Down in the Valley

The valley so low

In my new memoir, Data Baby: My Life in a Psychological Experiment, which drops on November 7, I mention that years ago I attempted to write a novel set in Porn Valley. In fact, I have attempted to write this novel numerous times and failed every time. Perhaps because I have finally published my first book, or perhaps because I was buoyed by the fact that my memoir got a starred review from Publishers Weekly, or perhaps because I am a glutton for self-punishment, I am going to try again to write that novel. This time, I’m going to do it as part of National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, which is a collective event in which people set out to write a novel in the month of November, or 30 days. I don’t have an outline, but I do have a title: The Valley (a nod to the San Fernando Valley). I have a main character, who is loosely based on me and shares some of my experiences writing about the adult movie industry for over 25 years. And I know—or think I know the story takes place in the course of a single day (see: Ulysses). In any case, maybe I’ll fail, or maybe I’ll succeed, or maybe something in between those two extremes will happen. I may update how it’s going in this newsletter, or I may not. I might be sorry I shared my intent to do this at all, or I might see it was the start of something new, the realization of something I’ve wanted to do for decades, the purging of the ghosts of everything I’ve seen and heard in what I believe is one of the most fascinating places on Earth: Porn Valley, USA.

On a final note, The Reverse Cowgirl newsletter has a 60% open rate. Which is great. Thank you. Sometimes I feel like I’m chattering into the void. Yet here we are.

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