Down in the Valley
Let's go sideways.
The Block
I hit a block recently, writing this newsletter. This was caused by two things, both of which were good. One was something that happened professionally that I can’t talk about yet. And the other was getting a nice shout out from Sean Bonner in his newsletter, which for some reason made me feel self-conscious about newsletter writing. Basically, the only way to get out of a writing block is to write, so that’s what I’m doing here.
You’re a Bad Man, Aren’t You?
ICYMI, Warren Ellis has been accused of some sort of alleged sexual improprieties. I heard from a woman who’s gathering stories from alleged victims. She asked me if I had anything to report or if I knew anyone who did. I didn’t, really. I will say that I was friendly with Warren for years many years ago. He turned me into a character in one of his comic books. In the comic, I was a porn czar named Filthy Sanchez. At a certain point, as I recall it, he picked my brain about some porn-related subjects for a novel he was writing. After that, he stopped communicating with me. When his book came out, I read it and surmised that some of the porn-related parts of the book had been not plagiarized, but I would say they seemed aggressively inspired by some of my work. Oh, well. I guess what goes around comes around. (BTW, all of this happened a long time ago, so it’s possible I’ve got the exact chronology wrong.)
BBC
There’s been a lot of conversation lately about racism in the porn industry. It is true: There are ways in which the porn industry engages in systemically racist practices. That is not a good thing at all, and I hope that the porn industry works to rectify that wrong. At the same time, I’ve spent over 20 years writing about the porn industry, and the one forever truth in porn was told to me years ago by a producer: If there wasn’t a demand for it, it wouldn’t be made. I’m not offering up a defense of the porn industry. I’m simply pointing out that America’s entrenched racism has created a demand for adult content that exploits, capitalizes on, and monetizes racist tropes. As I’ve written elsewhere, the porn industry is a dream factory—but it’s dreams are all yours.
This Father’s Day
My father died of a heart attack, at 60, in 1996. So Father’s Day is always tough.
Eight Years Ago
I noticed in my Facebook memories that eight years ago today, I finished chemotherapy for breast cancer. I’ve been cancer-free since. I’m glad to be alive. I hope you are, too! Every day you’re alive is better than every day you’re dead.
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