E-books by Author Charlene Wexler Nominated for Poynter Global eBook Awards

Feb. 11, 2012 - PRLog -- Two books by author Charlene Wexler have been nominated for Dan Poynter Global eBook Awards.

The international competition is run by ParaPublishing Co. of Santa Barbara, CA. Poynter is a leading authority on book publishing.

The nominated books written by Charlene Wexler are "Milk and Oranges," a collection of short fiction and essays examining life, love, and the tragedy and comedy of the human condition, and "Murder on Skid Row," a murder mystery set on Chicago’s Skid Row in the 1960s, has been published as an e-book by award-winning writer Charlene Wexler.

Milk and Oranges
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 sideways, Wexler’s writings in "Milk and Oranges" will entertain while they make you think.

In "Milk and Oranges," Wexler’s fiction and essays are grouped in five categories.

How’s Your Love Life? features two fiction pieces that will cause female readers to nod their heads in agreement, and a warm essay on Wexler’s feelings for her husband, Sam.
The Cruel Club features both essays and fiction on the tragedy of the death of a child. Wexler has been a member of the Cruel Club since 1981.

In Family and Friends, you’ll meet some of the fun characters in Wexler’s life and in her fiction, and inevitably you’ll think about similar loved ones in your own world. The story “Milk and Oranges,” from which the title of this book is derived, appears in this section.

What would life be without our animal pals? Wexler shares some stories about four-footed friends and loved ones in Animal Magnetism.

The Passing Parade features Wexler’s fiction and prose observations on the changes in our fast-paced world.

After reading "Milk and Oranges," you’ll see why Wexler’s first novel, "Murder on Skid Row," was honored with an Apex Award for excellence. Her style makes you feel as if you are reading about or talking to dear friends.

"Milk and Oranges" is a collection of stories that will pluck at your heartstrings and tickle your funnybone.

Murder on Skid Row
“Spare any change?” and “I don’t know nothing” were the watchwords on Chicago’s Skid Row in the 1960s, where the action takes place in Murder on Skid Row.  Located on Madison Street, a little west of the city’s bustling and prosperous downtown, Skid Row was home to hustlers, winos, addicts, bums, lost souls, ripoffs, and kickbacks. Everyone, it seemed, had a secret.

Into this shady society steps Dr. Mel Greenberg, who describes himself as “fresh out of dental school, very idealistic, and very poor.” He opens his new dental office “to help the downtrodden,” he says. Instead, he finds himself in a world for which his working-class upbringing never prepared him, where a day might bring anything from a philosophy-quoting patient to a knife held at his neck. Eventually, he finds himself a suspect in murder.

Based on a true story, "Murder on Skid Row" by Charlene Wexler takes the reader back to a place that was an integral part of Chicago for decades—but one today’s public officials and city-beautiful boosters would rather have us believe never existed. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK4pmby4bO0.



E-books
"Milk and Oranges," published by Central Park Communications through Smashwords and Amazon.com, is Wexler’s first e-book (electronic book). Price is $3.99. It can be downloaded to an electronic device such as a Kindle, iPad, Nook, Sony Reader, or Kobo; as a PDF; and in various other formats. See http://www.smashwords.com.

"Murder on Skid Row," originally published in print, now is available as an e-book at http://www.amazon.com.

“E-books are now more popular than printed books, and I wanted my books to be contemporary with the times,” Wexler said. “They will never will go ‘out of print,’ people are able to take them anywhere on their e-reader, and e-book websites can translate it into different languages. Plus, an e-book is less expensive for the purchaser and is better for the environment.”
   
About the author
Native Chicagoan 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.

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, and the Gazette newspaper of Chicago.

She also has had essays and fiction published on the websites AuthorsDen.com, End Your Sleep Deprivation, Funny Cat Stories, Laughter Is My Medicine, One Bright Star, Scribd.com, True Cat Stories, and Way Cool Dogs. “I have a always used writing as therapy,” Wexler said. “Now I have the time and opportunity to pursue it as a career.”

Wexler’s first novel, "Murder on Skid Row" was published in 2010 and was dedicated “to the three dentists in my life,” she said—her husband, Sam; son Mike; and Sam’s business partner, Lew. Murder on Skid Row won an international Apex Award of Excellence from Communications Concepts, a writing think tank outside Washington, DC.

Her short story Abracadabra Magic, which appears in Milk and Oranges,  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.

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.”

For more information, go to http://www.charlenewexler.com.

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Award winning author Charlene Wexler has publised "Murder on Skid Row" and "Milk and Oranges." For more information, go to http://www.charlenewexler.com.