July 20th marked the end of Paid To Dance, a book series I had been working on since 2016. It is the end of an era, but I am ready to close the book on this particular chapter (pardon the pun) and get started on something fresh. I'm going to take it easy for the... Continue Reading →
Paid To Dance Blogging Series Exclusive Interview: Julz Divine
Dancer Name/s: Julz Divine Age started dancing & where: In Europe. What did you do before dancing? I was just out of school, studying psychology at university part time, giving private French lessons and working as a sales rep for a local TV channel selling advertising space to businesses. I was living with my mum... Continue Reading →
Writing Fact As Fiction: Paid To Dance: Asha’s Story Parts I & II
Creative Non-Fiction: a term introduced to me by my mentor, fellow author Lee Scott. Finally I had a name for what I had been working on all these years! Up until that day I had been calling my first book a 'biographical novel'. https://youtu.be/x0y5PpagDPk The words 'creative' and 'non-fiction' describe the style. These are stories... Continue Reading →
From The Outside Looking In: Michael, The Club Manager
I was a chef for seventeen years before I started managing a gentleman’s club, leading a team of twenty-two chefs over five kitchens. I loved working in hospitality, but eventually I decided to throw it all away. I landed a job as an operations manager at a gentleman’s club, organising bar stock and preparing the... Continue Reading →
From The Outside Looking In: Paul, The Customer
I was twenty-one years old celebrating a friend’s eighteenth birthday in Brisbane when I visited my first gentlemen’s club. I kept coming back because it was just like hanging out at a pub with mates, but with a much nicer view. My regular venue introduced poker nights, but I was going in for weekly drinks... Continue Reading →
From The Outside Looking In: Daniel, The Boyfriend
Sam told me she was a dancer about a month after we started dating, but I had my suspicions well before that. It was mostly typical things that go along with being a dancer, from the odd times that she worked, to certain aspects of her appearance. https://youtu.be/QSVNteuZ1Xw I felt all right with it, and... Continue Reading →
The Women of Paid To Dance: Telling Their Stories
Paid To Dance: Stripping Past & Present is a comprehensive insight into the stripping industry, from its origins to its modern day evolution. Everyday women share stories of working in gentleman’s clubs, paying their way through university, funding travel and even escaping homelessness and crime. Parents and partners offer intriguing perspectives of their loved one’s... Continue Reading →
From The Outside Looking In: Helen, The Mother of a Stripper
Helen: The Mother When my daughter Olivia voiced her interest in becoming a dancer, my immediate reaction was to think, “Okay, this is something she wants to do, so let’s look into it.” I didn’t have an overall negative feeling about the suggestion. Olivia was eighteen years of age at the time and exploring different... Continue Reading →
An Exotic History in Australia
American touring ensembles were responsible for bringing vaudeville-style theatre Down Under, and the popularity of Shakespearean plays and opera performances increased. https://youtu.be/puwVhe-Vm-A The gold rushes of the 1850s brought a growth in population to Australia, and there was a growing demand for entertainment. However due to the disruptions of World War 1, the first decade... Continue Reading →