Dirty Talk With Asa Akira

Earlier this month, AVN published an excerpt from Asa Akira’s new memoir, Dirty Thirty (check it out here). That little taste is just part of an entertaining banquet of essays, musings, anecdotes, diary entries and even a full-blown script based on her early experiences in Porn Valley. In her first memoir, Insatiable: Porn—A Love Story (2014), the Wicked Pictures contract star delved deep into her life, both befoe she got into porn and afterward. There’s seemingly nothing Akira won’t talk about ... so we asked her a few questions about the book, which is available on Amazon as an e-book as well as in paperback and audio CD. In your books, you seem willing to expose yourself completely and write about anything. Are there things that you WON’T write about? There’s very little I consider hands-off. I try to respect my parents’ privacy as much as I can, so while I do mention them from time to time, I do it as little as possible. Sometimes I worry I’m revealing too much about Toni [Ribas, Akira’s husband]—I mean, he didn’t sign up to have his personal life displayed like this—but he’s very understanding of the fact that it would be impossible for me to write about my life without mentioning him … a lot. How do you decide whether to change someone’s name? For those people whose names you don’t change, did you get their permission in advance to include them in your book? When I’m working on the first draft, I write with everyone’s names intact. Somewhere around the second or third draft, I use the “Find & Replace” feature to change them. In the first book, I changed most everyone’s name except for Spiegler and Toni. I figured changing their names would be pointless, as most people who follow me at all know who my agent and husband are. Once the book was released, a lot of people were like, “Why did you change my name? You could’ve kept it!” So in the second book, I was less careful; I only changed names of those who aren't in the public eye. So porn people, for the most part, are mentioned by their known names. Out of my non-porn friends, I only included their real names if they gave me explicit permission. Has there ever been anything you’ve regretted writing about? Surprisingly—even to myself—no. If anything, the things I’m most hesitant to reveal are the most rewarding once they’re printed. I think, maybe, the things I’m ashamed of or embarrassed by end up being the most relatable parts of me. What did you do right after you finished writing Dirty 30? How did you feel? I slipped into somewhat of a depression. Part of me was relieved to have the manuscript done on time, but another part of me was like, “Now what?” For over a year I had been working toward a very specific goal, and then it was done and my strict self-implemented routine was no longer necessary. I ate a lot of delivery food and watched a lot of television. It was also the slow season for shooting porn (around the holidays, right before AEE/AVN,) so I didn’t have much to keep me busy or distracted. Which book cover do you prefer? Do you have the original artwork? Right now I don’t have the original artwork, but it’s been offered to me by the artist, my friend David Choe. I definitely want to hang them up in my house, probably in my office. It’s hard to say which one I prefer, because I love them both so much … The first one feels more iconic, though. It’s so simple and yet so beautiful. Of course there’s also the sentimentality of it being the first, so I think it’ll always have that additional special-ness to it.  In an article on Daily Beast, you talked about how you enjoy reading comments about you and your work. What was your favorite review of Insatiable? My favorite reviews are always the ones by people who started the book assuming they’d hate it/me/the porn industry, but finished it with a different opinion completely. I think so much out there regarding our industry is negative, and so many of the stories that have been told are sad ones. Of course I’m not denying that those stories exist, because they absolutely do, but it’s only fair that people see the positive sides too. I’m a happy, confident, healthy woman in the porn industry, and I wanted my voice to be heard. You’re on the promo trail for Dirty 30. You visited your home town of New York early on. What was your favorite media event there? The book signing at Barnes & Noble Union Square was great, because I worked there, at that very location, when I was 15. It was my first job, and I was ultimately fired for being just the worst employee, but it was a very profound moment for me to go back there as an author. It feels like a million years ago that I was there as a cashier, yet it also feels like it was just yesterday. I feel really lucky, not only to have had the chance to enjoy a moment like that, but to have spent my adult life doing what I love to do. Life could easily have gone very differently for me, had I not chose porn as a profession. Although, if I weren’t shooting porn, I wouldn’t be dieting all the time—but I suppose watching what I eat is a small price to pay to have my dream job. Do you miss living in New York? Would you live in L.A. if it weren’t the porn capital? If it weren’t for porn, I’d probably be living in New York. It’s still my favorite place in the world, and I miss it a lot. My parents are there, my friends are there, and I was so spoiled growing up there—not a day goes by in L.A. that I don’t complain about the geography. I’m a city girl: I grew up walking everywhere, with a great public transportation system, and the convenience of 24hour-everything. I always say there are only three things I like about L.A.: porn, the weather, and the ability to go everywhere in pajamas without being judged. In that order. What’s next? More writing? You’d be a great columnist. Thanks! Currently I'm working on my next book, which is very different than the memoirs. It’s an anthology, and I’m the editor. I can’t say more than that for now, but it is scheduled to release in 2018. I’m always open to writing pieces for any publication/outlet that’ll have me, so I do those as they come.  On other subjects, what were your favorite adult projects this year? I just finished a movie called DNA for Wicked Pictures. It’s directed by Brad Armstrong and stars jessica drake, Small Hands, and me, and I’m so excited for that to be released [it comes out September 30]. I had sex with Small Hands for the first time, and I think he’s about to be a very big star. The movie called for the most intense acting I’ve ever done, and I’m thankful to Brad for the chance and guidance, not to mention patience. When jessica and I get on a set together, it can be pretty annoying for the people around us—first, because we are friends and like to goof around, and second because once we are fucking, all bets are off and we go into our own world where we are no longer able to hear directions like “Get back in front of the camera please,” and “CUT!" Are there any more things to cross off your bucket list in porn? Perhaps a screenplay? I would love to someday write a screenplay. I’d love to direct something for Wicked. I’d love to have a three-way with identical twin brothers who fuck each other before d.p.ing me. There is still so much unchartered territory for me in porn, and I’m not at all ready to leave the industry yet, so I really just hope people still want to jerk off to me.  This article will appear in the October issue of AVN magazine. Asa Akira is pictured above in The J.O.B. (Wicked Pictures)