Penthouse Pet Terri Lenee Peake On Memoir Dying To Be A Centerfold - by Elgon Williams

In the October 1987 edition of Penthouse Magazine Terri Lenee Peake appeared as the centerfold, culminating her lifelong dream of fame, elevating her star into the stratosphere in a world few of us know anything about. Her memoir, Dying To Be A Centerfold is a frank account of what her life was like from growing up an abused child to becoming the fiancée of a gangster. It is a compelling read told in her own words not as a commentary on the objectification of women but as a warning of all the pitfalls on the way to success in adult entertainment.

Currently, Terri lives in Hawaii where she is still recovering from the effects of her former life that robbed her of her health. After reading her book I decided I wanted to interview her and contacted her. She graciously consented to answering a few questions.

Q. It’s not an easy task to write a book, especially a memoir containing a lot of personal and painful details. When did you decide to write it? How long did it take you to write it? And what was the reason for writing it?

A. I have been wanting to write it for 20 years, it took approx. 9 months, I wanted to write it for several reasons, one of those reasons was to be able to share my experience with the implants, it took me 9 years and thousands of dollars trying to get to the bottom of why I was so sick. When I heard a story on the news about someone that was sick from her saline implants, she described everything that I had gone through. It was through my research that I was able to uncover a lot of formerly unknowns about the adverse effects of the implants. Also I wanted to talk to young women about the dangers of Hollywood and how you can get swept up in the alcohol, drugs and violence that goes along with it. I figured they might listen to a Penthouse Centerfold. I felt compelled to write my story.

Q. Your book starts off with some pretty dramatic revelations about your complicated relationship with Mac and your letter from Penthouse Magazine, leaving the surprises in the details. How did you arrive at this structure?

A. I mean it’s exactly as it happened one of the happiest days of my life took place in the driveway and it also turned out to be one of the worst experiences that being the murder of Mac.

Q. In the book you win $5,000 playing Keno in Vegas and use the money to go to Hawaii. Although you came back to the mainland several times afterwards, you always returned there. What is it about Hawaii that made you want to make it your home?

A. The only stability I have ever had in my life was with my ex husband Glen, even though the relationship became more of a friendship than a true love. When I was at my sickest and was planning my explant surgery I asked Glen to let the kids come so they wouldn’t be scared. I didn’t know how the surgery was going to turn out. I had lost everything due to my illness and no one was helping me. Glen simply said come home, to hear that I had a home and didn’t have to worry about rent or taking care of the children I felt blessed to have that offer.

Q. You’ve been a celebrity and experienced good times and bad throughout your life. If you could go back in time and change anything at all, what would it be and why?

A. I would change the alcohol and drugs, I spun out of control and right when I was at the top of my game I threw in the towel. If I had a clear head and didn’t choose to take drugs I wouldn’t have been so willing to be with the type of guys I chose, I chose to be around the drugs because I relied on them.

Q. You’ve started a second book. What will it be about?

A. It’s a secret, I don’t want to take the chance that someone else will do My 2^nd Book, it will be another sobering cautionary tale.

I’d like to thank Terri for her candid answers and I hope this interview helps her get out the word about the dangers and long term health consequences of implant surgery.

If you’d like to read Dying To Be A Centerfold is it available on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Dying-Centerfold-Terri-Lenne-Peake-ebook/dp/B00IA8L94U/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392895569&sr=1-1&keywords=terri+peake

Terri Lenee Peake’s Facebook address is:

https://www.facebook.com/teresa.peake.33?fref=ts

Dying To Be A Centerfold Reveals More Than Expected

Terri Lenee Peake's memoir is a fascinating read. Hers has been a life that very few of us know anything about, the world where the young, beautiful and amply endowed excel as exotic dancers and nude models. It doesn't get into any debate about the objectification of women or moral judgments but instead it is an honest, plainspoken, personal account of life of a top rated professional dream girl living in the fast lane. Peake reveals how doggedly she pursued fame and stardom in this compelling read that is hard to put down once you get started.

Peake is not a professional writer but the way she tells her story enhances the authenticity of the read. Imagine her confiding her stories of success and failure directly to you, that you can hear her voice as she conveys the details of a life close to the edge - and sometimes over it. Although there are instances of redundancies and other stylistic quirks that some critics might point out as annoying or distracting, they're really part of the way Peak stitches together her recollections in a more subjective and less chronological manner. For example, you find out right away that she succeeds but you also learn of the tragic loss that impacts her emotionally as the love of her life is executed in a gangland-style shooting.

Peake weaves a tale of what it was like to risk everything, especially her life to pursue her fantasy of becoming a centerfold for a major national magazine. Far from satisfying prurient interests with salacious details, the information she presents peals away the glittery façade revealing the tawdry underpinning and corruption underlying wholesale exploitation of sexuality. It is an important story that needs to be told and one that may impact anyone who consents to having breast augmentation surgery involving so-called `safe' implants.The incredible highs of being treated as a glamorous star are followed with desperate lows from which it is amazing that the author emerges, not unscathed but a little wiser.

Born pretty and smart, early on, that's really all she had going for her. Growing up in broken home she was abused physically, mentally and sexually, learning to be a fighter and survivor. Despite her diminutive stature she learned to be tough. Beneath her girl-next-door looks and curvaceous figure was a tenacious young lady determined to escape her humble origins, focusing on schoolwork and becoming interested in performing in theatrical productions. She graduated with high marks and started attending college. Like so many, though, she dreamed of being a movie star and was lured into a highly competitive world populated with other gorgeous girls.

In pursuit of her ultimate goal, Peake navigates an intriguing world, becomes romantically involved with an ultra possessive gangster and rubs elbows with the famous and semi-famous. In pursuit of her dream she consents to breast augmentation surgery prior to posing for a centerfold photo shoot - a once in a lifetime chance to make it big time. That decision leads not only to the greatest high in her life but also seriously endangers her health, risks her life as a mother of two and challenges her ability to earn a living and survive after her days as an exotic dancer are over.

Dying To Be A Centerfold is a compelling read that once started it is hard to set aside but make the time for it. After a while you'll feel like you know the author as you pull for her to make it through her difficulties.

Review based on Kindle version of the book.