Cindy Perman is a journalist and freelance humor writer and a native of Upstate New York who has lived in New York City since 1994. She has always had the knack of finding humor even in a straightforward story. Perman has an innate affinity for offbeat stuff, the knack for finding the obscure, and a flair for telling the story, and for years has been collecting stories for a book about odd jobs (the perfume scientist, the casket designer, the adult toy packaging copywriter). Perman received her college degree in journalism at Syracuse University and since graduation in 1994 has pursued a career as a reporter/columnist, most recently as the Interactive News Writer for the Wall Street Journal Online, where she worked for nine years. She contributed a weekly humor column to the Queens Alternative newspaper; founded, edited, and produced the Dance Space Center's newsletter, Pencil Turns, and managed the Center's Web site; and packaged news content for NewsWork Web site, linking content from more than 130 newspapers. This is her first book publication. She lives in New York City.