Author Charlene Wexler’s Essay ‘People Watching’ Published

CHICAGO - Oct. 11, 2014 - PRLog -- A woman expertly puts her makeup on while on a commuter train, causing a fellow commuter to ruminate on how we all are artists as we put our own faces on to the world.

         Author Charlene Wexler’s essay on the subject, People Watching, has been published on the British website Make-Up Mouse, www.guy-sports.com/humor/pictures/picture_makeup.htm#People_Watching.

         People Watching is the latest example of award-winning author Wexler’s ability to observe her world with a jaundiced eye.

         “Real-life stories are usually stranger than fiction, and I’ll bet the drab-to-fab makeup artist has a good one,” Wexler said. “Whether in our faces or in our minds, we all create our own art.”

         Wexler is known for short fiction and essays that examine life, love, and the tragedy and comedy of the human condition. Whether she is tackling fiction or essays, Wexler writes from the heart.

         Native Chicagoan 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 write two books, numerous essays, and 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.

         On the Web, Char’s work appears on more than 15.

         Her first novel, Murder on Skid Row, received an Apex Award of Excellence from Communications Concepts in 2010. Wexler’s short story "Abracadabra Magic" received a "Very Highly Commended" rating in the AuthorsDen.com Tom Howard Prose Contest, 2009.

         Published as an e-book on Smashwords by Dailey Swan Publishing in November 2012, Milk and Oranges, Wexler’s second book, is a collection of fiction and essays. With a keen eye for detail and a way of looking at the world a bit sideways, Wexler’s writings in Milk and Oranges entertain while they make you think.

         For Milk and Oranges, Wexler won a Grand Award in the 2012 Apex Awards competition sponsored by the writing and journalism think tank Communications Concepts of Springfield, VA, and a Bronze Award in the Women’s Issues Category in the eLit Book Awards competition sponsored by the publishing services firm Jenkins Group Inc. of Traverse City, MI.

         In 2014, Wexler published Lori, a family saga dealing with relationships, divorce, alcoholism, infidelity, homosexuality, and cancer. Also in 2014, she published the international murder mystery Murder Across the Ocean.

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

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

         She and her husband, dentist Dr. Sam Wexler, live in Richmond, IL. Her son, dentist Dr. Mike Wexler, daughter-in-law, and three granddaughters, live in Arizona.

         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.”

         Read People Watching at www.guy-sports.com/humor/pictures/picture_makeup.htm#People_Watching.

         Wexler is available for writing assignments. E-mail info@charlenewexler.com, or call William S. Bike at ANB Communications at (773) 229-0024. Wexler’s website is www.charlenewexler.com.