About Me

Hello, and thank you for visiting my site.

I am a Chinese-American writer and copy editor based in Scottsdale, Arizona. I moved here in 2006 from the Midwest, where I attended the University of Oklahoma. During my studies, I worked on the university’s daily newspaper, the Oklahoma Daily, as well as Windmill, the English Department’s prose and poetry journal. I also completed an editorial internship at the acclaimed literary journal World Literature Today, where I had the privilege of collaborating on the 2006 Puterbaugh Conference, which hosted and honored Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk.

After earning my BA in Journalism and Mass Communication with an emphasis on professional writing, I headed west to work for Morris, Hall & Kinghorn, P.L.L.C., one of the most reputable estate planning law firms in the Phoenix metropolitan area. There I helped to streamline the text of the firm’s trust documents, as well as aid the attorneys in drafting language for special scenarios as needed by clients’ varied and complex requests.

In 2008, I became a copy editor with the rapidly growing 944 magazine, a lifestyle publication for young and affluent professionals. After a year and a half, I was promoted to the head of the copy department and expanded my team. In the role of copy chief, I received a high and steady volume of editorial, advertorial, web and marketing materials in relation to the company’s 10 individual markets/publications: Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orange County, Phoenix, San Diego and San Francisco.

In May 2010, I made the transition to full-time freelancer — a job I find hugely fulfilling due to its fast pace and highly varied subject matter. Now I write and copy edit for a number of print and web publications based all across the country, including the Modern Luxury collection of magazines.

Between April 2010 and May 2011, I was the Phoenix editor of Haute Living, covering all aspects of the luxurious lifestyle in my city, including the performing arts, fashion, food, fitness, events, personalities, business, beauty, spas, resorts, travel and a whole lot more on a daily basis.

Some of my most memorable interviews to date include Sex and the City‘s Emmy Award-winning stylist Rebecca Weinberg, acclaimed hair stylist Oribe Canales, fashion designer and humanitarian Lauren Bush, Barneys New York Creative Director Simon Doonan, the first Russian supermodel Tatiana Sorokko, celebrity trainer Jackie Warner, food educator Terry Walters and beauty industry expert Kate Somerville.

My native language is English, but I formally studied German from ages 15 to 22, and in 2005 was even elected to participate in a six-month exchange program at the Braunschweig University of Technology (Technische Universität Braunschweig). At the end of the program, I successfully passed the DSH exam (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang), a German language test that serves as the general requirement for admission of international students to higher education institutions in Germany. I continue to study the language and use my knowledge of it both personally and professionally.

Simon Doonan and Marie Look at a trunk show for The Row at Barneys New York in Scottsdale