Charlene Wexler

Biography

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; 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.

On the Web, Char’s work appears on:

She is the author of the books Lori, Elephants In The Room, Farewell to South Shore, Milk and Oranges, Murder Across the Ocean, Murder on Skid Row, and We Won’t Go Back.

Char is affiliated with the publishing house Speaking Volumes.

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, Booksie.com, End Your Sleep Deprivation.com, Laughter Is My Medicine, One Bright Star.org, Scribd.com, Short-Story.net, and Way Cool Dogs.com.

Poetry of Wexler’s appears on Poetry.com.

Her first novel, Murder on Skid Row, received an Apex Award of Excellence from Communications Concepts in 2010. Charlene’s short story “Abracadabra Magic” received a “Very Highly Commended” rating in the AuthorsDen.com Tom Howard Prose Contest, 2009. Her essay “A Letter to My Parents” won an Honorable Mention in the Glimmer Train Magazine Family Matters contests in 2017 and 2018.

Published as an e-book on Smashwords and as a print edition by Central Park Communications in November 2011, Milk and Oranges is a collection of short fiction and essays that examines 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 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, Charlene published two novels as e-books on Smashwords and Amazon Kindle and as print editions with CreateSpace: Lori, a family saga spanning several decades, and Murder Across the Ocean, a murder mystery set in England.

For Murder Across the Ocean, Wexler won an Award of Excellence in the 2015 Apex Awards competition sponsored by the writing and journalism think tank Communications Concepts of Springfield, VA.

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. The book also is available as a paperback from Amazon.

For Elephants In The Room, Wexler won an Award of Excellence in the 2016 Apex Awards competition sponsored by Communications Concepts.

Elephants In The Room was chosen for the November 2016 Jewish Book Month by JUF News Magazine.

Farewell to South Shore was named a Global Book Award winner, Bronze, Contemporary Fiction category, and a Four Seasons Book Award Fall Finalist, in 2024.

We Won’t Go Back was named a Bronze Award winner from the Global Book Awards competition in the Contemporary Fiction category in September 2025.

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

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

She is on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).

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.” Charlene is available for writing assignments. E-mail info@charlenewexler.com, or call William S. Bike at ANB Communications at (773) 229-0024.

Awards

  • International Impact Book Award, We Won’t Go Back, December 2025.
  • Bronze Award winner, Global Book Awards competition, Contemporary Fiction category, We Won’t Go Back, September 2025.
Honored by Illinois Department of Aging.
  • Honored by Illinois Department on Aging, which inducted Charlene Wexler into the Senior Illinoisans Hall of Fame, Feb. 21, 2025.
  • Honored by Illinois General Assembly, House Resolution 141, introduced by State Rep Tom Weber (Fox Lake), passed Feb. 19, 2025.
  • Farewell to South Shore, Global Book Award winner, Bronze, Contemporary Fiction category, 2024.
  • Farewell to South Shore, Four Seasons Book Award Fall Finalist, www.fourseasonsbookawards.com, 2024.
  • “A Letter to My Parents” received an Honorable Mention from Glimmer Train Magazine, February, 2017.
  • Elephants In The Room was chosen for the November 2016 Jewish Book Month by  JUF News Magazine.
  • Elephants In The Room, Award of Excellence, Apex Award Competition, Communications Concepts, Springfield, VA, 2016.
  • Murder Across the Ocean, Award of Excellence, Apex Award Competition, Communications Concepts, Springfield, VA, 2015.
  • Murder Across the Ocean one of only six nominees in Best Suspense category, Lovey Awards competition, Love Is Murder Conference, Chicago, IL, Feb. 6-8, 2015.
  • Milk and Oranges, Grand Award, Apex Award Competition, Communications Concepts, Springfield, VA. 2012.
  • Milk and Oranges, Bronze Award, Women’s Issues category, eLit Book Awards, Jenkins Group Inc., Traverse City, MI, 2011.
  • Murder on Skid Row, Honorable Mention, Writer’s Digest 18th Annual Self-Published Book Awards Competition-Genre Fiction, April 14, 2011.
  • “Abracadabra Magic,” Very Highly Commended, Tom Howard Prose Contest, AuthorsDen.com, 2009.
  • Murder on Skid Row, Apex Award, Communications Concepts, Springfield, VA, 2010.
  • Milk and Oranges, Bronze Award, Women’s Issues category, eLit Book Awards, Jenkins Group Inc., Traverse City, MI, 2011.

Booksignings

  • Chicago Loop Synagogue, Feb. 16, 2025.
  • Lake Geneva Authorfest, Lake Geneva, IL, July 8, 2017.
  • Hunt Club Book Club, Huntley, IL, Oct. 10, 2016.
  • Lake County AuthorFest, Round Lake Beach, IL, July 30, 2016.
  • Chicago Tribune Printer’s Row Lit Fest, Chicago, IL, June 12, 2016.
  • Beachside Authorfest, July 11, 2015, Lake Geneva, WI.
  • Geneva Lake Museum, Tuesdays @ Two series, June 16, 2015, Lake Geneva, WI.
  • Printers Row Lit Fest, Chicago, IL, June 10, 2012.
  • Max and Benny’s Jewish Authors’ Series, May 28, 2015, Northbook, IL
  • Restaurant Literary Series, Max and Benny’s Deli and Restaurant, Northbrook, IL, May 18, 2015.
  • Legacy in Oral Biology Conference, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, June 20, 2013.
  • Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, April 22, 2012.
  • Grand Geneva Resort, Lake Geneva, WI, Aug. 13, 2011.
  • Crowne Plaza Hotel, Chicago, IL, April 13, 2011.
  • Borders, McHenry, IL, Aug. 14, 2010.
  • Manny’s Deli, Chicago, IL, April 29, 2010.
  • McHenry County Bicycle Club, McHenry, IL, April 28, 2010.
  • Barnes & Noble, Deer Park, IL, March 11, 2010.

Links