TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Wireless Flash) -- Think phone sex operators are really bored old hags who file their nails while talking filthy? Guess again.

According to professional phone sex worker Miranda Austin, the women in the industry take pride in their jobs and often get "sexually excited" by their own dirty work.

But the job isn't easy. A good phone sexer has to be open-minded about some strange requests. For instance, Austin knows a man who likes to pretend he's shrinking her down to two inches in height for sex.

It's also important to be brutally honest with yourself -- especially before getting brutal with others. Austin says many first-time phone sexers might claim to be dominatrixes but, in her words, "that crowd can see right through you."

Austin discusses the ins and outs of the phone sex business in a new book, "Phone Sex: Aural Thrills And Oral Skills" (Greenery Press).