Fleshbot Exclusive: Zane Michaels Answers Your Burning Questions

It only took two weeks for porn pup Zane Michaels to go from Sin City pornstar to quaint Midwestern author. His new book, Shame and Fortune, is a digital novel "inspired by actual events," although it reads more like a tell-all memoir.

We may never know what really happened between Austin and Zane, the power duo behind Grabby-Award-winning site AustinZane.com, but we're opening up the floor now that the dust has settled. Zane was too well-liked to just disappear, so you better believe we've been keeping tabs on his cute little butt. We got him to open up about his time in the industry, what made him leave, and most importantly, if his friendship with Zane was anything more than just "two best buds."

Fleshbot: Your departure from the site was pretty sudden. Is there any one definitive reason you can say made you leave?
Zane Michaels: I had a really great conversation with Austin about our friendship. It wasn't great in that I enjoyed it, but it was great to hear how he truly felt about our situation.

FB: Do you think you'll ever go back into the adult industry?
ZM: I don't know. I miss a lot of my industry friends but for now, I'm enjoying focusing on rebuilding my relationships at home. Never say never but I'm pretty content the way things are right now :)

FB: You announced the release of your new book only a week after leaving the site. Was it something you had been working on for a while?
ZM: Yea, I had been writing it for the past 3 years when I started to think that my life was getting so crazy that I had to start documenting it. It seemed like things just kept getting crazier and I started to wonder how in the hell was I going to ever finish the book! Then in August when we had "the talk" I knew it was time to close that chapter of my life and wrap up the book.

FB: What was your motivation for writing the book? Was it something you've always wanted to do, or something you felt like you had to do?
ZM: Initially, I viewed the book as an extension of the business- I thought it was going to be a great promotional tool. I thought it would answer the typical questions like how and why i got started in the business. Then, as things got tougher and tougher, I realized that my book was getting deeper and deeper and at that point, writing it just became a release for me-  it was very therapeutic.

FB: The book is described as being "inspired by real life events." How much of it can we expect to be true?
ZM: Well, I can say that every event in the book is something that is inspired by what really happened. Of course, some will say there are two sides to every story but everything that I've recorded is exactly the way I saw it from my point of view.

FB: You referred to Austin as your "former best friend." Is there no chance that the two of you will rekindle your friendship?
ZM: That's probably the toughest thing for me. I don't see that happening ever and I really do miss him a lot.

FB: You've maintained that your relationship with Austin was strictly platonic and nothing more than a "bromance." Would you still say that it was never anything more serious?
ZM: I don't know. I was closer to him than my own family and for the longest time, I thought it was a mutual feeling. Now, I'm not sure if he ever felt the same way- I hope he did though.

FB: What's next on your radar? Do you plan on staying in the public eye or do you want to disappear completely?
ZM: Right now, I'm just getting back to me. I've been working with my hands a lot building a house in Ohio. My book debuted at #14 right behind a book that Justin Bieber's mom wrote so that's pretty awesome! I don't want to disappear complete just yet- I love interacting with all of my supporters from over the years and would miss them all too much!

FB: What message would you like to give your fans?
ZM: I would just say to them that their love and support over the years is what kept me going. I was obsessed with wanting to please them with our scenes and I think we succeeded from time to time but as you can tell from the book, I am very aware that sometimes we dropped the ball. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for standing by our sides as we tried to figure out our business and our lives!

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