BASED ON A TRUE STORY.
San Francisco, 1969. The foot soldiers of the Counter Culture revolution have overrun the city. Golden Gate Park is littered with flower-crowned hippies burning draft cards in a psychedelic haze. North Beach rocks with the San Francisco sound of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Free love seduces tourists and soldiers, as topless club barkers pack ‘em in under Carol Doda’s flashing neon tits. Jessica Rawlson, an attractive middle class young lady joins the migration to the city on an adventure of sexual self-discovery and personal independence.

Fate leads Jessica to the Tenderloin District where a gangster/lesbian subculture thrives. This underbelly sizzles with sultry femme fatales, corrupt cops, hustlers and homos. Love, lust and murder share the sidewalks with queens in high heels and high hair as suburban perverts cruise on a safari of lust.

Jessica embarks on a riveting journey from street prostitute to mastermind of her own empire. Her walk on the wild side offers intoxicating freedom and power. Straddling moral boundaries, shuffling lovers, appeasing mob bosses and the heat, while keeping vicious predators at bay, is the toll to survive at the top.

REVIEWS:
"A brilliant breakthrough novel. Gripping, gritty and one hundred percent original. Anyone who loves mysteries, gangsters, colorful characters and strong female protagonists will love this book. I firmly believe Stilettos and Steel is destined to become part of America's literary heritage and will be referenced and revered for decades. ” - Burl Barer – Edgar Award Winner and NYT Bestselling Author: THE SAINT.

“Estes's ingénue, Jesse, leaves her suburban town to make a name for herself, only to fall into prostitution in the gritty Tenderloin. Populated with hookers, butch pimps, ringers, feminine tricks, and more, this book is a guaranteed guilty pleasure. A must-read!" - THE ADVOCATE

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After surviving four years in the Tenderloin District, Jeri returned to her roots in the San Fernando Valley, becoming clean and sober and going back to school. She acquired a degree in nursing and then entered the non-profit sector as an activist for women’s health issues. Jeri was hired as the Public Relations Director at the Alcoholism Center for Women in Los Angeles - the first federally funded treatment program that accepted lesbian patients. Prior to this, there were no recovery houses or hospital beds available for lesbians. Jeri’s outreach campaign to health facilities and government bodies encouraged funding and acceptance of lesbian patients in treatment centers across California. As a result, Jeri was appointed as the Assistant Director of the California Women's Commission on Alcoholism, educating the public about alcoholism amongst women on national television and radio shows, while developing a statewide volunteer base to further this effort. Privately, Jeri has spoken nationwide before thousands carrying her own transformational message of recovery, filled with humor, courage and hope. Jeri is currently a writer dividing her time between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Based in Studio City, she is currently working on her second novel.

“This story is dedicated to my friends and comrades who never made it out of the Tenderloin.” - Jeri Estes

To see rare historical footage of the Tenderloin, please visit: www.stilettosandsteel.com

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### From the Author

**AUTHOR'S NOTE **During the sixties, the San Francisco Tenderloin District, also known as the "TL" was a thriving red-light neighborhood welcoming anyone who could out run or pay off the vice cops. It was not the putrid shanty town of homeless citizens that it has become. Although the hum of the street life and neon glitz is no more, many of the old buildings still stand. And like a lady of the night, the TL sidewalks embrace the spats and stiletto footsteps of the past.
My hidden tribe of outcasts lived by its own rules and moral codes, refusing to live in the shadows. We have since faded into the fog of history, forgotten until now... To capture the culture and time in which we lived, I use the language of the day.
I wrote Stilettos and Steel to honor my fallen comrades who didn't make it out of the Tenderloin alive. Much of what I'm going to tell you is true.
- Jeri Estes

### From the Inside Flap

Stilettos and Steel
Copyright © 2010 by Jeri Estes
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

Inquiries should be addressed to:
WordSmith Productions, Inc.
12439 Magnolia Blvd., #299
Studio City, CA 91607
Tel: 800-809-6256
stilettosandsteel.com