David Henry Sterry, Editor of Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys, chats with Red Bank Orbit’s Tom Chesek about his recent Asbury Park appearance to discuss his work, a screening of “Hollywood and the Sexworker”, and a conversation about sex work with other writers. Chesek covers all the bases – from Sterry’s sex work history, his time in Hollywood, his writing, and his current inspirations…

“…Makes you wonder whenever you meet up with one of these couples at some fundraiser reception. And the flip side is that you never know when someone you meet has worked in the sex industry in some capacity.

Oh, sex workers walk among us! They’re our moms and daughters and aunts and uncles. They’re everywhere.

Hey, the other day my wife finds out that a college student she knows has her own page with an escort service that once employed Ashley Dupre, of Eliot Spitzer scandal fame.

Really! Well, that proves my point. There’s the stereotype of the woman who’s working her way toward getting her Masters, her Ph.D. Think about that next time you see a doctor. Once you look into it, you see just how much of mainstream society is buying or selling something in this world.

Well, you haven’t been shy about your own experiences in the industry.

I’ve written two memoirs from those experiences, Chicken and Master of Ceremonies. My next one will be Sports, Sex and Show Business. I had my own show business career for a time, you know; I was on The Fresh Prince for a couple of episodes, but I got tired of the acting world. I didn’t want to be second banana, didn’t want to be ‘Buddy #3′ anymore.

Well, if the highlight of your career is a supporting part on a sitcom, it kind of dooms you to be Larry from THREE’S COMPANY for life. You can’t get hired for anything else in Hollywood, but you can always star in LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS at Bucks County Playhouse.

Exactly! I just felt like a cog in a machine that I inherently hated. You know, I was already a troubled person back then, and things just came to a head — my hypnotherapist that I was seeing suggested that I write about my life, and that’s how I transitioned into being an author.

Not that being a writer is any more respectable than being Larry from THREE’S COMPANY.

Oh, the writer is way down on the pole from what gets up there on the screen. Everything they always said about writers in Hollywood is true — the writer has no power, still. You’re just a hired hand that can be fired at will…”

You can read the rest of the article at the Red Bank Orbit website.