beaches and clear blue water seen in Survivor locations look like paradise but is not. What truly awaits people in this blissful like setting are days exposed to the elements, crippling self-doubt, fear of rejection... Continue reading

To make things even more confusing for us novices trying to break into the publishing world, now there is the iPad that is speculated to revolutionize the publishing industry with its iBooks application. Publishers Weekly reported, “In the iBookstore there are currently five publishers with titles available—Penguin, Harper, S&S, Macmillan and Hachette,” and points out that Random House is excluded from this list of publishers. Also this past weekend, drama ensued when Amazon removed MacMillan titles available on Kindle and Amazon.com due to a pricing war only to put the titles back on the popular website in a concession to... Continue reading

At lunch with a good friend last week she mentioned a saying— the greatest burden is the untold story. I immediately thought this is why I’m writing my book and the reason Facebook, blogs and Twitter are so popular. Everyone wants to tell their story. I have an unusual family story intertwined with the controversial issue of pornography and an urgency to record my family history. As a writer, I believe it would be a tragedy if this great story is not told. This writing group is helping me make my book a reality and unburdening me of my untold... Continue reading