Almost 30 years ago, I was riding high on life. I had money in the bank and was pretty darned close to paying off my mortgage. My first erotic novel was selling rather well and I had just gotten out of a relationship that was pure poison. All in all, things were looking up and I was in a pretty good place.
When I received a call from my agent, I had no idea things were about to get better. "Hey there Gil," Tom said to me over the phone. "Are you perhaps interested in picking up a little extra cash?"
As I said, I was
close
to paying off my mortgage, I wasn't there just yet. "I might be, Tom," I answered. "Just what did you have in mind?"
"This is going to sound pretty out there," Tom said to me.
"Like the job you got me as a script assistant on the Saturday morning kid's show?" I grumbled. "I still have nightmares about Smurfs."
"This is almost as weird," Tom sighed. "Given the success of your first erotic novel,
Moondance
, a friend of mine has asked me ..."
I waited for the other shoe to drop.
"... He asked me if you might be interested in a job writing scripts for Adult Films."
"
Porn?!
You want me to write scripts for
porn
movies?" I asked, shaking my head.
"Don't dismiss it so casually," Tom told me. "Adult Films are moving closer to the mainstream and they're doing big budget stuff these days. They want better scripts, not that cheesy stuff you're used to seeing. Have you seen the women that make these movies today? Man, they're hot!"
I told Tom that I had not and that was the truth. While I was dating Brooke, I avoided even
looking
at other women and that included on film. I hadn't seen an adult film since
Suzie Superstar
some years earlier and I knew all about the tragic turn Shauna Grant's life had taken.
"It might be moving closer Tom, but it sure as hell isn't there yet," I answered. "If I do this and the publishers get wind of it, or worse yet, the public, I'm finished as an author."
"You wrote all those really cheesy
Beeline
novels a while back," Tom answered. "What's so different about this?"
"I wrote those under a pseudonym and it was to put food in my mouth," I told my agent and friend. "No one would associate Adam Baum with Gil Kirby. And hey, none of my novels were cheesy. I did the best I could in the time I was given." That much was true, I had turned out a dozen novels in just under a year. I will admit I had a great time doing them and it's good preparation for a fledgling writer because you have to think fast and work steadily to keep up.
"How much money are we talking about?" I asked Tom. He rattled off a sum that was really good by 80's standards and not bad by today's. Now I was tempted.
"They read your novel and they
really
want you," Tom told me. "Listen, why not meet me tomorrow and we'll drive to the set and you can talk to them. If you're still feeling ambivalent after that, don't do it. No one is going to force you, I just hate to see you turn down a paying job."
I hate it when Tom's being logical, even all these years later. We met the next afternoon and drove to a set in Encino. Everyone was nice and friendly and I was almost convinced. "It would help if I knew who the star of the movie was," I told the director and producer. "Who I am writing the script for."
"That would be me," a soft voice came from behind me. I turned around and for the first time, I saw the lovely face of Ginger Lynn. The Illinois-born blonde was just starting her career at that time and had yet to achieve the fame she would in a few years. Nonetheless, she was lovely and soft spoken and wearing a tiny bikini and heels. She sat down in a chair beside me and introduced herself. All I knew at that time was she was petite and almost shy and very pretty. She asked me a number of questions and you could tell she was quite intelligent.
"Why don't you and Ginger go to lunch and talk?" Tom suggested to me. "She's done filming for the day, maybe it will spark an idea." If they were trying to sweeten the pot, the lovely Miss Lynn was like honey. She nodded and indicated she was game so I agreed. She went to change and my eyes followed her all the way. She was barely 22 and I was only a few years older myself, yet she seemed to have a youthful freshness to her. I admit it, I was smitten. It was hard not to be, Ginger was a lovely young woman.
Ginger came back about ten minutes later looking so lovely it was hard to believe that she was in the adult entertainment business. She was one of the first in a coming trend of gorgeous women to do porn and had only done a few films as yet. The Ginger I lunched with wore a pretty yellow, gauzy sundress and a constant smile. She was charming and funny and I liked her even more by the end of our meal. I knew that I would agree to write the movie. I would have done anything for the chance to see Ginger just one more time.
As it turned out, I needn't have done that. "Could we have dinner tomorrow night?" She asked me. "I'm done early and I don't get a lot of free time. I really enjoyed our afternoon and I'd like to see you again, Gil. You're attractive and smart and not once have you talked down to me."
"Why would I, you're absolutely lovely and intelligent," I told her, which was the truth. She smiled and took my hand and I told her we had a date. Truly, few men could have resisted that lovely smile of hers and that soft little voice. She was a charmer. We agreed to meet at a then-popular steakhouse that was close to where she was filming. She would take a taxi and meet me there.
Our dinner that night was fabulous and so was the one after and the one after that. Before I knew it, I was dating Ginger Lynn although I got Ginger Lynn
Allen
, her civilian guise. It was making it easy to write a decent script because I got to know the lady every well. One balmy night in July, that knowledge turned biblical.
We were having wine at my condo and Ginger got this look in her sky-blue eyes. She put down her glass and flashed me a smile as she put her hand on my knee. "We've been going out for weeks and you haven't made a pass at me, so I'm making one at you. Take me in the bedroom and fuck me, unless it bothers you because of who I am?"
"That would be hypocritical, don't you think?" I smiled and took her hand. I hadn't asked to sleep with her because I didn't want her thinking out relationship was entirely about sex. I genuinely liked Ginger. She slipped out of her pretty blue dress and for the first time, I saw her slender, petite body totally naked. Remember, I had not yet seen a Ginger Lynn film. Now I knew what all the fuss was about and I could tell she would be a superstar. She kept on her heels to give her a bit more height and we kissed. She had full, soft lips and was an excellent kisser. She was also very eager, making short work of my clothes.