Annie is a former prostitute-turned-porn-star-turned-sex-performance-artist, feminist, and about a hundred other titles... including author. She entered the porn world after working as a popcorn-seller at a movie theatre that just happened to be showing an X-rated film when she was 17. When the theatre's owner was sued for showing it, Annie was called to the trial, and met the filmmaker and star of the movie. She was intrigued by their work, and followed them back to Manhattan. She had starred in over 100 porn films by the mid-1970s.

As time went on, she became more focused on performance art and sexual education, including her popular "Public Cervix Announcement." She has written articles and several books about her work and life, and holds a a Doctorate of Human Sexuality from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. She is working towards her Ph.D.

Tell us about your latest book, Hardcore from the Heart.

This is my fourth book. I've also published magazines and have a comic book about me, too. This book is from an academic perspective. It is, as the subtitle says, about the "Pleasures, Profits and Politics of Sex In Performance." It includes some interesting interviews, a script of my most recent play, various writings, etc. It's a kind of scrapbook of my past ten years of work, with commentary by Gaby Cody, a fabulous art critic.

This book is the second in a series called Critical Performances. In each book in the series, a theater critic and a performance artist pair up and do a book about the performance artist's work. Generally, it includes a script of a show, so that people who are studying that artist's work can see how they work.

Why did you write this book?

I wanted to try doing something real academic. I was invited to do it. The project just fell into my lap. I certainly didn't do it for the money, because the advance paid was less than it cost us to do the book-- buy photos, pay for assistant, buy a plane ticket for Gaby and me to get together.

I find doing books very good self therapy. A way to assess one's work and life, and a way to document it, and share it with others. I also love the process of making books. It's fun. And once the book is out, there are usually perks, like offers for gigs, you get a little more well known and respected, and you can let go of the past, because it is out there for all to see and enjoy.

How did you first break into the writing world?

I started by writing for men's sex magazines, like Partner magazine, Cheri, Adam, Oui, Penthouse Forum, etc. I also did photography for the magazines. Often, I would write stories to go with my photos. I majored in photography at School of Visual Arts, and became pretty good at pin-up photography.

You have had fantastic publicity throughout your career, and I read that you often wrote your own press releases and worked on marketing your work. Any tips for authors who'd like to attract this kind of attention?

a. Sex sells, for sure!
b. Have lots of good 8 x 10 glossies to give out to the press. Although, these days, it can be done digitally. I think that having lots of good photos of myself really helped me get my shows and events written up.
c. Humor sells.
d. Be original as possible.
e. Be in the right place at the right time.
f. Send out press releases, and be sure they have a hook. Something that is current or something that will grab attention.

How did you find your publisher?

Gaby Cody, my co-author, approached me. She had the gig with Continuum to do a book for their series. Then she invited me to work with her. She got to choose any artist she wanted to work with. I was just lucky. I think Continuum is quite courageous to do such an eclectic, unusual kind of book and series of books.

How did you hook up with Gaby?

Gaby had been to one of my performances early on. But I didn't know her. Later, she came up to me after a show and introduced herself, and made me the proposition. As it turned out, we had some friends in common. I really liked her from the start. She's really sweet, and really smart, and very sexy. And a fine academic and great writer. And hey, she was interested in me and my work, and I was very flattered.

How do you define the line between erotica and pornography?

There is no real line. As I say in one of my shows, "In erotica you use a feather, in porn you use the whole chicken." Or, as my friend Gloria Leonard says, "it's all in the lighting." The words erotica and pornography generally describe a genre, but these words can be quite interchangeable. Some porn is more erotic than erotica. Some erotica can be pornographic and not erotic at all. But that's what makes it real folk art in a way, these things can't be easily defined.

A lot of feminists are anti-porn. How do you resolve the issue of calling yourself both a feminist and a porn star?

Because I am a feminist, and I make feminist pornography now. My work is geared to women. I wasn't a feminist when I got into porn. And in fact, I learned a lot from the anti-porn feminists.

