The Porn Star’s Daughter: Character Interview
Kay Stephens interviews Tali Hunter from her novel THE PORN STAR’S DAUGHTER
How do you escape the stigma of your parents’ porn empire?
For Tali Hunter it’s easy . . .
—Attend college in New Orleans, a city her parents hate. Check.
—Overhaul her image to leave all traces of her past behind. Check.
—Invent a story about a stay-at-home mom and a business-mogul dad where the world of pornography has no place. Check. Check. Double check.
Tali’s plan goes sideways when the first person she meets in the airport recognizes her. James is not only hot—he’s also attending the same school—and has the power to expose her secret.
Tali dives into college life for better or worse. Laugh or cry, what she wants isn’t what she gets. She faces a roommate who has no regard for social norms, a sleazy dean that wants to capitalize on her family money, and an attraction to the one person who knows her secret—exactly what she doesn’t need at a time she doesn’t want it.
Tali can keep running from her past or pull her friends close and embrace her future.
The Porn Star’s Daughter is a steamy, laugh-out-loud story about self-acceptance and sexual empowerment.
Kay Stephens recently caught up with Filton University college freshman, Tali Hunter, to chat about those first exciting days of campus, classes, and life in a brand-new city.
Kay: Tali, welcome to New Orleans! This quaint, little city must be quite a change from the bustling streets of Los Angeles.
Tali: Oh, it sure is, Kay. Everything is different here—the food, the culture, the smells. I walked past Bourbon Street the other day and, wow, it’s like someone took the Sunset Strip, threw a bunch of beads and trash at it, and left it to bake in the oven a little too long.
Kay: Ah, so you’re excited to check out the Bourbon Street party scene? (laughs) I hear rumors that young people can find trouble out there if they look too hard.
Tali: Well, Kay, I’m sure they can but I’m not really here for that.
Kay: Then what drew you to Filton University?
Tali: Huh?
Kay: With all of the amazing schools out in California, why move halfway across the country to attend Filton? If not for the New Orleans party scene, I mean.
Tali: Oh, um . . . (stares down at her hands for an uncomfortably long stretch) The weather?
Kay: Well, that’s an interesting take.
Tali: There’s just something about that wet heat I can’t get enough of, Kay.
Kay: Yes, one of the many people escaping LA’s beaches for the swamps of New Orleans. But what about college life? It must be such a thrill to explore your campus, make new friends, bond with your roommate . . .
Tali: Oh, it’s definitely a thrill, especially discovering how wrong I was about the entire experience before I got here.
Kay: How so?
Tali: Like, have you ever been so excited about something that you pre-plan every detail, to the point where your plan just starts to feel like reality? But then that something arrives and it’s the exact opposite of reality? And sometimes you wonder if you’ll ever find your way around campus or make any friends? (laughs) Or if maybe instead you’ll just go to New Orleans jail for accidentally punching your roommate in the face?
Kay: You want to punch your roommate in the face?
Tali: I was speaking hypothetically.
Kay: . . .
Tali: But, to circle back to your original question, college life is the best. Go Filton!
Kay: Well, then. What about the dating scene? Any clean-cut, academic types already on your love radar?
Tali: (suffers coughing attack, takes a sip of water) Not quite yet, Kay. You see, the Filton dating scene appears to be a hot mess. Every boy I’ve met is drunk, dirty, or some extraordinary combination of both. I also want to punch them in the face.
Kay: That’s a lot of face punching.
Tali: Agreed.
Kay: Your hypothetical hand is going to get tired.
Tali: Quite possibly.
Kay: Okay . . . (flips through a list of questions) Oh, here’s one. How are your parents adjusting to your recent move? It’s got to be hard on them.
Tali: It has been hard on them but they have been incredibly supportive. My father built his trucking business from the ground up and has always preached to me about the importance of a strong educational foundation.
Kay: I had here in my notes that your father is a movie producer?
Tali: (takes another slip of water, clears throat) Oh, that’s right. I forgot. Movie producer. I guess trucking is more of a hobby.
Kay: Well, no one could forget your mother—distinguished member of the Adult Film Actors Guild, five-time Adult Video News award winner, and celebrated actress: Missy Mariola!
Tali: (whispering) They told me you wouldn’t ask about my mother.
Kay: (also whispering) Who is they?
Tali: (frantic whispering) The people. The people who set this up.
Kay: There are no people. It’s just you and me, kiddo.
(Tali stands up, smooths down skirt, and runs faster than previously deemed possible on four-inch stilettos).
Kay: Well, dear audience, we seem to have lost our interviewee. But thank you for reading and look out for The Porn Star’s Daughter—coming in hot January 16, 2024!
PREORDER HERE
Kay Stephens is a lawyer turned romance novelist, divorcée turnedmember of the illustrious third-wives club, and party girl turned . . .uncomfortably old party lady. Kay spent her early days living throughout the world, from Boston to Barcelona to New Orleans, before finally settling down in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has the extraordinary privilege to write every day due only to the loving support of her wild-ass husband and four crazy teenagers.
Kay’s debut novel, The Porn Star’s Daughter, evolved from her lifetime achievement of always being the trashiest girl in the room. She likes to drink, curses excessively, and often finds herself wearing far too much spandex for the occasion. But after two decades of sitting at the head of conference tables, surrounded by colleagues wondering how many HJs she’s dealt out to get there, she will apologize for noneof it.
Kay writes for the people who like to shame the slut shamers, who wear their too-tight skirts with pride, and who laugh at society’s ever-conflicting expectations of them.
If you want to party with Kay, just look for the closest pool with a swim-up bar. She’ll be the one with her boobs falling out of her bikini, trying to buy shots for anyone in a fifty-foot radius.
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing
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