Guest Author Biographies and Recommendations

Violet Blue (@violetblue, tinynibbles.com)

Violet is the author and editor of multiple fiction and non-fiction books, including Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy and How To Be A Digital Revolutionary, some of which are IPPY award winners. She was hired by Phil Bronstein to write about sex in the city for the San Francisco Chronicle, her self-published book on privacy for women was picked up by No Starch Press, and her book on women and pornography was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Ms. Blue's day job is as a freelance reporter for outlets ranging from O Magazine to Financial Times, and she is currently a weekly columnist for Engadget.

Ms. Blue is a San Francisco native who was a homeless punk teen on the streets of San Francisco at the end of the AIDS crisis. She is a freelance investigative reporter on hacking and cybercrime, as well as a noted columnist, an advisor to Without My Consent, and a member of the Internet Press Guild. Her conference appearances include ETech, LeWeb, CCC, and the Forbes Brand Leadership Conference, plus two Google Tech Talks.

Violet’s Further Reading and Resources

I have to first plug the oodles of links, groups, and tutorials in the "Resources" sections of both my books, Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy and How To Be A Digital Revolutionary.

Two great articles for further reading are: "101 Ways I Screwed Up Making a Fake Identity"(tisiphone.net/2016/10/13/101-ways-i-screwed-up-making-a-fake-identity), and "Domain Games: Role-playing an online identity" (exposingtheinvisible.org/resources/watching-out-yourself/domain-games).

Most resources for privacy and security laws and technologies are focused toward consumers and activists. Organizations like EFF, ACLU, and Open Rights Group are outwardly sex worker friendly, but I feel they've fallen short when it comes down to actually giving sex workers a seat at the privacy and security table. I can’t tell you how angry it makes me to see groups like EFF make recommendations for sex workers without actually talking to any sex workers. So all the popular privacy groups come with a big side of caution, especially with the mainstream orgs: Look for the usual biases. 

You can also check out:

Ø  Cyber Civil Rights Initiative 

Ø  Electronic Privacy Information Center

Ø  Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

Ø  Without My Consent

Ø  Speak Up & Stay Safe(r) 

Ø  Holistic Security is sex work-positive. 

Ø  So is Badass Army, a group of sex-positive, porn-positive, and trans-positive, female-identified digital security professionals and hackers, though their primary focus is nonconsensual porn. 

Conner Habib 

Conner is an award-winning and internationally recognized author, sex workers’ rights activist, and public intellectual. Conner has appeared in hundreds of gay adult films, and speaks at universities and organizations worldwide on the topics of pornography, sexuality, and culture. For two years, Conner served as the Vice President of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee. He hosts the countercultural podcast, Against Everyone with Conner Habib.

Connor’s Further Reading and Resources

Ø  My short essay, “Porn-ing Your Way through College 101: A Syllabus” isn’t just for performers working their way college! It’s a list of skills performers acquire from porn. Performers often don’t recognize how awesome they are, how much power they have, or that they’re cultivating valuable skills—including boundary communication that can assist in cases of confusing contracts.

connerhabib.com/2014/10/03/porn-ing-your-way-through-college-101-a-syllabus/

 Ø  If you work for a studio or producer and think their business practices or release forms are unethical, notify the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC). APAC is an advocacy group made up entirely of adult performers. It may not lead to direct action, but it will certainly be logged and lead to word-of-mouth protection for other performers, press release statements (if other complaints about the same issues and people are reported), and collective industry-wide action. APAC also has a list of performer-friendly resources including health professionals, lawyers, and more. http://www.apac-usa.com/

Ø  I was Vice President of APAC for two years, and am happy to help any performers in need to the best of my ability. I worked in gay porn for ten years, and am most knowledgeable about gay content studios, producers, release forms, and more, but I’m happy to direct folks to someone who can help. Feel free to contact me via twitter: @connerhabib

Taylor B. Jones 

Taylor is a Relationship Success Coach, Dating Profile-writing Genius (a.k.a. your Fairy Godmother behind your successful profile), author, entrepreneur, matchmaker, hula-hoop enthusiast, and founder of the unconventional relationship resource for beneficial dating, The Sugar Daddy Formula website. After shedding her discomfort with the fear of asking for what she wanted, Taylor evolved her lifestyle through her relationships to become financially independent. 

Taylor’s passion is helping women have more control over their lives. She’s on an international mission to help the lost, the frustrated, the confused, the disillusioned and the “How the hell did I settle in a mediocre relationship?” women of the world attract affluent men by owning their worth, finding the right words, and leveraging their relationships. She created the proven Sugar Daddy Formula to help her clients stand out from the competition to get more and BETTER dates. You can follow her down the dating-path-less-traveled by visiting her at www.SugarDaddyFormula.com or stalking her IG: @sugardaddyformula.

