state law to do, for example, with inheritance, mental competence, and a mother's fitness to care for her child (as in Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind and Miss Julia Takes Over). One of the common themes in the series is hypocrisy among the clergy. The Miss Julia series is popular among book clubs in the United States and is also successful in Germany, Japan, and Poland. Ross is particularly proud of a fan letter from Dolly Parton. In 2017 Miss Julia Inherits a Mess was nominated for a Southern Book Prize by the Southern Independent Booksellers Association. When Ross wrote Miss Julia Goes Rogue featuring the same character as a brutal and sexy vampire, "Ross’ publisher, unwilling to upset the original Miss Julia brand, refused to green-light the project." Journalists at a newspaper in western North Carolina included Ross along with Woody Harrelson, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Gladys Knight in a spoof of crowd-sourced funding campaigns to get this novel published In 2021, Ross ended the 22-volume series with Miss Julia Happily Ever After.“ Ross said, "As I wrote Happily Ever After, a series of changes in my personal and professional lives were converging in such a way that I began to feel that somebody was trying to tell me something. Miss Julia and the ones she loves are in a good place right now, nothing that needs to be wrapped up is pending, most questions have been answered, no one is languishing in jail [and] everybody is home where they’re supposed to be, so it all felt like a good place to just let go.” Columbia Tri-Star Productions optioned Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind which is under consideration for either a film or television series by independent producers. Personal life Ross married Dr. Marion Ross. The couple has two daughters and one son. Ross lives in Hendersonville, North Carolina, the basis for the town in the Miss Julia books. Until 1977, they lived in a historical house built in 1836 that inspired Miss Julia's house. In 2010 UNC-Asheville honored her as a Distinguished Alumna for her career as a novelist. Publications Novels The Murder Cure (Avon Books, 1978) The Murder Stroke (Nordon Publications, 1981) The Pilgrimage (Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987) Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind (William Morrow, 1999) Miss Julia Takes Over (Viking, 2001) Miss Julia Throws a Wedding (Viking, 2002) Miss Julia Hits the Road (Viking, 2003) Miss