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Court TV Host: We're going to be talking to Tracy Quan, who's just written. a book called "Diary of a Manhattan Call Call Girl." It's a fictional work but she writes from first-person experience. She actually WAS a Manhattan call girl. For more information on the book, and an excerpt, take a look at www.boldtype.com. Tracy Quan is also a spokesperson for the organization PONY, Prostitutes of New York, so you can ask her about her work with organizing sex workers

Court TV Host: Hello everyone, Tracy Quan is here...Welcome.

Tracy Quan: Hello, it's great to be here.

queenquita2001: How long were you a call girl?

Tracy Quan: I started working in hotel bars when I was fourteen and became a call girl during my late teens. And then stayed in that milieu for approximately 15 years.

flitzus: What did you enjoy most about your job, and what did you like least?

Tracy Quan: Off the top of my head, I don't immediately think about anything I didn't like about the business. What I've liked about it is the range of people you meet. That's the first thing that comes to mind -- the range of people of all different ages and backgrounds. I really liked the fact that I've met people from so many different countries and religious backgrounds. I met a lot of men from very strict orthodox-type religious backgrounds of various faiths. It was obvious to me that I would not have met these men on the normal dating circuit, because people from very traditional backgrounds stay within their own communities. For casual social encounters with women, these very traditional men go to prostitutes. And the interesting thing is they're very comfortable talking to a prostitute about their lives. And so I got a glimpse into some cultures that would normally have excluded me, that would not have been open to outsiders.

Court TV Host: In your book, you write that you being a prostitute was one of your career ambitions from a very young age (that was after you wanted to be a librarian). How did you arrive at that choice so early, and do you think that it's a common feeling among people who go into the profession (or maybe even those who don't?)

Tracy Quan: Well, now in the book, there's a fictional character: the central character, Nancy, who remembers that she wanted to be a librarian. It happens to be that in real life, I also aspired to become a librarian. I think the reason I wanted to be a librarian had quite a lot to do with money. Because I thought that there was something glamorous about collecting the fines -- the late fees. And these probably were the first young single working women I encountered who were neither babysitters, nor teachers. So, oddly enough, the leap to being a prostitute did not seem unusual to me as a Ch*ld. I have met other prostitutes who fantasized about entering the sex industry from an early age. I know lots of sex workers who were inspired by Xaviera Hollander's book "The Happy Hooker." I frequently hear the cliche from anti-prostitution activists that "nobody wants to grow up to be a prostitute," but this is just not true. They are in denial, or perhaps they are just very naive

Court TV Host: Since we were just guilty of confusing fact and fiction...

chrisw1_us: Tracy: How does Nancy differ from you in real life?

Tracy Quan: Well, Nancy is still at a phase in her life where she's not sure whether she wants to settle down and have Ch*ldren, and Nancy hides her profession from her parents, whereas I'm somebody who is open about prostitution with her parents. And as far as marriage and Ch*ldren are concerned I actually started creating the characters in my novel at a time in my life when I was realizing that I did not want to have Ch*ldren.

queenquita2001: What did your parents think about this?

Tracy Quan: At first they were surprised because I kept them in the dark for a number of years, and they always had the normal fears or concerns about my safety, about the risk of arrest, and, of course, about my health. But they accepted my job as an adult decision in the same way they accepted the other sexual choices I would make. And that's probably because I waited until I was in my twenties to tell them.

base0008: In your book, do you discuss the relationship between how Ch*ldren grow up and the tendencies for occupations such as prostitution? It seems clear that "call girls" have similar backgrounds.

Tracy Quan: In my book I suggest that the real key to a prostitute's psyche is not in her sexual development as a Ch*ld, but her attitude towards money as a Ch*ld. In the novel, it's clear that Nancy, the central character, has always had a secretive yet impulsive approach to money ever since she was small. But her best friend is the opposite. And that's why today these two call girls have such different attitudes towards their work.

head_hunter_willtravel: How much money did she get per session?

Tracy Quan: In the novel, Nancy is currently making between $300 and $500 dollars per session typically. But sometimes she'd split the fee with a madam. Or with another girl.

Court TV Host: Here's a question that your character Nancy deals with...

nyrealguy: Do you plan to get married?

Tracy Quan: I'm single, and I'm not engaged. It has been said that prostitutes make the best wives but this requires that the husband in question have the right attitude as well.

jmlrider: Any bad/dangerous experiences?

girl_lori: Have there ever been times you were like, really scared?

