Author Margie Zable Fisher and her book, "The Cabernet Club."

Margie Zable Fisher embraces adventure, fitness and fiction

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Turning 50 is often seen as a milestone that carries a mix of emotions. For Margie Zable Fisher, it was a moment that initially left her feeling down.

“Let’s face it, when you’re turning 50, it’s not really fun,” Margie said. “I was thinking, more than half my life is over. I was depressed.”

Rather than letting that feeling linger, Margie decided to transform her perspective. She created what became known as “The Margie Project.” It was a yearlong initiative where she committed to trying something new each month with a friend.

“I wanted to have a new experience with one or more of my friends,” she explained. “These experiences wouldn’t be expensive, but they really needed to be something I hadn’t done before.”

Pushing past comfort zones

The experiences Margie chose were as varied as they were adventurous.

“I did a few things that were outside of my comfort zone,” she said. “One of them was ziplining, and another was learning to ride a motorcycle, which I wrote about in my blog.”

Not all the activities were adrenaline-fueled. Some, like visiting a numerologist, were more spiritual. Others were fitness-based, such as training for and completing her first 5-kilometer race.

“I wasn’t really a runner and never thought I was good at it,” she admitted. “But I had a friend, Nikki, who helped me train. She’s an experienced runner, and she ran with me.”

That experience sparked something within Margie. Not only did she complete the 5K, but she later took on triathlons, when Nikki suggested one.

“From a health perspective, I really upped my game fitness-wise after 50, and it really started with The Margie Project,” she said. “I never thought I’d do a triathlon, but I did my first one, which included swimming, biking and running after turning 50.”

A new passion for writing

Along with personal adventures, The Margie Project led Margie to reevaluate her career.

“I had a public relations business for about 20 years, and I was burnt out,” she said. “I decided to transition from PR to freelance writing.”

The change was significant, but Margie’s mother, Rona Zable, helped guide her through it.

“My mom was an editor and a writer, so she mentored me through the transition,” Margie explained.

That support proved invaluable as Margie built a new career writing for publications like AARP, Fortune, and Next Avenue. However, the most profound writing project came after her mother’s passing.

“Mom and I were super close. She was a single parent, and I was an only child. I was devastated when she passed,” Margie explained.

Before she died, Margie promised to get her mother’s unfinished adult novel traditionally published.

“My mom had written three young adult novels and one middle-grade novel which were published with major New York publishers in the 1980s and 1990s,” Margie noted. “But this was her first adult novel, and she wanted a publisher to pick it up.”

After sorting through her mother’s manuscript, Margie realized it needed substantial revisions.

“I had to add 20,000 words, create new characters and fix the timeline. Basically, I had to rewrite a lot of it while making sure our voices blended seamlessly,” she said.

The project became a form of therapy, helping Margie process grief while honoring her mother’s legacy.

Her persistence paid off. She found a publisher, Sibylline Press, which specializes in books by women over 50.

“’The Cabernet Club’ was published Jan. 31, 2025,” she said. “It’s a contemporary fiction novel about a recent retiree looking to finally live the life of her dreams with the help of some new friends. It’s essentially a coming-of-age story, just with older characters.”

Staying active in her fifties

Margie’s adventurous spirit didn’t stop with writing and triathlons. She also discovered a love for pickleball.

“I was visiting cousins in Maine, and they needed a fourth person for a game,” she recalled. “I had no idea what pickleball was, but I gave it a shot and loved it.

“My husband and I started taking lessons, and he even became a certified pickleball instructor before his recent double knee replacement,” Margie said. “Now, I play a couple of times a week. It’s such a fun, social sport.”

Lessons from the journey

Looking back, Margie sees her fifties as a time of transformation.

“I’ve created a life that includes everything I love — fitness, writing and social connections,” she explained. “Every day, I prioritize working out, whether it’s running, biking, strength training or playing pickleball. Then, I fit my writing projects around that.”

She encourages other people to step outside their comfort zones as well.

“People put too much pressure on themselves to find their ‘one true purpose,’” she said. “Instead, try different things. See what excites you. Your purpose will emerge from what you love doing.”

As she moves forward, Margie has her sights set on the next chapter of her life.

“I’ve already plotted out the second and third books in ‘The Cabernet Club series,’” she said. “Our dream – my mom’s and mine – is for it to become a TV series. We imagined it as a cross between Schitt’s Creek and a budget version of The Golden Girls. Who knows? Maybe that dream will come true.”

For Margie, life after 50 isn’t about slowing down. It’s about embracing new experiences and continuing to grow.

“There’s so much left to do, and I plan to keep going,” she said. “The best is yet to come.”

For more information

People can connect with Margie in several ways, including:

Margie’s book, “The Cabernet Club,” which she wrote with her mother, is available on Amazon and in other online retailers.

If you order a book from a link above, Forward From 50 may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

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