Wendy Dager was born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Fernando Valley, where she spent most of her early years trying to achieve perfect Farrah Fawcett hair and failing miserably.
As beauty was an elusive goal, she worked at developing her mind, which, much like her hair, refused to cooperate.
Upon realizing she wasn't going to be a doctor, lawyer or stockbroker like many of her more gifted classmates, she said bye-bye to school, left home at an early age and smooth-talked her way into a number of jobs for which she was utterly under-qualified. Sensible pumps and a severe bun were her accomplices in this farce.
She met the man who unwittingly became her husband and they have been happily married for more than a quarter-century, thanks to Wendy's skill at hypnosis. At least, that's what her family and friends hypothesize.
During her stint as a stay-at-home mom of two girls, Wendy yearned to excel at that which she always knew was her calling: sausage-making*.
Since she couldn't master those slippery collagen casings with her impossibly tiny hands, she instead took on her second calling: writing.
When the kids were little, she spent her free time writing greeting card copy and button, magnet and key chain slogans, as well as the occasional opinion piece for The Los Angeles Daily News and several small magazines.
As her children grew to adulthood, this part-time work morphed into full-time professional freelance writing, with every day a new adventure in creativity. During the course of her career, Wendy has copyedited a textbook, written flash animation scripts, penned press releases, crafted how-to articles, and won a hoodie from a beer company after entering its humorous haiku contest.
Wendy still hasn't figured out what to do with her hair, but everything else in her life is quite lovely now, thank you.
*any reference to sausages should be considered "creative nonfiction."
Don't ask Wendy about her tattoo.She might show it to you.
Wendy Dager was a First Place Prizewinner in USA Network's 2006 Show Us Your Character contest.
Wendy was named one of America's Most Unique Characters after she created a video showcasing her dual personalities: serious writer and positively goofy vintage clothing aficionado.
Other awards include top prize for her short story "The Concrete is Always Greener" in the Ventura County Writers Club's 2005 short story competition; semifinalist status in the 2005 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards for her original sitcom pilot; an Honorable Mention for her short story "Passing Through" in the Writers Weekly Spring 2007 24-hour short story contest; and TOP FIVE finalist honors for her novel I MURDERED THE PTA (to be published in 2011 by Zumaya Enigma) in Court TV's 2007 Search for the Next Great Crime Writer. I MURDERED THE PTA also received an honorable mention in the 13th Annual Writer's Network & Screenplay Competition.
In 2009, Wendy won prizes in two humorous haiku contests, and was a finalist in Writer's Digest magazine's 2009 Red Heart-Black Heart contest, where her poem "Alienation of Confection" was published in a downloadable anthology. Wendy was also runner-up in a safety slogan contest and received a Highly Commended in the 2009 Tom Howard Short Story, Essay and Prose Contest. Wendy won a Montblanc fountain pen in the Bright Star movie love letter contest. NEW! Wendy's second novel, THRIFT ME DEADLY, was a top three finalist in the 2009 Fabri Literary Prize competition.
She enters writing competitions because they're a challenge, but mostly because it's fun to get stuff in the mail.
Wendy won this fancy leather cellular telephone case in a haiku contest and is pretty sure it's worth more than her phone. 