(Commentary by Dave Hughes, the actual author of From Preacher’s Kid to Porn Star)

Ryan Robertson is the main character in a series of six books called “Gay Tales for the New Millennium.” I chose to use Ryan Robertson as the nom de plume for From Preacher’s Kid to Porn Star for a couple of reasons. First, the book is written in first person, from Ryan’s perspective. It’s Ryan telling his stories to you, the reader. Second, due to the adult nature of this content, I didn’t want the books to appear together in Amazon search results.

When I began writing Maybe Next Year, the first book in the series, I debated how explicit I wanted my novels to be. Early in the book, when best friends Ryan and Chris discovered they’re gay and in love, they naturally started exploring their sexuality. One step at a time, they began doing all those things they had been fantasizing about for years. To me, it was sweet, romantic, and beautiful; not crude or disgusting in any way. At least, that’s how I think it should be viewed by a healthy society. I actually wrote out the sex scenes. (Ryan is named Bryan in this book. He changed his name when he turned 18.)

But on the other hand, my original intent for Maybe Next Year was that it would reach a Young Adult audience – “Young Adult” being a coveted demographic in the literary world that is considered ages 12-19. Descriptions of explicit sex would certainly disqualify the book from this market, although it’s probably what many teenagers would love to read. So I cut the explicit content. The reader will still know what the characters did, but it’s merely alluded to, not described. Thankfully, I didn’t delete those scenes. You’ll find them in From Preacher’s Kid to Porn Star.

I also learned that most adult readers prefer not to mix explicit and non-explicit content. So I kept the books in “Gay Tales for the New Millennium” to an R-rated level.

From Preacher’s Kid to Porn Star is erotica. Smut. Explicit, detailed descriptions of men having sex. Hard-core porn in written form.

You’re probably wondering why I would even write such a book. Well, for one thing, it was fun! I’m not gonna deny that.

But there’s a backstory. In 2022, I had a Twitter account. I dumped it as soon as you-know-who bought Twitter. I never really liked or got much out of it, but various articles with advice for authors said I should get on Twitter and connect with other authors. (I would have preferred to connect with potential readers, but whatever.) While most of the info people shared was frivolous and useless, I connected with a few similar authors and learned a few things.

One day, a fellow gay author posted something to the effect of, “It’s a shame that some months I make more money with my smut than with my regular novels.” Huh? I sent him a private message and asked him to tell me more.

He explained that he writes short, smutty stories using a pen name. He publishes them on Amazon and makes them available on Kindle Unlimited. (If you’re unfamiliar, Kindle Unlimited is for books what Spotify is for music or Netflix is for movies and TV. You pay a monthly subscription fee, then you can consume all the content you want.) Apparently, many people who like to read this type of material do so via Kindle Unlimited.

So, in 2023, I gave it a try. I published a sizzling-hot erotic story to KU every month, using the nom de plume Ryan Robertson. I didn’t tell anyone except my husband, who sighed, shook his head, and rolled his eyes. I didn’t advertise in any way, but some people found my stories just by searching for content of this nature on Amazon. And some months, I made more money from my smut than I made from my novels. (Not that I’m getting rich either way.)

I had the perfect scenario. In Instant Adult and Open Books, Closed Sets, Ryan supported himself and paid for college by performing in adult videos using the porn name Luke Loadstar. In each short story, “Ryan” gives a blow-by-blow description of a scene he performed in. And trust me, he describes them in explicit, vivid, dripping detail. I (as Ryan) wrote 15 scenes throughout 2023 and into 2024.

Fast-forward to last September at the book release party for my sixth novel, Maybe Now. My book release parties are held at Exposed Studio & Gallery in Phoenix, a gay-owned gallery that features art by local LGBTQ artists. Each year, the owner, Gregg Edelman, designates one month as Erotic Art Month. This year, it’s May. I mentioned these stories to Gregg and asked, “If I compiled these stories into a book, would you be interested in selling that book during Erotic Art Month?” His eyes popped open, a mischievous grin crossed his face, and he said, “Yes!”

So here we are. From Preacher’s Kid to Porn Star, the “erotic memoir” of Ryan Robertson, will be released on May 1. Think of it as a man-thology of scenes from Maybe Next Year, Instant Adult, and Open Books, Closed Sets that ended up on the cutting room floor to keep those books R-rated, plus so much more.

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