Oh yes. The agent/publisher search. Commercial publishing is awesome if you can get your foot in the door. But it’s having your foot constantly slammed by the door that can be intolerable. However, it is awesome that you have a second book coming out this year

Good luck with finding a job. The economy is still struggling to recover, so hopefully you can find something. If not, maybe look at offering some kind of service online like writing articles or virtual assisting.

I used to read a lot of fiction when I was younger. Then life happened and I started mostly reading non-fiction. I love storytelling in all of its forms, even poetry.

Unless it is something that really catches my attention, I don’t pay attention to the technical details the first time I read something. If I liked the story, then I’ll read it a second time and look at how the writer pulled it off.

I think reading fiction is valuable mostly from an inspiration standpoint. I’ve read short stories by other writers and something about their character, or setting, or plot will spark an idea for my stories.

I never thought of getting books from charity shops, but that’s a good idea. I think there is a Salvation Army in my city somewhere. I’ll have to look

I was interested by your thoughts on reading – I am far more drawn to non-fiction than fiction, and it’s difficult for me to actually enjoy novels because I tend to read them from a technical standpoint. Anyway, I tend to buy all my fiction from charity shops – it’s a cheap source, and the benefit to good causes offsets my guilt at not supporting the industry I would like to be part of!

I wrote the article for Daria’s site and I’m always interested when someone who is clearly well informed and engaged has a comment. With regard to the piece being too positive, on reflection I think you are right, although I did try to support what I see as positive steps in the right direction, rather than suggest all is absolutely fine and there is nothing bad out there, which is clearly not the case.

I think the problem I have when considering material that can be perceived as misogynistic or exploitative is that it is such a subjective judgement. We could list a number of sexual acts or perceived attitudes that a lot of people (and film censorship boards) would feel fit these two categories but I know there are many women and couples who enjoy such activities as part of a loving, balanced relationship.

For me the key element is how the adult actress (or indeed actor) felt when they were performing for this type of film. Anything is OK if you are genuinely comfortable with it yourself and nobody else has the right to judge. By the same token, if people want to watch such material we should perhaps at least reserve judgement if we believe everyone has their right to sexual diversity as long as it isn’t at the expense of someone else’s basic human rights and also acknowledge the inherent fantasy element of viewing porn.

Unfortunately, as someone not involved in porn production, I find it difficult to gauge the level of exploitation and coercion female performers face and I feel this is a key point. I also feel that the best way to reduce it is to have women involved in porn production and have a solid female customer base that wields ever increasing consumer power. The points Daria made about porn production simply reflecting inherent human desires and that the marginalized nature of the industry does not help improve the quality of its output are both significant elements in this debate.

Irrespective of whether exploitation was involved in the making of potentially misogynistic material or the motivation for people to buy it, it does concern me a great deal that having such material available may increase negative attitudes to women. At this point we return to the oldest question in the industry and I’m afraid I have no answers. I also fear that vocal elements in the pro and anti lobbies have no answers either but they continue to offer “evidence” to support their particular agenda. My focus in this piece was intended to be the fact that women have a more prominent voice than was previously the case and I do believe that the way that women use pornography is beneficial to them personally and if they are engaged with porn rather than excluded, that is for me very positive.

I guess in the end I am an optimist and have a lot of faith in the capacity of women to bring positive change in any male dominated arena. Whether it be giving micro credit loans to women in the developing world because funders know mothers make sure the money is used for the intended purpose, or the fact that the whole swinging scene is run hands down by women on their terms – wherever women have a chance to improve things they do so and I remain hopeful that this will be the case in the porn industry. Whatever they accomplish as producers of porn and however their consumer influence helps shape the industry, it is certainly much better to have women involved rather than allowing it to be an exclusively male domain.

Sorry I didn’t respond earlier. I agree that a lot of porn out there is still sexist, but I think that’s mostly because the industry panders to men. Like it or not, many human sexual instincts are misogynistic. So to sell porn, that’s what they focus on.

You are totally right about the exploitative nature of porn and some of it is degrading. But the other side of that is, there is a market for that crazy stuff, so what does that say about us as human beings?

I think a lot of the problems with porn would be alleviated if it was legitimized. But the stigma that is still attached to porn scares away the really talented producers and directors who would make decent stuff. Hopefully, that will change in the future.