Electric Soul: the early life of a porn star. Sort of
7 Apr 2019.

by Drew Rowsome -

My reaction to Electric Soul has to be put into the context by which I was introduced to it. Electric Soul is the third volume in the Rise Up - "a series of new adult novels that illuminates pivotal moments in the lives of LGBTQ youth" - autobiographies/novels. The Rise Up series is published by 13 Red Media Ltd "a multi-faceted media company focused on providing consumers with groundbreaking LGBT content." Most readers will know one facet of 13 Red Media, the porn studio Helix.  

Helix's product sits firmly in the twink genre and, that not being my particular taste, I was unfamiliar with their stars. That is only crucial because the Rise Up series chronicles the early lives of Helix exclusive stars. Book one, His Own Way Out, is the story of Blake Mitchell, and book two, Twink, of Kyle Ross. I cannot resist a porn star biography or autobiography (see: Diary of a Puerto Rican Porn, Hindsight, Money's on the Dresser, Making It Big, Boy in the Sand, etc. On my biography shelf Celine Dion's demented My Story, My Dream is nestled between the powerful My Life in Porn: The Bobby Blake Story and the delightful Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz) and though I had no idea who Blake Mitchell was/is, I added His Own Way Out to my Amazon wish list but never got around to acquiring or reading it. 

So when a review copy of Electric Soul, the story of Joey Mills's youth, was up for grabs, I grabbed. And, crucially, before reading I didn't google Mills beyond a visual (jail bait youthful, hairless and hung) and the official Helix studios blurb:

As gregarious as he is hilarious, perpetual fan favorite Joey Mills is the life of the party, office, and just about any venue he graces with his presence. A mainstay on pollsters “best of” lists, this multiple award winner proves he has charisma and sex appeal to stay on top, even when he’s the bottom. Joey isn’t your run of the mill boy next door. He’s a star. Shine on, baby!

And to note that Mills shot 51 scenes with Helix in two and a half years. The boy has a work ethic.

Electric Soul turns out to be a rather curious young adult novel. Joey is an angst-ridden teenager with two problems. 1) his creativity - he is a budding visual artist - is stifled by the rigors of school so he turns to the demon weed. (Being a live and let live Canadian, I had to google to discover that the US does allow for drug testing of middle and high school students.) His father was a drug addict but Joey winds up overdosing on a strain of synthetic marijuana and winds up in rehab.

And 2) he is gay and, despite supportive family members and only vague apprehensions, he feels that he cannot come out in his smallish town. His major dilemma over his sexuality appears to be that he enjoys having this secret. Both of the plotlines garner interest solely because of the reader's foreknowledge that Joey eventually winds up a porn star. How does that reconcile? And more crucially how does a young adult novel portray the choice of becoming a porn actor? As the author, in conjunction with Mills himself, Taylor Saracen works for 13 Red Media as well as writing dialogue for the porn division, the moral questions kept me reading.

Alas, there are no insights or drama associated with rehab, and Joey's coming out is anti-climactic. And Electric Soul ends before Joey loses his virginity let alone begins acting in porn. If Electric Soul, which is very smoothly and professionally written, were to be promoted as to its actual content, without the porn star hook, it would be very hard (no pun intended) to figure out who the intended market would be.

Joey is repeatedly described as "charming" and with the ability to flout convention and make anyone laugh. On the page he is petulant and spoiled. All of that can be overlooked or glossed over if, as a mild coming out narrative, Electric Soul will help even one gay kid struggling with their sexuality. There is a sex scene that is stunningly written in all its awkward fumbling glory that is highly recommended, and the restaurant scenes are also realistically rendered. And when Joey begins to realize the consequences of his actions and tries to figure his way out of the penalties for his drug misadventures, it does give a reader pause before toking.

There is a massive number of  young adult novels that I have no knowledge of (I could barely get through a few chapters of Twilight, The Fault in Our Stars or 50 Shades of Grey) so Electric Soul may actually be a sterling example of the genre. I would love to know how a teenage girl or gay tween would react. And I was impressed enough with Saracen's skill at keeping a listless plot and an unsympathetic protagonist intriguing, that I do hope there is a sequel.

Because a sequel would not only get us to the porn part (just how did Joey move from waiting tables to being bent over them?) but it would also hopefully offer some insight into Mills' current highly explosive life. Joey Mills has left Helix studios amid some unspecified drama, as have both the subjects of the previous Rise Up series and several other exclusive models. Consequently a book tour for Electric Soul was cancelled by 13 Red Media and partially reinstated by Mills's own efforts. Then Saracen posted on Twitter:

Many people have DMed asking if I’m still with Helix/13 Red & the answer is that I’m not. I’m proud of the work I did for the company (one more book coming soon), thankful for the opportunity & most importantly, grateful for some beautiful friendships. Now for the next chapter.

Add in the behind the scenes stories generated by the filming of 51 scenes, the Helix hotbed of intrigue with accusations and counter accusations, Mills's - I did a lot more googling - boyfriend (or possibly not) status with the protagonist of Twink, his boyfriend (or possibly not) status with fellow porn star Angel Rivera that allegedly precipitated a psychotic break with Rivera's former (or possibly not) boyfriend, and the entrepreneurship that it takes for Mills's to transform his baby face into a business poker face as he negotiates the upending porn landscape. Plus, Mills has tweeted that his mother (who in Electric Soul is long-suffering but endlessly understanding) is supportive of his porn career and that coming out process had to be more dramatic than his actual coming out. Electric Soul II is a book that I want to read.