Wendy Pini was born Wendy Fletcher in San Francisco. Growing up on an isolated ranch in Gilroy, California, Wendy's imagination was fueled by all forms of fantasy and mythology. At an early age she began spinning her own tales of elves, monkey-gods, aliens, and sorcerers. While her artistic talents were influenced by turn-of-the-century illustrators, film, and TV animation, her storytelling abilities evolved from a love of Shakespeare, Japanese history and legend, modern fantasy, and the epic poetry of the Ramayana. In 1977, a deeply personal project called ElfQuest was born. As the first continuing fantasy/adventure graphic novel series in America to be cocreated, written, and illustrated by a woman, ElfQuest became a phenomenon in the comics industry. Appealing to comics and sci-fi/fantasy fans alike, it attracted a unique and unprecedented audience, an equal mix of male and female readers. More than three million copies of the collected graphic novel volumes have been sold to date.