Random Facts from Assistant Editor Wendy Lee

My favorite books as a child were the "Dragonriders of Pern" series by Anne McCaffrey, especially the first book, DRAGONFLIGHT. Although categorized as science fiction, they take place in a medieval fantasy world where people live in cities carved into the sides of caves and communicate telepathically with dragons. Looking back, I'm realizing that these books--which introduced me to words such as “noxious,” “decisive,” “acerbic,” and “involuntary”--were an incredible vocabulary builder.


If I weren't working as an assistant editor, I'd like to be a professional organizer. Actually, when you think about it, editing is just like organizing--you're stripping away the unnecessary things (or words) and putting everything in their right places. I blame the hours I spent as a child doing jigsaw puzzles, when I wasn't reading about dragons.

For some people, the criteria for a perfect vacation is a good meal or a sunny beach. For me, it's some kind of interaction with an animal, preferably feeding them. Fortunately, there have pretty much been stray dogs and cats everywhere I've gone, from alleys in Rome to parks in Taipei.