1.Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?

      I live with my retired dentist husband; my three adorable granddaughters live with their parents in Arizona. I was a teacher and a dental office manager. I’ve always written as my therapy. In retirement I put some short stories and essays on the Internet, and received good feedback, so I kept going. 

2) What inspired you to write your book?

     The movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding inspired me to write about my growing up in a family building in Chicago’s South Shore. Most ethnic neighborhoods in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s were alike. Ruth Bader Ginsburg inspired me to write about women’s rights.

3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?

     Memories of their past. Confidence to conquer life’s problems. Be aware of what is going on in the world. Enjoy a good fiction story.

4) What drew you into this particular genre?

     I mainly write family sagas, though two of my books are mysteries, and two are collections of essays. I write laughter and tears.

5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?

     Interesting question for a fiction book. I would asked my protagonist, Sherrie, “As a woman, are you better off today than you were at the beginning of the book?”

6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?

      I am terrible with the Internet. Facebook is my main social media.

7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?

     It is never too late to follow your dream. I was in my sixties when I started to write professionally.

8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon

      This is book number six. Book number seven will be coming out next year. It is a second book in the Laughter and Tears series. It is called We won’t Go Back. You can get my books at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Speaking Volumes, Walmart, Target, and several other online book outlets.

About the Author

Charlene Wexler is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She has worked as a teacher and dental office bookkeeper and as “a wife, mom, and grandmother,” she said. In recent years, Wexler’s lifelong passion for writing has led her to create numerous essays as well as fiction.

She is the author of the books Lori, Murder Across the Ocean, Murder on Skid Row, Milk and Oranges, and Elephants In The Room.

Her work has appeared in several publications, including North Shore Magazine; the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry’s Vision magazine; Alpha Omegan magazine; the book and CD Famous Poets of the Heartland: A Treasury of Beloved Family Poems, Talent, OR: Famous Poets Press, 2014; and the Gazette newspaper of Chicago.

She also has had essays and fiction published on the websites AuthorsDen.com, The Best Short Stories, Cat Stories, Cats and Dogs at Play, End Your Sleep Deprivation.com, Funny Cat Stories, Funny Cats Playing, Funny Passport Stories, How Old is Grandma?, Laughter Is My Medicine, Moral Short Stories-Ethical Tales, One Bright Star.org, Scribd.com, Short Stories for Women, True Cat Stories, and Way Cool Dogs.com.

Wexler’s first novel, Murder on Skid Row, was published in 2010. It is the story of a double-murder on Chicago’s Skid Row in the 1960s. Murder on Skid Row won an international Apex Award of Excellence from Communications Concepts, a writing think tank outside Washington, DC.

Published as an e-book on Smashwords and as a print edition by Central Park Communications in 2012, Milk and Oranges, is a collection of her short fiction and essays examining life, love, and the tragedy and comedy of the human condition. Whether she is tackling fiction or essays, Wexler writes from the heart. With a keen eye for detail and a way of looking at the world a bit sidewasy, wexler’s writings in Milk and Oranges entertain while they make you think.

Milk and Oranges received a Bronze Award in the Women’s Issues category of the eLit Book Awards competition sponsored by the publishing services firm Jenkins Group Inc. of Traverse City, MI, and a rare international Grand Award in the Apex Awards competition by Communications Concepts in 2012.

In 2014, Charlene published two novels as e-books on Smashwords and Amazon Kindle: Lori, a family saga spanning several decades, and Murder Across the Ocean, a murder mystery set in England. Murder Across the Ocean also is available from Amazon as a paperback.

In 2016, Amazon Digital Services published her book Elephants In The Room, Charlene’s latest collection of short fiction and essays examining life, love, and the tragedy and comedy of the human condition.

Her short story Abracadabra Magic received a “Very Highly Commended” rating in the AuthorsDen.com Tom Howard Prose Contest, 2009.

Wexler is active with the Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity, the Authors Marketing Group, the Chicago Writers Association, Children’s Memorial Hospital philanthropy, Lungevity (an organization that fights lung cancer), the McHenry Bicycle Club, the Museum of Science and Industry, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Richmond IL Book Club, the Jewish United Fund, and the University of Illinois Alumni Association.

“I have always used writing as therapy,” Wexler said. “Now I have the time and opportunity to pursue it as a career.”

Her advice for other aspiring writers–even grandmothers like herself–is to “follow your dream. You can do it, and it’s never too late.”

http://www.charlenewexler.com/main/