We’ve all had those moments that changed the course of our lives.  For Mary Ruth “Dink” Kuczkir, it was the day her soon-to-be-ex-husband told her to “get off her ass and get a job.”  She loved books and decided to become a story teller.  His reaction was, “stupid is as stupid does.”

Well, who is stupid now?  Ms. Kuczkir created the perennially best-selling Fern Michaels brand, and the rest is history.  Ms. Kuczkir’s books have been so successful that she was able to put all five of her children through college, and she’s set up the Fern Michaels Foundation to fund scholarships and help single mothers.  She lives in a 300 year-old plantation house in South Carolina.

How did she do it?  She says she’s stubborn.  She’s also disciplined.  She doesn’t stop writing until she hits her 5,000 word goal. . .that’s about 10 times longer than most of my posts.  And, her office is set up as a haven to fuel her creativity.  She can’t work without fresh flowers.  She loves writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what she had to do:

It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there.  There is just something about failure that I cannot accept.

Sit down and DO IT.  Don’t listen to anyone but yourself.  Believe in yourself and don’t give up.  If you persevere, you will prevail.  I’m the living proof.  The Dutch have a saying, “If you can’t whistle on your way to work, you don’t belong in that job.”  I whistle all day long.

Fern Michaels is one of my favorite authors.  Her books are a great escape.  Her stories about abuse in affluent households have an intriguing blend of credibility and idealistic fantasy.  She inspires me to dream about what we might create.

In What You Wish For,  Helen Ward is the abused wife of a wealthy computer wizard.  She tolerated her husband Daniel’s abuse until he hurt her beloved dog Lucie.  After she fled without a nickel, she was rescued by Dr. Gerald Davis, a veterinarian.  He calls Isabel “Izzie” Tyger, a wealthy philanthropist who barely survived child abuse.  Ironically, Daniel’s boss is Arthur King, the third member of this trio of childhood friends.  They form a circle of protection around Helen while she faces the challenges of acquiring her freedom.

Pretty Woman is reminiscent of Olivia Goldsmith’s First Wive’s Club.  Kent Bliss married Rosie Gardener for her money, and her lack of self-esteem keeps her in the loveless, emotionally abusive marriage.  But, on their third anniversary, she kicks his sorry behind to the curb.  The rest of the story is better than any self-help book on how to create a healthy lifestyle.  It inspired me to hit the treadmill.

The Jury is the fourth installment of Fern Michael’s popular Sisterhood series which are pure revenge fantasy. . .a healthy outlet for the anger that emerges post-abuse.  Y’all have to know I loved reading about how the sisters gave an abusive, powerful politician a taste of his own medicine.  And, I loved how they formed a protection circle around his estranged wife.

The next installment in this series is Under the Radar which was released on May 26, 2009.  The sisterhood help 14 pregnant girls escape an FLDS-type environment.  Timely, eh?