Margie Zable Fisher is the author, with her late mother, Rona S. Zable, of the new novel The Cabernet Club. Fisher lives in Florida.
Q: How did you and your mother come up with the idea for The Cabernet Club, and how did you collaborate on the project?
A: The Cabernet Club was 20+ years in the making.
My mother originally had the idea to write about a group of older women surviving a New England winter. It was called “Prozac Winter,” and pretty depressing!
When she moved to Florida, she decided to change the location and focus of the novel. Her experiences, my experiences, and things she heard about living in South Florida helped her create the world of Palmetto Pointe and Banyan Beach, where the novel takes place.
In this version of the novel, happily, Mom used her terrific humor, often to soften some of the serious issues her characters had to deal with.
We changed the title many times over the years.
Over the years I would read what she wrote and provide input. Fifteen years ago or so she joined a South Florida writer’s group, too.
In the last few years before she passed away, I sent the book to agents for her, but she never got a contract.
Q: How did you create your character Debbie, and how would you describe the dynamic between her and her family?
A: Debbie is somewhat autobiographical. My mom also moved to Florida from New England after she retired, and was the single parent of a daughter (me). Mom was also hopeful that she would be living her best life in Florida.
My mother also spent a wonderful year living in New York City and had to move back to her hometown.
My mother’s family was also very dysfunctional, for very different reasons. The dynamic between Debbie and her family, like my mother and her family, was strained.
Q: You’ve said that you made a deathbed promise to your mother to get the book published--can you tell us more about that?
A: In February 2023, a few days before Mom passed away, I made her a promise: that I would get her novel published. I suggested self-publishing it since we hadn’t gotten an agent, but she didn’t want that.
The reason: in the 1980s and 1990s she had three young adult and one middle-grade novel published by major NYC publishers. Even though the publishing world had changed dramatically since then, she still held out hope of getting a publisher.
After she passed away, I knew I would have to make changes to the novel. I thought because I was already a freelance writer and a voracious reader, that I could make a few changes, find an agent or publisher, and fulfill her promise. Not!
I had never written fiction before, and I didn’t know what I needed to do. I ended up taking three months off from my regular writing work and spent that time learning how to write fiction. I listened to podcasts, researched information online, and hired a developmental editor.
By the end of that time, I had added 20,000 words, new characters, new plotlines, a tighter timeline, a new opening, and more.
During that time I also grieved the loss of my mom, and often wrote through my tears. But it was comforting to know that I was doing something to honor Mom.
When the novel was finished, I spent a year pitching agents and publishers.
I wasn’t having much luck and then stumbled across a new, small press. Sibylline Press only publishes books by women over 50. What a great fit! To this day, I’m still not sure how I found out about it. I think Mom guided me to it.
Sibylline Press published The Cabernet Club, co-authored by Rona S. Zable and Margie Zable Fisher, on January 31, 2025. The print, ebook, and audiobook are available on Amazon and many other retailers.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: Mom always said her life began at 50, and I also believe my best years are ahead of me.
We want readers to know that even with the negatives associated with aging, there is still so much joy to be had as we get older.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I thought that getting The Cabernet Club published would be a “one-and-done” project. But I ended up falling in love with the characters and the story, plus many readers have told me they would like to read more about The Cabernet Club.
I’m currently writing Book 2 of The Cabernet Club series and I also have a third book planned.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Mom and I had a dream that this would be made into a TV series. We often described it as a cross between Schitt’s Creek and The Golden Girls (if they were on a budget).
We are actively looking for people interested in making that happen.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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