Today she writes fiction as Daisy Dexter Dobbs, as well as both fiction and nonfiction under her own name. Susan is an admitted foodaholic, card-carrying yoyo dieter, compulsive overeater, happily married wife, mom and artist. She's become somewhat used to her quirky, twisted face, due to unresolved Bell's palsy of 10-plus years, but refuses to give in to the ravages of AS (ankylosing spondylitis), an autoimmune disease affecting the musculoskeletal system as well as the organs, including the eyes, and causing spinal and other bone fusion.
The brightest spot in her childhood was her paternal grandmother, Daisy.
An avid reader, Susan cut her literary teeth on Nancy Drew books as a kid. She busied herself creating imaginative stories, and illustrating them with crayon drawings. Integrating her writing ability with her passion for classic screwball romantic comedy movies as she got older, Susan found her niche. Her first published romantic comedy novel was Pinch Me, followed soon by Jezebel and the Egghead and Shipping Sharon. A collection of her romantic comedy short stories was published in the single-author anthology, Rupert, the Devil-Dog from Hell. She's currently busy writing humorous women's fiction books as well as contemporary romantic comedies.
Several years ago, with a number of publishing credits and writing awards to her name, Susan embarked on a new adventure when she wrote her first erotic romantic comedy, Polly's Perilous Pleasures, published by Ellora's Cave. Most likely to be voted “last person on the planet who would EVER consider writing erotic stories”, she explored this new (for her) territory at the urging of several writing friends, and is glad she did. She now has a number of bestselling erotic romance books available through that publisher and another.
While freelancing as a writer and artist, Susan worked outside the home in a variety of jobs and careers so diversified it sometimes makes her eyes spin to think of it all. From her experience as the art director of a metropolitan library, to her stint as an executive secretary to a mayor and board of trustees, to her adventures as a bagger; a meat wrapper; chiropractic assistant; travel agent; copywriter; real estate saleswoman; motivational speaker; greeting card designer; editor, and more, she has a personal resource file from which to draw each time she creates a new character.
She made good use of the 2 1/2-minutes she was thin after doing Optifast by working as a weight loss counselor and class facilitator. It was great fun and Susan enjoyed helping overweight people because she could truly relate. It came to an end when her 2 1/2-minutes were up and the weight came tumbling back. Her novels frequently include real-sized (double-digit-wearing) female protagonists, savvy men who appreciate them, and bony antagonists. Susan's diet misadventures, as well as information about AS, can be followed on her popular blog The Crazy Woman Inside Me. Through the ample use of humor (by far the best medicine she knows of), Susan is determined to get lean, healthy, and to muzzle the Crazy Woman inside her who wants to keep her fat.
Some of Susan's most eye-opening experiences involve the years she spent penning political speeches and campaign material for Illinois politicians (all the way up to the Governor's office). She also ghostwrote numerous pieces published under politicians' names. Oh, the things Susan witnessed during that period! Definitely enough writing material to last a lifetime.
Having also built a respected reputation within the industry as an ebook publishing pioneer several years ago as the founder and CEO of Wordbeams Publishing, Susan is proud to have guided and nurtured the careers of more than a hundred writers, many who have gone on to achieve great success. Several of Susan's guides for writers have been used in creative writing classes by instructors around the globe.
In her teens, when she first met a handsome boy almost as eccentric as she was (who just happened to come from an equally dysfunctional family), Susan knew she'd found her soulmate.
So that's pretty much Susan's story in a nutshell. Using the positive power of love and laughter to overcome often seemingly insurmountable obstacles, a frightened little girl from a dysfunctional family grew up to live her dream. Each time Susan hears that her artwork or something she's written in her books or blogs has brightened a reader's day with laughter, her life becomes richer still.
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Susan (Dobski) Bodendorfer is a slightly off-center baby-boomer. A former Chicagoan, now living in the Pacific Northwest, she was born into a textbook case dysfunctional family. Once she discovered the dual self-protective mechanisms of humor and escaping into a self-created fantasy world, there was no turning back. She was destined to become a writer and artist with an inclination toward humor. 
She was a delightfully funny woman with a thick Irish brogue, wicked sense of humor and endless supply of fascinating tales. That's Susan's grandma at the left on her honeymoon. Next to that is a picture of Susan with her grandma and grandpa. And there's a photo of her grandma on Susan's author website's FAQ page playing jump rope when she was past the age of sixty. When it came time for the writer to choose a pseudonym, there was no question. Susan became Daisy Dexter Dobbs. (The Dexter was for Cary Grant's character, C.K. Dexter Haven, in Philadelphia Story, and the Dobbs came from Dobski, her maiden name.) 
So she stopped dating his cousin and started dating Mike instead. She married him at the age of nineteen. Years later, now living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, they're more in love than ever and still act and feel like a couple of crazy kids. 
Five years after they were married their daughter, Jen, was born. With just the right touch of eccentricity, Jen is a beautiful, creative, multi-talented woman with an adventuresome spirit and a passion for travel (she's backpacked through countless countries.) When it comes to love, laughter, friendship, support and encouragement, they're a mom-dad-daughter team that can't be beat. 
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