It is unheard of for anyone affiliated with the adult film industry to do anything significant after the fact. Color Heather Hunter the exception. As the first African American performer in the `90s to be signed to a contract with that industry’s giant Vivid Video, the Bronx-native and one-time Soul Train dancer has been an iconic presence/authority on matters of sex. She had her own hip hop talk program “Peep Show” on cable, appeared in Spike Lee’s He Got Game, music videos for 2Pac and Wyclef Jean among others, had her own house music 12” single “I Want it All Night Long” on Island Records, and now cuts rap tracks with the likes of Scott Storch for her own Blo Records imprint (a new single with old school rap king Kwame’ titled “Put it Up” bows in September). It’s been 11 years since she said goodbye to making XXX videos, but she’s just published her first novel, Insatiable (St. Martin’s Press), the steamy, photo-enhanced story of the rise of a porn star named “Simone Young” and her search for true love.

“I started writing my memoirs ten years ago,” Heather shares. “I flipped them into a fictional book because I wanted to be able to put my story out there without putting other people on blast.

When I handed it in, St. Martin’s Press was like, ‘Whoa! This is a lot of pages’ (600)! They assigned Michelle Valentine to me who polished it up very well.”

Pop fans will remember Valentine as the lead singer of The Cover Girls who scored a 1992 hit with a cover of Rose Royce’s “Wishing on a Star.” Already published with her own novel (Niagara Falls) and another on-the-way in October (A Girl’s Gotta Eat), the Bronx-native was a stellar collaborative match for Hunter. “It was an amazing experience,” Valentine states, “…very interesting to walk on her wild side...at least wild for me because it was totally out of my realm. What surprised me most is the ease with which Heather was able to do things most people only fantasize about. She’s very confident in herself as a woman and where she wants to go. I wanted to hear everything and then we came up with even more interesting scenarios. We call it a fictionalized autobiographical epic! My expertise was painting a visual picture for the reader through my use of adjectives and descriptions.” True to her word, Hunter never even divulged the real life identities of key characters to co-writer Valentine. “Heather was adamant that her book not to be a ‘Superhead’-like expose. I respect her for that. So I let my imagination run wild!”

While tracing the arc of Simone’s trajectory from runaway to stripper to sex goddess, there are some seriously explicit scenes which came quite naturally to Hunter. “I love writing erotica as much as I loved showing the world what I’m able to express physically. I had to put my pen down at certain points when things got real hot and heavy. (“Break time” - wink) The beautiful thing about those scenes - which is rare in erotica - is that they all depict safe sex. Some people think safe sex is inhibiting, but I say great sex is great sex. In this day and age we have to incorporate safe sex into our lifestyle to be able to live a happy, healthy life.” To that end, Heather is embarking upon a college tour promoting safe sex which she plans to evolve into female empowerment discussions ranging from body awareness to self-esteem.

It was Heather’s own strength and ambition that catapulted her singular success through the often racist and sexist business of porn. “I base all of that on my character” she states “My mother worked for the United Negro College Fund for years. She’s very pro-black and a feminist, and I consider myself a Black Erotic Feminist. Though she wasn’t happy with that choice I made, the values my mother instilled in me were to never accept anything less than your worth. I was always blind to color and felt I could do anything I wanted to on this earth. I’m very outspoken. Back then, if a producer said, ‘This is how we do it,’ I’d say, ‘No, this is how we’re gonna do it!’ All of that helped me knock down doors that weren’t opened for other African American performers (male or female) in the adult industry.”

Also unlike most XXX stars, Heather learned to save (banking) and invest (internet) her money, all the while pursuing opportunities to diversify her profile, though she’s well aware of how she’ll forever be perceived. “I haven’t watched one of my films in years,” she claims. “The last time I did, I felt I was looking at another person…me, then. I’m a woman now. With that comes discipline and responsibility. When I was younger, (the stigma of porn) bothered me, especially when I was trying to break into the mainstream. Then I had a revelation. ‘This is your claim to fame, Heather. Never regret anything in life. Be proud of where you came from and, even more, where you’re going. Things from your past design you for your future. It’s up to you to move into something more positive.’”

“Since then, I feel like my karma has been pure,” Heather concludes. “I’ll always be a porn star first - it is what it is. I’m just making it work for me in my new career.”