Tracy Quan: Sure. In the novel I described situations that were very close to frightening encounters that I had early in my career.

pantystud: How does the business of sex operate in NY? Is it organized?

Tracy Quan: It's incredibly diverse. There are countless ways to buy and sell sex in New York City. And it's a very competitive business.

johnnytheg: Do you find that you pity these men?

Tracy Quan: God, no! This may sound conceited, but I feel that my customers were very lucky to have known me because I treated them well. I was conscientious, and I did not treat them like idiots. As I became more professional I really learned how to make a customer feel appreciated. And respected. Which is something I wish all people in all service industries would do.

girl_lori: Why did you decide to write a book?

Tracy Quan: That's the hardest thing to answer. I myself found that as a former runaway and a former teen prostitute I identified more with the boys in Horatio Algier novels than with the young prostitutes in contemporary literature. Even in the literature written by female prostitutes or ex-prostitutes themselves. So, I felt a real need to tell my story, or some version of it.

base0008: Is the benefit of "knowing other cultures" worth the risk and degradation of the profession, knowing that there are other alternatives to getting to know people from other cultures?

Tracy Quan: Yes! It's just a whole lot more fun to do it this way than to be a sociologist or an anthropologist. It's a much more natural interaction. And human beings have been using prostitution to get outside of their language, religious group, their ethnic group for centuries. So, in that sense the sex trade is a wonderfully and truly multicultural phenomenon.

popppy74889: Why did you give up the Life?

Tracy Quan: It was time for me to move on to other things and start writing about it.

girl_lori: Do you have any regrets being in your line of business?

Tracy Quan: No regrets. And while I was in the sex business I took occasional breaks and then felt pulled back into it by my own emotional or financial needs.

big_dexter_32: Do you feel prostitution should be legalized ?

Tracy Quan: It is legal in some parts of the world and in some parts of this country. And I think the laws against buying and selling sex throughout the United States should be eliminated to bring this country into line with the rest of North America and most of Europe.

dragonflytech10009: How, if at all, do mainstream folks' opinion of your former profession affect you?

Tracy Quan: I'm very interested in what people think, and I increasingly feel that public opinion is opposed to these laws. And I find that very gratifying because I think that 25 years of hooker activism has really had an impact on mainstream opinion.

mnemonicatwell: Was anyone particularly helpful to you when you were writing your book?

Tracy Quan: Very much so. I had a few close friends who were wonderful editors, one of whom is mentioned in the dedication in my book. And my editors at Crown were wonderful.

cox4hanz: Do you miss it?

Tracy Quan: Sometimes. But, I'm so busy keeping track of my Amazon sales ranking and obsessing over questions of distribution, translation rights and other concerns that I do not really have time to miss the call girl life anymore.

Imhotep1979: The role of the "pimp" seems to be controlling and abusive. Did you work without one?

Tracy Quan: There are a lot of stereotypes about the people we call pimps. If a pimp is somebody who runs an escort service or a brothel then I'm very happy to have known some very competent business owners. If a pimp is meant to be somebody who has a romantic or sexual connection to a prostitute, I think we have to reexamine our prejudices about the personal lives of prostitutes.

baylorchamo: Tracy, are you concerned about the impact that prostitution has on families and marriages?

Tracy Quan: Prostitution has been around for eons, and so have families and so has marriage. Prostitution helps to maintain marital stability in my opinion. I'm more concerned about the impact divorce can have on prostitution, because a high rate of bachelorhood among men in our wide-open society would be a disaster for prostitutes. Anyone who watches "Sex in the City" knows that!

cameronparkersmommy: Would you encourage other women to become call girls? If so, why?

Tracy Quan: Not really. I think there are enough call girls to go around, and I think this is a very demanding profession. But I do know that you cannot stop people from becoming prostitutes. If somebody is determined to enter the sex industry, she will find a way.

girl_lori: Have you been approached about making a movie based on your book?

Tracy Quan: Many times. But so far I have not had occasion to sign on the dotted line. My agent is Peter Benedek.

Court TV Host: Good luck on that...we're going to have to wrap things up...but do you have any closing thoughts?

Tracy Quan: I love to hear from readers and from people concerned about these issues and my Web site address is www.tracyquan.net.

Court TV Host: And you can read more about the book and read an excerpt at www.boldtype.com.