Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, J.Q. Public had spent her early years listening to the vivid stories of her father, a prominent police lieutenant. J.Q. spent her summers with her grandparents in North Dakota. She vividly remembers listening to the great stories told by her native American friends. Ever since her earliest days, she loved story telling.
J.Q. left Ontario in 1987 to attend Northern University in Utah. She studied art, humanities, and literature, as a student at the University. However, she could not escape the allure of storytelling and quickly began studying to become a novelist. She began by reading every chance she had. From classical literature to contemporary novels, J.Q.'s love of storytelling was uncontrollable. J.Q. soon sold her television to get enough money to buy a typewriter. Once she began typing, she never stopped.
J.Q. left college before earning her degree. She decided to move to Hollywood, where she could study people, and listen to their stories. "I became a student of life", she recalls. A year later, Wendy married a prominent magazine editor and planted her roots in Los Angeles. Wendy then began writing short stories for several magazines. Her first piece was published in National Story Review in 1994.