Explain what you mean by "sex-positive" and "sex-negative."

It's a basic way of explaining how a person views sexuality. Are they seeing it from a positive humanistic perspective, or from a place of disgust and fear and judgment? Sex is not necessarily good nor bad, in the way the ocean is not good or bad, or fire is not good or bad. It's what we bring to it.

Your book contains several interviews, including one with Mae Tyme, an anti-porn feminist. How did you get her to agree to this interview?

Yes, I'm quite proud of this interview. It's a discussion, really. She and I met at a lesbian video night. We have agreed to disagree on some issues. She grew to trust me because my intentions are to educate and grow and to improve the way things are for women in the world. I told her that she could edit the interview however she'd like to. I promised her that if she didn't like what we did, then she could destroy it, and I'd never use any of it. I also paid her for the interview. I like to pay people whenever I can. And she knew that I would use the interview in the context of an academic book. She wouldn't have let me use it in a men's magazine. I promised her I would never use it without her permission. And I would never betray her trust.

After you've finished a manuscript, tell us about the process before it appears in print.

Well, in the case of my new book, Hardcore From the Heart, the editor did very little in terms of revisions or improvements. She did a lot of fact checking, and detail work. Oddly enough, no one at the publishers ever said if they liked the book or not, or gave me any signs of encouragement, other than publishing it. Which is quite a lot, really. The editor was in England in this case. With my past book, Post Porn Modernist, I worked with Felice at Cleis Press in San Francisco, and we got together quite a bit. And she pushed me to do little rewrites and make improvements.

So each time I do a book with someone new, it's always a different process.

Have you had any trouble getting book reviewers to cover it?

Well, it's pretty eclectic. It's not really a popular culture kind of book. So people who might normally review a book I do might not review this one because it's kind of over some people's heads. It's also not erotic or titillating in any way, so the mainstream sex media isn't paying it much attention. But I feel that it will have a long life. Rather than make a big bang at the start, it will have a slow burn.

We have gotten some great media attention in places that normally wouldn't review me-- some professional journals and educational magazines and such.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Yes, you can get my new book from my favorite store, Good Vibrations at goodvibes.com. Or from Amazon.com. Or order it at any book store. It's in many stores in Manhattan, but maybe not in Iowa or Louisiana, or...

My web site address is http://gatesofheck.com/annie. You can get the book direct from there, too. Please come see me when I'm in your town. My calendar is on my site.

I wish everyone lots of sexy fun and pleasure and big book advances and more. Keep it damp.

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Jenna Glatzer is a full-time writer with hundreds of national and online credits, recently including Woman's World, Writer's Digest, and Salon.com. She is the author of three upcoming children's books: Exploration of the Moon and Native American Festivals and Ceremonies (Mason Crest Publishers, spring, 2002), and Taking Down Syndrome to School (JayJo Books, spring, 2002) and two adult nonfiction books: Conquering Panic and Anxiety Disorders (Hunter House, fall, 2002) and Internet Freebies (Publications International, winter, 2003). She is also the author of bestselling e-book The More Than Any Human Being Needs To Know About Freelance Writing Workbook.

Her essays appear in several anthologies, recently including A Cup of Comfort (Adams Media) and Love Letters of a Lifetime (Hyperion/Lifetime TV). She is an optioned screenwriter, produced playwright, and author of many greeting cards and slogans for doormats, aprons, t-shirts, magnets, buttons, and bumper stickers for companies such as Northern Cards, the James Lawrence Company, Ephemera, Paradise Greetings, and High Cotton.

She is the Editor-in-Chief of Absolute Write (www.absolutewrite.com), a comprehensive website for writers. She teaches a "Query Letter Clinic" through Absolute Write University (www.absolutewrite.com/courses). An honors graduate of Boston University's College of Communications, she lives in New York with her favorite musician and her favorite cat.