allison held a wide variety of jobs before gaining any success as a writer. she worked as a salad girl, a maid, a nanny, a substitute teacher, and helped establish a feminist bookstore in florida. she also worked at a child-care center, answered phones at a rape crisis center, and clerked with the social security administration. in certain periods, she trained during the day and at night sat in her motel room and wrote on yellow legal pads. she wrote about her life experiences, including the abuse by her stepfather, dealing with poverty, and her lust for women. this became the backbone of her future works.