Maggie McNeill received her BA (English) from the University of New Orleans in 1987 and her MLIS from Louisiana State University in 1993.  After several years as a librarian, economic necessity spurred her to take up sex work; from 1997 to 2006 she worked first as a stripper, then as a call girl and madam.  She eventually married her favorite client, retired, and moved to a ranch in the rural Upper South.  There she writes a daily blog called “The Honest Courtesan,” which examines the realities, myths, history, lore, science, philosophy, art, and every other aspect of prostitution; she also reports sex work news, critiques the way her profession is treated in the media and by governments, and is frequently consulted by academics and journalists as an expert on the subject.