Taylor’s Further Reading and Resources:

Whenever I need inspiration on writing compelling ad copy, I turn to these three books:

Ø  All Marketers Tell Stories, by Seth Godin. You'll change the way you market yourself. How so? Through stories, of course!

Ø  The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert. You'll learn how to keep someone's attention, and isn’t that what we want? Yes, we do. 

Ø  Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade, by Robert Cialdini will help you get prepared before you influence. 

Jessie Susannah Karnatz (a.k.a. The $Money Witch$)

Jessie is an Intuitive Financial Coach, educator, and tax preparer bringing Capitalism-Critical Business Lady Swag to help clients in the Bay Area and beyond catalyze change in their financial lives. She most recently created Business Basics for Not-So-Basic Business Babes, an online workshop offering education about bookkeeping, taxes, business banking, and incorporation for small business owners, side hustlers, and independent contractors. You can find more information on her work at www.healyourfinances.com, on Instagram @money.witch, and on YouTube at youtube.com/moneywitch.

Jessie’s Further Reading and Resources:

Ø  Financially Fearless by Alexa von Tobel

Ø  The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, & Broke by Suze Orman.

Ø  I also recommend the book The Trance of Scarcity by Victoria Castle to work through scarcity stories that may be activated by the budgeting process.

Ø  Stock Series (jlcollinsnh.com/stock-series/) is an easy-to-read and free online resource written by J L Collins who was inspired by writing to his daughter, encouraging her to learn more about money and investing. 

Ø  Investopedia (investopedia.com) is a great, free online resource. It can get nitty-gritty at times, but provides absolutely everything you’d need to learn more about any investing topic, along with helpful videos.

Christopher Kirk 

Christopher is the Owner and Master Preparer at Safeword Tax Service (safewordtax.com.) He is an attorney, licensed in California, and practicing primarily tax and business law. He graduated from Tulane University School of Law with a Juris Doctor, and from New York University School of Law with a Master of Laws (in Taxation.)

Christopher opened Safeword Tax Service in 2014 after witnessing how financial and legal professionals woefully underserve BDSM, LGBT, and polyamory communities. He soon realized that sex workers face even greater challenges in finding professionals willing to give them the professionalism and respect they deserve.

Jiz Lee 

Jiz is an adult industry veteran, having worked for over a decade in projects spanning indie erotic films and hardcore gonzo productions. They currently work behind the scenes at Pink and White Productions, CrashPadSeries.com, and PinkLabel.TV. They are the editor of Coming Out Like a Porn Star: Essays on Pornography, Protection, and Privacy. You can learn more about them at: Jizlee.com.

Jiz’s Further Reading and Resources:

Ø  Nate Glass of Takedown Piracy for digital fingerprinting and DMCA

Ø  Michael Fattorosi (adultbizlaw.com.)

Ø  Industry publications like XBiz.com for articles, forums, and business listings.

Ø  Free Speech Coalition (freespeechcoalition.com) and Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (apac-usa.com) for sex worker attorneys.

Erin Lowry 

Erin is the author of the series Broke Millennial, which currently includes Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together and Broke Millennial Takes on Investing: A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up Your Money. She’s written for Refinery29, Money, Cosmopolitan Magazine and been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Glamour, and CNBC. Erin also speaks at conferences and universities around the country to help her fellow Millennials get their financial lives together and level up their money!

Erin’s Further Reading and Resources:

 Ø  I have to plug Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together, of course.

Ø  I wrote Broke Millennial Takes on Investing: A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up Your Money because I saw a gap in the market. There are a lot of incredible investing books, but they’re so often written above a true rookie’s knowledge base. I wanted to create a book that didn’t assume you knew terms like “index fund” or “asset allocation,” and also addressed really millennial-specific pain points like “Should I be investing when I have student loans?” or “How can I invest in a way that doesn’t compromise my religious or ethical beliefs?” 

Ø  Dumpster Dog Blog is written by Amanda Holden and offers a lot of hilarious and irreverent financial advice. She worked in the investing industry, so has a lot of great insights. Amanda also offers an investing course called Invested Development focused on helping women get into the game. 

Amberly Rothfield 

Amberly is a thirteen-year veteran of the phone sex operating industry, and one of the Top Active Fem Dommes on the Niteflirt platform. Turning her attention to teaching, she wrote How I Made 10K a Month as a Phone Sex Operator, which is free in digital form to help those entering the field. Her passion is helping those who are just getting started.

Amberly’s Further Reading and Resources:

Ø  Look both inside and outside the adult industry for inspiration. I live for Amy Landino’s YouTube channel.She gives amazing tips on being a business owner, and how to use social media to promote your content.

Ø  Next would be the book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How To Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuck. His tips on marketing content are absolutely critical to getting better sales and building a customer base that are more than just mere fans!

