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Judy Jackson

964 books | 91 friends

Crystal

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Etoile Etoile

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Danielle Evans

398 books | 358 friends

Kshitij

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Richard Collins

Goodreads Author

Website

https://www.etoileerotica.com

Genre

Fiction, Romance

Influences

(author: Mary Karr)

Member Since

July 2013

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Fate and self-publishing played a dual role in my becoming an author. I have been an avid reader since, at age 8, my mother gave me a copy of Lad-A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune to help me recuperate from having my tonsils out. I remember becoming so engrossed by Lad’s almost human exploits that I forgot how miserably sore my throat was.

When I was 13, my mother forbade me to read James Jones’s From Here to Eternity, I of course read it and transitioned from adventurous animals to a more adult genre. At about the same time I began to imagine myself writing a book. I didn’t want to merely write a book though. I wanted to write a book that would entertain people and that they would buy. (“No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money.” – Fate and self-publishing played a dual role in my becoming an author. I have been an avid reader since, at age 8, my mother gave me a copy of Lad-A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune to help me recuperate from having my tonsils out. I remember becoming so engrossed by Lad’s almost human exploits that I forgot how miserably sore my throat was.

When I was 13, my mother forbade me to read James Jones’s From Here to Eternity, I of course read it and transitioned from adventurous animals to a more adult genre. At about the same time I began to imagine myself writing a book. I didn’t want to merely write a book though. I wanted to write a book that would entertain people and that they would buy. (“No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money.” – Samuel Johnson)

As most of you know, writing a book is an easy project not to start. I couldn’t put together enough courage to take the plunge. Then, recently, two things happened: Etoile, now my anonymous writing partner, hired me to ghost write her memoirs—primarily her experiences as a high priced Hollywood call girl—and Amazon took the Olympic gymnast degree of difficulty out of publishing and made it easy.

Once Etoile and I began putting her story on paper we saw that we had more than a memoir; we had a book that vibrated with elements of quality erotica and coming-of-age travails, including many of a sexual nature, that would pull in our target audience of mature, intelligent women (guys just turn on porn) and entertain them. So far Etoile has shared herself in two books: Girl On Demand, a short prequel to Fair Market Value. We are writing a third, as yet untitled, in our Tales of Etoile series.

A Michigander in youth but not in spirit (too cold) I grew up in Flint, then a bustling city of 180,000 mostly factory workers, their families and supporters. Michigan State was fresh off a Rose Bowl win when I matriculated but never did anything in football while I was there. Fifteen years before Magic Johnson led MSU to the NCAA basketball title, I watched us lose to an Ohio State team that sent all five starters to the NBA. As president of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, I recall the dean of men telling me how he worried about most houses on weekends but the Kappa Sigs every night of the week.

After college a 12 year career in the Air Force sent my school teacher wife and me from the California desert to remote Alaska and all over the Midwest. I loved every job I had especially getting an MBA at the University of Missouri while I served as a missile combat crew commander.

Then I began a series of start-up successes all of which turned into commercial failures. I mention start-ups because self-publishing directly relates to starting a company except you don’t have to hustle money. I mention failure because it steels you against having too high an opinion of your own abilities. More precisely, just because you write a book don’t think your target audience will rush to buy it. That will not very likely happen without a great deal of promotion, the equivalent of marketing in the start-up arena.

As I aspire to make this venture succeed for Etoile and me, I also aspire to one day be able to write half as good as Mary Karr. If I can do that I'll be a happy man.
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Richard Collins’s books

Average rating: 3.35 · 26 ratings · 10 reviews · 3 distinct works

	Girl On Demand: The Almost-True Adventures of a Hollywood Call Girl (Tales of Etoile #1) by Richard Collins (Goodreads Author), Etoile (Goodreads Author) 3.29 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fair Market Value: The Almost-True Adventures of a Hollywood Call Girl (Tales of Etoile #2) by Richard Collins (Goodreads Author), Etoile (Goodreads Author) 3.38 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Scarlet Entrepreneur (Tales of Etoile #3) by Richard Collins (Goodreads Author), Etoile (Goodreads Author) 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars