Karrine Steffans New Book

Karrine Steffans is moving past the stories you’ve heard about her and how she got her infamous nickname.

And instead of raunchy tell-alls about a laundry list of rappers, ball players and actors, the 33-year-old single mom says she’s past her vixen days and is moving into television.

In June, the internet was abuzz over a video where Steffans proclaimed that the “vixen does not exist” leading many to believe that her previous books were fictitious.

“The vixen doesn’t exist. You can’t tell people that because they don’t believe that. It was all fabricated. I didn’t even name my books.”

Karrine says however that people misconstrued her words and quite frankly thinks everyone who believed that is “stupid.”

“I think people are confused because people are stupid…Generally people are not that smart and in general people don’t listen and in general people don’t understand a lot of things that are said and done”

HipHopWired got a chance to sit down with Steffans who revealed that  she’s disgusted by her “slutty” new book, confirmed that she’s bringing her books to television and wants nothing more than to save her brand from the “vixen” persona.

HipHopWired: How are you doing personally? We’ve gotten these videos where you say you’ve lost yourself, you don’t know where you’re going. How are you fairing at the moment?

Karrine Steffans: Personally I’m good, I think it’s more of a professional issue. I guess that means more of what do I do next and how can I do something that fulfills me. I’m not willing to do something that fulfills an order from editors, publishers or anyone else. I want to do something that I’m passionate about.

HipHopWired: And what is something that you’re passionate about? We’ve seen the videos where you say you wish you could be anonymous. What is something that you would be doing right now if you weren’t famous?

Karrine Steffans: Personally I don’t think I’m famous, I don’t know why people think that. No I’m not. There are people who are famous and then there’s me. I’m not that. I live in L.A. It’s very easy to see people who are worldwide famous but no one knows me. People don’t know me. Between books I’m not on the internet 24/7, I don’t Twitter. That’s not my personality.

Publicity is part of my contract, it’s part of my job and that’s why I do that. Since these books have my face and my name, it’s part of my job. I’m a little over that at this point. I’m now moving into television, it’s much more exciting for me. I get to write. It’s what I like to do; it’s what I love to do. I get to write in a different genre, a different format.

Television is super important to me, I think in my house it’s the only thing that happens everyday. It’s at the center of my existence. I’m working in television now that way I can write and produce what I want to produce and sell it. Whoever I cast, they have to sell it.

HipHopWired: So you’re producing television shows, not starring in them yourself.

Karrine Steffans: I’m executive producing. The shows are mine; they’re based off my books. The first one is based off The Vixen Manual which is auctioned by the President of FOX Television Studios. The script I wrote last year, I’ve been sitting on it for a year. This is the year where we’re honing the script and getting ready to package it and send it out to different networks.

HipHopWired: Do you have an idea of anyone you’d like to cast? Anyone who you could see playing out the scenes in the book for you?

Karrine Steffans: That’s the one thing I’m not really sure of. I think the most important character would be the main character but I don’t see her yet. I don’t see her. I have her description and she’s written on paper but I don’t see her as a person yet. That’s something they’re gonna ask me about very soon. [Laughs] I gotta get working on that next.

HipHopWired: Back to you, we saw a video online where you said, “the vixen does not exist”, this is fictitious. I think people were confused by that, are you saying the books you put out previously are fabricated?

Karrine Steffans: I think people are confused because people are stupid.

HipHopWired: I think people might be taking it out of context.

Karrine Steffans: Generally people are not that smart and in general people don’t listen and in general people don’t understand a lot of things that are said and done. To clarify, that was a clip from a documentary we’re filming. It is exactly what you said verbatim “The vixen does not exist.” That persona and that person does not exist, it’s a character that has to be put on. When I’m promoting something, I’m promoting it. If I go out as my regular self I’m gonna bore you to death. I’m not exciting.

Just like in any other business you have to put on your “face”, you have to be careful and say what people want you to say and be who people want you to be. It’s all contrived. In that clip I was putting on makeup and about to go to a meeting where I had to be this character because I’m selling something. It’s frustrating to me, people who know me know I don’t wear makeup, my hair is in a bun; I don’t do any of that stuff. It’s frustrating for me to have to put on. I’m getting too old to do that. That’s what the clip said verbatim and the words were on the screen. I don’t get how people got it wrong. It just shows you how stupid a portion of the population actually is.

Just to clarify, I’m published by some of the largest publishers in the world. “Confessions Of A Video Vixen” was published by Harper Collins, there’s no way in the world any of these companies would allow anyone to say something unless it’s true.

All of my books go through a process with an attorney. I think that’s common sense. I would have been sued if anything I said would have proven to be false, I would be sued, my company would have been sued. I think that’s common sense but common sense is not widely accessible.

HipHopWired: What is the biggest difference between yourself Karrine Steffans and the vixen?

Karrine Steffans: The vixen is very shocking; she says things in person to shock people. In that character I love to aggravate people. I love the psychology of saying something and watching it spin. Like with that one video I found it so interesting how psychologically you could not say something but people hear something completely different. The vixen taunts, she tests the wits of people and their intelligence. When that video came out it was like the sky was falling. People couldn’t believe that something isn’t real.

For me as a person I don’t talk much. The reason you don’t see me when I’m not promoting is because it’s not my personality. I have very tight knit circle of friends and family, and that’s how I am. I don’t talk much. I’m a writer in a very old fashioned sense, too much noise bothers me. I don’t leave my house much. You’ll see the vixen out doing stuff because I have to. I’m promoting something. I’m the complete opposite of the character in those books.

HipHopWired: In your new book “Satisfaction” we’re not getting the vixen are we? It’s just you, Karrine Steffans.

Karrine Steffans: “Satisfaction” is a complicated project. “Satisfaction” was the brainchild of my editor, and it’s not something I would have ever done. She turned down all my ideas. This is why I’m happy to step away from publishing. “Confessions” [Of A Video Vixen] was something that a publisher wanted to do, “Diary” [Of A Video Vixen] was something that a publisher wanted to do. “The Vixen Manual” was the only one I wanted to do, I started writing that in 2004. “Satisfaction” wasn’t my idea, I would have never written this book. It’s wall to wall sex. I don’t’ even have sex that much to be sitting around writing about it all day. I looked at a blank page for six months, to me it was just not a good idea. Not for me. I had a lot of help with this book because it’s not something I’m interested in frankly.

Sex is not a big part of my life. It took forever with this book, It was like the project from hell. I didn’t research it, I had researchers research it because I don’t care. I can’t connect with “Satisfaction” it took a team of people to get this book together. Most of my books are written in 30 to 60 days, this one took two years. The vixen is not in this book and neither is Karrine. This is not my book, this is my editor’s book.

HipHopWired: So basically your name’s just on it.

Karrine Steffans: Basically. For me doing this book was like pulling teeth. It was like them pulling teeth from me. Like, “Karrine we really need you to do a chapter on…whatever the Fawk.” And I’m like, [sighs], and I have to call my researcher and say, “Okay what did you find out about glory holes?

Alright, send it over. It was not a good experience for me, it was not from my heart. It had nothing to do with me. At least with “Confessions,” it wasn’t my choice for a first book but it was about me.

So there was something there that served me. “Diaries”, I didn’t want to write it the way it was written. It was supposed to be introspective and a follow-up on me after Confessions, the aftermath. But they [the publisher] didn’t want that, it wasn’t juicy enough. They wanted sex and names and they called me out and said if I didn’t put that in there I had to give back the money. Now I’m forced to put things in there that I don’t want to put in. In 2004 when “The Manual” came out I was really happy. That was my baby. “Satisfaction” is my editor’s idea, they named it, I was just kind of the workhorse. I wasn’t connected to it. It’s a difficult book for me to sell.

HipHopWired: Are you excited about it coming out at all?

Karrine Steffans: I’m not married to the idea. A lot of artists come to the point where when you first begin it’s all so exciting, and when get into the business of it, the business steals the love. My editor has quit, she’s no longer with the company and now I’m stuck with this book that I never really wanted in the first place. This book is too raunchy for me to read.

This book is super slutty, this is for the freak of all freaks. I read it and I wince. I was like “Oh my God.” There are a few stories from my personal life but everything else is like, WOW. I know there’s definitely an audience for it and people who’ll love it but it’s not part of my life. I’m not married to the project at all.

HipHopWired: Are you worried that the project is going to add to the misconception that you’re so oversexed?

Karrine Steffans: I do, I worry about that. And that’s why this is it. This is my last book. I can’t afford to have a publisher tell me that if I don’t write this I won’t get paid. That’s a very difficult decision for a single mom to make. It’s like okay if I don’t do this we don’t eat. I get paid a lot of money for books. If someone says we’re not gonna pay you that’s money I won’t get paid for two or three years. I am concerned. And I talked to the publicist that they hired and I talked to them about it like, “Dude you can’t give away lube…”

HipHopWired: Yeah they’re offering us lube to giveaway…

Karrine Steffans: Oh my God! You can’t do that! That is so disgusting! Who wants lube in the mail?! I’m like listen I’m not selling this book anymore, I’m not even selling this book anymore. I am concerned about my brand. Moving into television is huge for me, the production deal with FOX Television Studios is huge, they don’t do just give those to people.

The President came and gave that to me and I don’t wanna Fawk it up by giving away lube! So yeah I’m concerned about that because this is what I mean, the vixen does not exist. This is all contrived and fabricated, you got people giving away lube on my behalf and I’m like, WHAT?! I just found out about this yesterday.

HipHopWired: I thought this was all part of the process like, “Okay she wants to give away lube…”

Karrine Steffans: No, no, no! You do not give away lube on the Internet. That’s weird. So yeah I’m very concerned about what “Satisfaction” says about me. I’m 33, my kid’s 13. I’m not that young girl, it’s important to separate what you see with who I am. My first book came out when I was 25; I’m 33. I’m heading into my mid 30s. I’m super-grown, I got teenage kids. the books are just for entertainment. I don’t even have as big a hand in this as you think I did.

Karrine’s new book

SatisFaction: Erotic Fantasies For The Advanced & Adventurous Couple hits stoes 8/10/2011.

It’s now available for pre-order on Amazon here.