Wendy Haller – Every Woman’s Life has a Story worth Feeling
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:29 — 81.8MB)
Wendy Haller spent nearly two decades as a special education preschool teacher before disability forced her to leave the classroom. She turned that unexpected life change into an opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of writing. Today, she writes emotionally resonant women’s fiction about love, resilience, family, and finding hope through life’s challenges.
Wendy Haller Vroom Vroom Veer Show Summary
- Opening: Host Jeff Smith starts recording and welcomes guest Wendy Haller to the Vroom Vroom Veer podcast. Jeff asks what Wendy is most excited about in her author work.
- New book and feelings about publishing: Wendy says she has three novels published; the most recent release is the second book in her Flanagan Girls trilogy, titled Regret No More. She describes the emotional roller coaster of finishing and publishing the book, and that finishing brought relief because she can’t keep editing it. She also emphasizes the value of her beta readers and the support team that helped her.
- Early life and influences: Wendy grew up in Rhode Island (“the Ocean State”), surrounded by water—ocean, bays, lakes, ponds and rivers—and says water feeds her soul. Her childhood home had a backyard pool. Jeff and Wendy compare seaside-town upbringings.
- School years and personality: Wendy attended a parochial (born-again Christian) school from fifth through ninth grade, then public school in tenth grade, which she calls a culture shock. She describes being shy growing up but loving literature and writing; in English classes she was more likely to speak up. She identifies as an empath who would sometimes speak up for silent peers.
- College and early career in media: Wendy earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island, worked on the school newspaper, and had an internship at a local news station in the sports department. She learned scriptwriting, editing highlights and on-air graphics, then moved into news and remote production. She worked at ESPN in graphics and on-site production, covering events such as ski and snowboard tours and professional bowling.
- Leaving media for family: After her son was born, Wendy realized she was missing milestones because she traveled for work. A babysitter called about the child’s first roll-over; Wendy says that experience led her to stop traveling for work and change careers so she could be present with her family.
- Transition into education: Wendy moved into early childhood special education. She earned a master’s in early childhood special education, worked as a paraprofessional, then as a specialized preschool special education teacher. She loved teaching, felt deeply connected to her students, and described teaching as becoming an identity. She speaks about advocating for families and the ongoing need for parents to request supports (IEPs, services) for students with disabilities.
- Health issues and forced career change: Wendy describes living with psoriatic arthritis and other autoimmune conditions that reduced mobility and caused chronic pain, and the need for significant medication. In early fall 2022 her doctors put her on intermittent FMLA; during a COVID outbreak around Christmas they advised her not to return to the classroom because of immunocompromise and the risk of severe illness. She recounts guilt about leaving students and coworkers, and the emotional strain of being unable to perform physically demanding aspects of preschool special-ed work.
- Turning to writing: Wendy had been writing poems, short pieces and prose for years. Her son encouraged her to use the time away from teaching to pursue writing. She took a month to grieve, then compiled poems spanning her life into a poetry book (four sections covering life stages, from teen years through age fifty). That publication opened a “floodgate”: she wanted to attempt long-form fiction, and started writing novels.
- The Flanagan Girls trilogy and writing process: Wendy explains that her first novel evolved as characters emerged—she initially planned a married-couple story but a sister character (Becca) overtook it. That led her to research sibling/birth-order dynamics, interview people, and refocus on sister relationships. She describes her process—reading aloud, making notes, relying on beta readers—and character-driven writing where voices “tell” her stories. She discusses the emotional nature of writing and how life experience feeds her fiction.
- Publishing approach and author business: Wendy says the indie/author industry is “pay to play.” She uses a hybrid publisher (Stillwater River Publications), a husband-and-wife team who also run an indie bookstore in West Warwick, Rhode Island. Wendy stresses priorities for authors: strong editing and a good cover, and choosing how to allocate time and money (formatting, distribution, marketing). She views authoring as both craft and business and has a team: editor, cover designer, publisher.
- Reader engagement, events, and audience: Wendy enjoys book clubs and author events, noting that reader conversations informed the next book (readers’ questions about characters led to the second book’s focus). She describes her reader demographic skewing older (55–65+ retirees who have time to read) and readers who attend wineries/book-club events. She values authentic, grassroots audience-building and human connection with readers.
- Other book projects: Wendy mentions a contemporary romance titled From This Day Forward about a police officer who sustains a traumatic brain injury and experiences migraines and sensitivity to light/sound; she says this character’s journey of accepting a new version of himself paralleled her own experience accepting changes after illness.
- Coping with chronic pain and perspective: Wendy talks candidly about chronic pain—limited mobility, stairs she must climb hand-over-hand—and the emotional toll (anger, sadness, guilt). She also frames her illness as having a silver lining: being taken out of the classroom led her to focus on writing and publishing novels, fulfilling a long-held desire to write long-form fiction. She emphasizes generational trauma and healing, and notes her daughter’s resilience as evidence of growth from adversity.
- Practical notes and social links: Wendy’s website is stated as wendyhallerauthor.com. She’s on social media with links from her site—Facebook and Instagram are mentioned. She tried TikTok but her children told her she didn’t belong on TikTok.
- Closing: Jeff and Wendy reflect on the conversation, Jeff thanks Wendy, repeats her website, and Jeff stops the official recording.