Page 56 - AVN August 2015

Asa Akira:
FEATURE
It’s safe to say that life doesn’t suck for Asa Akira.
She’s got a raft of AVN Awards on her trophy shelf, a
critically acclaimed book, a contract with one leading
adult studio, and a husband who’s got a directing deal
with another. And now the Wicked Pictures contract
star has inked a contract to write her second book, an
untitled collection of essays for Cleis Press.
“I just signed a deal a couple weeks ago,” Akira said. “It’s
gonna be a similar format to the first book. It’s a collection
of essays, true stories from my life, not in any chronological
order. Just funny little stories—things that I’ve found to be
profound.
“I don’t have a title yet—I do know we’re aiming for a
spring 2016 release, which is exactly two years after the first
book.”
The first book, Insatiable: Porn—A Love Story (Grove Press),
garnered Akira positive reviews, including a nod as a New York
Post Book of the Year. But Akira says this book will be a more
mature look at the world. “I turned 30 this year, which doesn’t
sound old in the real world,” Akira said, “but as a female porn
star I definitely feel the weight of my age. … It’s more of a
coming-of-age book than the first one. I feel like I’ve matured a
lot in the last couple years.”
According to Akira, “This next book will be 100 percent new
material. I’ve published things here and here, but this book is
all going to be new.”
Karen Thomas, publisher of Cleis Press, couldn’t be happier
about working with Akira. She expressed admiration for
Akira’s first book and lauded her writing skills, saying, “We’re
happy to be on this journey with her.”
How on earth does a busy porn star and podcaster find time
to write? Akira does it by being very disciplined. “I wake up
at 6 in the morning and I write for two hours,” she revealed.
Whether or not she’s satisfied with how the work is going—
“even if it comes out like shit”—Akira sticks to the plan and
writes for the full time.
“I’m lucky. My parents have always encouraged me to write
a journal, and that helps me write about things that happened
in the past, because it allows me to remember details.”
Those journals certainly served her well when she set out
to write Insatiable. According to Akira, “The first book coming
out affected my life a lot more than I imagined it would. I love
sharing things, I like telling stories—it was just an extension
of that. I didn’t set out to write anything … for lack of a better
Still Insatiable and
Back With a New Book
word, political.” But because she was writing
started directing, I had just become a Wicked
about porn, commentary on the book quickly
Girl.”
moved into the political realm. People questioned
Having ascended those pinnacles, Akira
whether she was a feminist, and what she thought
explained, now she is “definitely past my peak,
about porn. “It became this whole thing bigger
just past it.” Which explains why she’s more
than me, that I didn’t expect.”
focused on maturity, on womanhood, on the
Akira does consider herself a feminist. In fact,
reflection that comes with being a writer.
“When I set out to write the first book, I wanted
“I think in porn, we almost age in dog years. I
my core audience to be women. My goal was to
mean 30 is really old in porn years,” she joked.
connect more with women. Growing up, I was
Contemplation of the future doesn’t mean
a really, really sexual person, like hypersexual.
she isn’t still fully invested in the present. As
But I was always really uncomfortable with that
she talked with AVN, Akira was on her way to a
fact.” By writing the book, “I wanted to normalize
shoot, which she explained was for the Wicked
female sexuality.”
Pictures movie StarMaker, Brad Armstrong’s big
For her second book, Akira is looking ahead
drama for 2015.
rather than behind. “I think the main theme of
Talking about the tweet she posted earlier today
this book is maturing, turning 30, becoming more
about her Cleis Press deal, Akira said, “I literally
of a woman while in porn.”
made the announcement while I was cleaning my
When asked to elaborate about what “becoming
asshole for a scene with Jessica Drake. This is the
a woman” means, she said, “Kind of in every
last shoot of the movie.”
aspect. I’ve been married for a few years now.
In addition to the scene with Drake, Akira had
I guess I’m figuring out what it means to be
done another scene earlier that week. “I worked
a woman—whether that means wife, mother,
with Tommy Pistol for the first time, and he blew
completely independent. All those things.”
me away,” she said. “That guy is really good at
In addition, Akira said, “I’ve also been thinking
fucking. And he’s a really good actor.”
about post-porn a lot.”
Akira confided that acting was somewhat new
She quickly clarified, “By no means am I ready
for her when she started at Wicked. Working with
to leave the industry—I’m still having too much
the Wicked team has helped her grow, including
fun as a performer … but is life after porn going
the experience of working with this cast: “Tommy
to be enough for me? … I consider myself so lucky
Pistol, Brad Armstrong and Jessica Drake—and
to be able to do this for a living. Am I going to
Kurt Lockwood, he’s really amazing,” she said.
miss this when I leave?”
“Acting feels kind of like playing house,” Akira
Right now, Akira said, “I’m in a really happy
mused. “It’s only fun if everyone is 100 percent
place in my life, but I’m in this weird place. …
committed.”
When I wrote the last book, I was peaking, I won
And that, in a word, describes Asa Akira.
[AVN Female] Performer of the Year, I had just
(Pictured, Akira at AEE; photo by JFK/FUBAR)
Tori Black: Pouring
When we heard that actress-turned-director Tori Black had lent her name to a
luxury whiskey brand, it sounded like a delicious blend. So we had to learn more.
Tom, one of the principals of the European brand Whiskey By-X, explained
that he had contacted Black via her talent agent, Derek Hay. “We think that Tori
represents the perfect balance between elegance and sexy. Tori is the kind of
woman that amazes while wearing an elegant dress but at the same times seems accessible, natural
like a girl next door,” he said.
Tori may be accessible, but it’s undoubtedly the “elegance” part that’ll attract whiskey fans, since
the 40 percent single malt/60 percent single grain beverage sells for nearly $130 per bottle.
“I’d like to stress that the quality of the whiskey is very high,” Hay noted. “This is not a novelty
product where you have a low-grade whiskey that is being marketed with Tori’s branding on it. It’s
actually a very high-quality whiskey.”
And, of course, so does Tori—hence we were fascinated by the claim that By-X’s whiskey is “body
blended,” and wondered just what that meant.
“I would say it’s much more fantasy, the sense of it being poured down me and being blended
with my skin and my scent and my flesh; that’s the fantasy,” Tori explained. “But when we shot the
video, they did actually cover me pretty good in actual whiskey, which we then very quickly switched
to tea because if you actually cover yourself in whiskey, it burns pretty good,” she chuckled.
That short video, apparently shot in an upscale Las Vegas hotel, shows Tori entering an elegant
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