Cynthia SalaysayCynthia Salaysay holds a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and has attended fiction workshops at Tin House. She has written food and culture articles for the San Francisco Examiner, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the East Bay Express, and Civil Eats. About Private Lessons, her first novel, she says, "I started to write this book in the wake of a difficult breakup. I wanted to communicate with girls about how confusing it is to be in love with an abusive person, how difficult it is to see through them, and how sharing intimacy can affect you. I want girls to know it is survivable, and that despite the pain of the experience, you still have worth. You still have your voice and your spirit." Cynthia Salaysay currently works as a Reiki practitioner and an operating-room nurse in Oakland, California. Read More Read Less