MONTREAL — From steamy encounters in big city hotels to peeling it off below phoney palms in a California desert, Katrina B. rarely works in the same place – or with the same people – twice.

Plying her trade as an international porn star and nude model, the 24-year-old Russian-born Montrealer has appeared in 100 adult films, 40 magazine spreads and on hundreds of websites.

As an independent performer, she also calls the shots.

“I don’t work with the agencies or anyone, I just work with myself, so I choose the people I want to work (with) on the projects I’m interested in,” said Katrina, who speaks fluent English and French through her conspicuous Russian accent.

“I choose my own schedule, I decide where I want to go. Do I want to go to Paris or do I want to go to L.A.?”

The ambitious performer, who moved to Montreal with her mother from St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1997, makes the most of opportunities on different platforms of the adult entertainment world.

When it comes to online porn, Katrina lists Montreal among the world’s big three – ranking behind only Los Angeles and Amsterdam – and the ideal city to base her business.

“I really enjoy it, I have a lot of fun, I love to travel,” she said in an interview at her mother’s apartment in Montreal.

“It’s very lucrative, it’s very easy to get jobs, well, if you look nice and you’re not stupid and on drugs or anything.”

The Montreal-based starlet said the city is the top spot in the country to find porn talent.

“We have lots of girls here. . . who are willing to do adult stuff,” said Katrina, who also works in Toronto’s adult entertainment scene.

“More than in Toronto, for example. Here, I know of dozens of girls.”

She said many women in Toronto would pose for nude photos, but she knows of only a few willing to spice it up on the set of a porn shoot.

While many young adult models dream of mainstream success, she said the ones who continue to take their clothes off can last as long as they want.

“I would like to model and act myself as long as possible, and with adult it’s very easy,” she said.

“For sure, in mainstream you cannot be a top model at 50. In adult it depends on the niches and if you have your own website. If it works well you can work until the day you die.”

The Concordia University film studies student has also represented aspiring porn stars as an unofficial agent, a line of work she hopes to develop.

“I don’t have an official big agency yet, I’m just starting out to see how I like it,” she said.

For now, she’s focused on promoting her own career.

Katrina has also been featured in the Showcase cable TV series Webdreams, penned an erotic novel and performed in B-list mainstream films.

A few years ago, Katrina was hired as a porn “teacher” on Pornstar Academie, a popular Quebec-based TV reality show.

Contestants were eliminated from the game, which she compares to a racy Canadian Idol.

“But instead of singing, they perform sex for TV and magazines and all that stuff,” she said.

One of her most memorable jobs was a 2005 shoot for Hustler magazine in the desert outside San Diego.

“It was really, really nice,” she said. “They built this fake oasis with trees and decorations.”

Growing up in Russia, Katrina started modelling at seven years old.

Her career in front of the camera continued after she arrived in Montreal.

Shortly after turning 18, a couple of her regular photographers suggested she pose for topless shots.

She gave it a try and the shoots evolved.

Katrina moved on to nude modelling, then posed with sex toys.

“I really like it because before if I was doing some show or photo shoot, if it wasn’t like a portrait, it was to promote some product or to sell something,” she said.

“In nudes, it’s all just about me.”

Eventually, she appeared in movies, having sex with her longtime boyfriend, Dimitri. Then, she moved on to sex with other guys and girls.

“My boyfriend is very proud of what I do,” said Katrina, who has been with Dimitri for 11 years, long before she started in porn.

“We made this decision together.”

Katrina said her mother had reservations when she found out about her daughter’s career.

“She was a little bit worried in the beginning because we came from Russia, and in Russia it’s different,” she said.

“I would never do porn in Russia, even today.”

Katrina’s mom thought someone was giving her drugs or forcing her to do it.

“But then she saw that everything is fine, nobody’s on drugs, everything is good,” she said.

Katrina said sexually transmitted diseases are a concern across the industry, but measures are in place to protect performers.

Actors’ test results are kept in a computer database, she added.

“For sure, it’s a very important issue, but I work with good companies and good performers, experienced ones, and we all get tested every three, four weeks for all diseases,” she said.

With all her success, Katrina is sometimes approached, usually by young men looking for advice.

“Some people. . . they would like to ask me all kinds of questions because now they think they have a sex expert in front of them and I have to have answers to all their questions,” she said.