Enderle, Dotti 1954-

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ENDERLE, Dotti 1954-

PERSONAL:

Born January 11, 1954, in Killeen, TX; daughter of George (a moving company manager) and Doris (Wade) Varley; married Lenny Enderle (an estimator), March 31, 1984; children: Dori, Adrienne. Hobbies and other interests: Reading.

ADDRESSES:

Home—P.O. Box 999, Richmond, TX 77406-0999. Agent—Erin Murphy Literary Agency, P.O. Box 2519, Flagstaff, AZ 86003-2519. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Author and storyteller. Worked as a banker teller and bookkeeper in Houston, TX, 1972-84, and an enrichment teacher and library assistant in Sugar Land, TX, 1993-99.

MEMBER:

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Writers League of Texas, Women Writing the West.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Second place, Houston Storytellers Guild Annual Liar's Contest, 1994, 1997; honorable mention for children's nonfiction, Writers Digest Writing Competition, 1998; first place, CNW/FFWA Writing Competition, 2002; finalist, Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award, 2002.

WRITINGS:

"FORTUNE TELLERS CLUB" SERIES

The Lost Girl, Llewellyn Publications (St. Paul, MN), 2002.

Playing with Fire, Llewellyn Publications (St. Paul, MN), 2003.

Magic Shades, Llewellyn Publications (St. Paul, MN), 2004.

Secrets of the Lost Arrow, Llewellyn Publications (St. Paul, MN), 2004.

Hand of Fate, Llewellyn Publications (St. Paul, MN), 2004.

"STORYTIME DISCOVERIES" SERIES

Physical Science, Teaching & Learning (Carthage, IL), 2003.

Earth Science, Teaching & Learning (Carthage, IL), 2003.

Biological Science, Teaching & Learning (Carthage, IL), 2003.

OTHER

Making Cents (electronic book), Kudlicka Publishing, 2002.

Aesop's Opposites—Interactive Aesop Fables, Teaching & Learning (Carthage, IL), 2004.

Contributor of poems and stories to children's magazines, including Children's Playmate, Ladybug, Babybug, Nature Friend, Our Little Friend, and Lollipops.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Fractured Reflections and No Fortune Telling Allowed, both for the "Fortune Tellers Club" series.

SIDELIGHTS:

Starting as a school enrichment teacher and professional storyteller who specializes in interactive storytelling, Texas native Dotti Enderle has visited numerous schools, libraries, museums, and festivals over the years. In 1994 she decided that many of her original stories had passed the listening test, so she submitted them for publication in children's magazines. Since her debut in print, she has published dozens of stories and poems in many well-known magazines for children, including Ladybug, Babybug, Turtle, and Children's Playmate. "Every time I get something published in a major children's magazine, it feels like my first big break!" Enderle confided to an online interviewer at Book Review Cafe.

Enderle's writing reflects her own childhood memories. Growing up in Texas as the youngest of seven children, she once explained that her family's frequent moves from town to town adversely affected her confidence. Yet these new locations and the new experiences they brought fed her imagination. Her "Fortune Tellers Club" series mirrors her own obsessions as a teenager, wanting to know what the future would bring. "Young girls are curious about the future," she noted. "They want to know if they'll marry someone rich, or if they'll be famous or travel." Although Enderle and her friends never solved mysteries with a Ouija board, there was no reason her characters could not, the author said. Thus in this series, twelve-year-old friends Juniper, Anne, and Gena call themselves the Fortune Tellers Club and use various supernatural and natural means to solve mysteries. The first volume, The Lost Girl, which Elaine Baran Black of School Library Journal called a "breezy read," revolves around the trio's efforts to locate a missing child. In the early 2000s, Enderle turned out a steady stream of "Fortune Tellers Club" books, including Playing with Fire about Anne's crush on a cute football player and mysterious fires lighting up the school, and Magic Shades, about a pair of glasses that provides a new look at life.