Almost everything you ever wanted to know about Wall Street - but didn’t know who to ask.

Q & A with Erin Duffy, author of BOND GIRL

Q: Do women on the Street really wear high heels?

A: You bet they do. Men on the Street have the power suit, women have the power shoe. Most women don't wear them outside on the pavement unless absolutely necessary, though (these shoes ain't made for walkin'). So, at any given time, look under any Wall Street woman's desk, and you are likely to find thousands of dollars' worth of footwear.

Q: Do you know a real-life Alex Garrett?

A: I know more of them than you could imagine. The Street is full of young, fun girls with drive, humor, and more than a few flaws. The ones who seem normal are just better at faking it.

Q: What's a "Bond Girl?"

A: A Bond Girl is a new breed of heroine. Instead of a bathing suit she wears a pant suit and carries a HP12C calculator instead of a gun. However, she can be just as deadly as the original.

Q: What is a "bonus"?

A: A "bonus" is a mythical payment that Management dangles in front of you like a carrot to make you work like crazy for the entire year. You rarely get the carrot. You usually get the stick.

Q: What's an interesting fact about trading floors? A: That they're acceptable places to conduct personal hygiene. Although not noted in any company handbook, this must be true because nail-clipping (finger- and toe-), tooth-flossing, and gargling followed by spitting into a garbage can while sitting at your desk are fairly widespread practices.

Q: How common is dating on trading floors? A: More common than you'd think. There are so few women on trading floors that odds are one or more guys will try to date them. These relationships almost never end well. They almost always end with wallets, cell phones, BlackBerrys, calculators, or even entire purses being thrown against the wall in the ladies' room with enough force to crack tile.

Q: What is the strangest thing you ever saw or heard of happening on a trading floor?

A: There was a guy who had been working at the same firm for his entire career. The day he retired he rode a Harley around the trading floor three times. To this day, no one can figure out how he got that bike on the floor.

Q: Perception is that everyone on Wall Street makes a ton of money. How close is this to reality?

A: Only a select group of people get paid a ton of money. Unfortunately, those seem to be the only people anyone outside of the business seems to hear about. While people employed in the financial sector are paid well by any standard, there is a huge disparity between the big bucks made by a few top guns and the paychecks of most Wall Street employees, the overwhelming majority of whom will never earn anywhere near the kind of money it is popularly presumed they will.

Q: Why are there so few women in the industry? Why is there such a disproportionate male-female ratio?

A: It takes a very specific personality type (male or female) to handle working in a stressful, male-dominated industry like finance. It's not easy. Business is also an industry more suited to "male" character traits. I think the natural competitive, risk-seeking personality required for success on Wall Street is more commonly found in men. Nothing is ever good enough, and that's hard for a lot of women to embrace.

Q: Do you think the industry has been unfairly portrayed in the media?

A: Sometimes, especially in the current environment. In most cases, greed is not the reason people are drawn to the financial sector; the majority of people working in this business really love the markets, love math, and love the way they can apply their skills in a lively environment. Again, those are rarely the people anyone hears about.

Q: Do you think that women are treated fairly in the industry, that they are given the same opportunities as men?

A: I think if a woman is smart, hard-working, and ambitious, she can find success on Wall Street. There are a lot of very strong female role models out there, and most of them are more than happy to help mentor younger women as they come up the ranks. The opportunities are there if you work hard enough.