Career
Young took several secretarial positions in sequence before working at IBM on one of the first word processors. Her interest in science fiction and fantasy led to her involvement in the role-playing game industry, specifically TSR, Inc.: "By way of fandom, I was introduced to the Dungeons & Dragons game, and I kibbitzed quite a few games before getting involved myself." Young answered an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune for a game editor at TSR. Young worked for TSR in that capacity from September 1984 to 1985, then worked on a local newspaper while editing game modules for TSR as a freelancer. In January 1987, Young began working in TSR's magazine department as the assistant editor for Dungeon Adventures. Dragon magazine won the 1989 Origins Award for "Best Professional Adventure Gaming Magazine of 1989" while she was the editor.