Ø  The infamous Ceara Lynch is another source. She talks about life as a clip producer, and has a no-nonsense approach.

Ø  Lastly, check out Bratty Nikki’s interview with the Washington Post. She gives sage advice for starting from scratch, and how to hit the market hard. She came from nothing and now owns one of the top earning clip sites. 

Dr. Carol Queen 

Carol is a sociologist, cultural sexologist and co-founder of the Center for Sex & Culture in San Francisco. She is a noted erotic writer and essayist whose work has appeared in dozens of anthologies. She's written four books: the essay collection Real Live Nude Girl: Chronicles of Sex-Positive Culture; the erotic novel The Leather Daddy and the Femme; Exhibitionism for the Shy, which explores issues of erotic self-esteem and enhancement; and most recently, with Shar Rednour, The Sex & Pleasure Book: Good Vibrations Guide to Great Sex for Everyone.(carolqueen.com.)

She's also edited several volumes of erotica and essays and has appeared in several explicit educational videos, notably Bend Over Boyfriend: An Adventurous Couple's Guide to Male Anal Pleasure. Queen works as staff sexologist at Good Vibrations, the women-founded sex shop, where she has worked since 1990. She has addressed many conferences, including the International Condom Conference, the International Conference on Prostitution, and the International Conference on Pornography; she frequently addresses college as well as general and specialized audiences. In February 2009 she debated the question of promiscuity ("Virtue or Vice?") for the Oxford Union at Oxford University, England.

Queen has been speaking publicly about queer sexualities for over forty years. Her perspective in addressing sexual diversity incorporates personal experience, accurate sex information, and informed cultural commentary. Queen credits the sex industry as one of the most significant sites of sexological and sexual knowledge she’s ever encountered. She danced at the late, great Lusty Lady Theatre in 1990, as Minx Manx. She worked incall/outcall in San Francisco, mostly via relationships with madams, from 1989 through most of the 1990s. Her insights are sourced especially from working in that context, rather than survival sex work or situations where agency and opportunity are more circumscribed.

Christina Sophie 

Christina delights in being well-handled, and has hired consultants in many diverse disciplines. As a consultant herself, she understands the value of a skilled professional. Christina is a Sex and Relationship Coach certified in the Somatica Method, a Somatic Sex Educator, and a Fairy Godmother to rule breakers, iconoclasts, and bad girls. You can find more information on her work at christinasophiecoaching.com.

Lori St. Kitts (a.k.a. The Tax Domme) 

Lori is the author of The Tax Domme’s Guide for Sex Workers and All Other Business People. She is a seasoned tax professional who has worked with a variety of domestic and international businesses. She is also a former sex worker and active advocate of the adult industry who believes that tax law is for everyone. To this end, she strives to keep the taxpayer in compliance with the law, while using the law to their advantage. Among her many interests, she enjoys travel, anthropology, writing, cooking, belly-dancing, and living life to its fullest. You can find her at taxdomme.com.

Lori’s Further Reading and Resources:

Ø  Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center: www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed 

Ø  Taxpayer Advocate Service: www.irs.gov/taxpayer-advocate 

Ø  Tax Girl Love, love, love her blog! www.taxgirl.com

Ø  Small Business Association Tons of information for the small business owner and loans and grants for women and minorities. www.sba.gov

Ø  An online bookkeeping program I love is Wave Accounting. It’s worth the small amount of time to get to know it. Their free version allows you to have as many businesses as you want on one account, and you can also use it for personal budgeting. If you need payroll or other more advanced services, they have paid versions. www.waveapps.com/accounting/

Mistress Ilsa Strix 

Ilsa was a professional dominatrix throughout the 1990s and into the fledgling years of the new millennium. During that time, she operated dungeons in San Francisco and Los Angeles, starred in dozens of BDSM films, appeared on national television, taught educational classes in the U.S. and internationally, and founded the ProDomination Legal Defense Project. After retirement, she earned a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality. 

Fresh “Lev” White 

Fresh is a love and compassion activist. He offers coaching, training, mediation, and mindfulness as tools for shifting towards more authentic and passionate living individually and in community. As a writer, he ministers love and the power of the breath to his global community.

Graduate of the Coaches Training Institute’s Leadership and Coaching programs; grounded at the East Bay Mediation Center; graduate of Spirit Rock programs, Lev offers talks and mindful teachings around the San Francisco Bay and beyond. He is the founder of the Trans and GQ Mindfulness sangha; contributor to the anthology Real World Mindfulness for Beginners; The Trans Buddhist Anthology (Nov. 2019); and Trans Bodies; Trans Selves.Find Lev on LinkedIn Fresh “Lev” White and at his website: affirmativeacts.org/.