Stephanie Klein, author of Straight Up and Dirty, was born and raised in New York. She graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College in 1997 with a B.A. in English and a concentration in writing. There she worked with writers such as Colin Harrison, Dani Shapiro, and Mary Gordon. Klein is a freelance writer and a popular blogger (www.stephanieklein.com) with a readership averaging more than 100,000 unique visitors a month. She has been published in the UK, Belgium, and China. Her latest photography collection, "Au Jus," is featured in the suites, rooms, and corridors of The Hotel Gansevoort in the Manhattan's meatpacking district. Straight Up & Dirty is her first book. She now lives in Austin, Texas.