By the time I went to grade school, I loved reading and writing. By chance, during my surgical training, I was asked to write a monthly medical column for “Cosmopolitan Magazine”. Later I also wrote a weekly syndicated medical column. So it was natural for me, during my surgical training, to also keep a diary. When my surgical training came to an end, an editor asked me to write a book about my experiences training to be a surgeon. My diary made that easy to do. The book, “The Making of a Woman Surgeon,” was published by G.P. Putnam Sons and to my astonishment, it became a best seller. Two further books followed, “Solo Practice” published by Little Brown and “The Complete Guide to Plastic Surgery: A Candid Guide to Men, Women and Teens,” published by Warner Books. Immediately after that book was published, my life was disrupted by my being sent to jail for protecting my young child from mistreatment. Later I on I contributed chapters to various books about the situation of women behind bars, including a chapter for “Harsh Punishment”, by Cook and Davies, published by Northweastern University Press.