Back in 2005…I quit my job…sold my house…and…set out to be a…fulltime…author…
Of course…I made an effort to do the things…authors…were supposed to do…among them being…social networking…and…as much as I hate to admit it…online life was different then…Facebook was around…but I’d never heard of it…so…I joined a Ryze group for entrepreneurial women…
It was there that I met…none other than…Kim Emerson…the woman was 
everywhere…encouraging others…offering marketing tips…giving workshops…coaching clients to be their best…and…to be honest…she totally intimidated me…not that she tried to…I just felt so inadequate around someone so accomplished…
In fact…I felt so inadequate…and all the other women seem so accomplished…that…I almost never posted…anything…period…but…even in my silence…I watched…I read…I knew that…Kim…was someone special…
Then…came the crash…AKA…I ran out of money and had to go back to work…I’m still not sure where Oprah was in all of this…I was convinced she was going to discover me…anyway…I admit it…I was jaded…I was angry…I locked…Bertha…in a box and shoved her in the closet…after covering her mouth with duct tape…and thought my writing career was over…
Wrong…
One day on Facebook…I ran across a group…MasterKoda.com…a group for writers…
founded by…drumroll please…Kim Emerson…honestly…I hesitated…I wasn’t a writer anymore…well…I had started this blog…but…I wasn’t a real writer anymore…but…what the heck…I joined…
And…with Kim’s warm welcome and encouragement…I did come out of my shell bit by bit…but…I still wasn’t a writer…
Until…
November 30, 2011…Kim posted…last call for the author makeover contest…with a link for the rules…the deadline was midnight…it was seven o’clock…and I go to bed early…I had to write one page on why I deserved the Ultimate Author Makeover…
I can’t tell you everything I wrote…but…I remember it ended with…I’m not sure I deserve a second chance…but…Bertha…does…
And…Kim and her judges agreed…Bertha…got her second chance…her prize was a professional litflix book trailer…but…Kim didn’t stop there…she also interviewed me on Readers Rocking Radio…and…continued to encourage me…as…I once again…became a writer…
If not for Kim…I’m not sure I would have ever written…Becoming Bertha…if not for Kim…I’m not sure I would have ever learned the balance between working fulltime…and being an author…oh who am I kidding…even Kim with her super powers…couldn’t teach me that…if not for Kim…I wouldn’t even be in the relationship that I cherish…
If not for Kim…the list is too long to write here…but…suffice it to say…if not for Kim…I don’t think I would be who and where I am today…
Interestingly…I started out writing a happy birthday post to Kim…and…it seems that it has been all about…me…which at first embarrassed me…but…Bertha…reminded me…Kim’s deepest joy comes from helping others…seeing them succeed…so…hopefully…knowing that she has changed my life on so many levels…brings her joy…
But…I do want to mention…a few things just about her…
Kim has lived one of the most interesting lives imaginable…from riding wild horses and unicycles…to living with wolves…literally…to teaching high school…to wearing a bowler hat when she writes…to owning Master Koda Select Publishing…to mentoring hundreds of writers…to being a mother and grandmother…to writing a bestselling young adult novel with a killer cliffhanger…you name it…Kim has probably done it…or will say…yeah…just give me a minute…I’m in…
So…where did the cliffhanger come from…from Digitus 233…released last year…right 
before the world didn’t end…
A group of teens are caught in a web of deceit. Will they break free of the world’s controlling power or are they doomed to die trying?
It’s really a great book…in fact…I bought a copy for the school last year…and…had a couple of football players read it…to see what they thought…they immediately sent Kim an email…asking for the sequel…and…you know what a tough audience the football team can be…but…not as tough…as…ex-husbands…and…Kim’s…gave her a five star review for…Digitus 233…so it must be good…
So…please join me…in wishing Kim…AKA…KD Emerson…a very happy birthday…you can find her on…Facebook…Twitter…Amazon…MKSP…her Author Blog…or…donning a cape…and leaping over high buildings…just look up…I’m sure you’ll see her…
Jane
PS…Thank you Kim for helping me to be the person I am today…
PSS…Kim has been so busy helping others…that she hasn’t quite finished the sequel…but…I have it on good authority…that it’s gonna be worth the wait…
Jane,
You have me sobbing with joy. The tears are just spilling down my cheeks. I am SO grateful you are in a new and wonderful place in your life. And you know what? You are exactly right, this post of where you were and where you are now is EXACTLY the type of birthday present that I wish for.
Love,
Kim
Oh…Kim…I didn’t mean to make you cry…even happy tears! Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!
What a wonderful story, happy birthday to the almighty KIM x x x
Thank you Joy…Kim is totally a wonderful person, friend, and publisher!