I owe a lot to my mom, especially as a writer. She was the first person to encourage me and she’s my biggest fan. I wouldn’t be the author I am today without her.

My mom loves to read and she passed her love of books on to me. She read many great books to me, even when I was old enough to read for myself. We took weekly trips to the library and always came home with big stacks of books. She played books on tape for long car rides and to help me get to sleep at night.

She also told me stories that she made up and she encouraged me to make up my own. She would write them down for me and I would draw the pictures. Later, when I was eight, I decided I wanted to be a writer, and she gave me my first notebook, which was blue with a unicorn on the front. I carried that notebook everywhere. She bought me creative writing books so I could learn the craft.

She was my teacher and homeschooled me, so she let me choose many of my school assignments. She encouraged my curiosity and told me to ask lots of questions. She joined homeschooling groups so we could go on lots of field trips to interesting places like museums, concerts, aquariums, and other cool things to learn about.

My mom never told me that it was too hard to get published or I wouldn’t make a living as an author. She still enjoys reading all of my stories and she makes thoughtful comments about them. I’m always excited to tell her when I have another book finished for her to see.

Another person who has encouraged me is my grandmother, my mom’s mom. She also encouraged me as a child and today. My grandmother used to have an entire room full of books in her house, which was my favorite spot when I visited her. When she cleaned out her house a few years ago to move into a retirement home, she let me go into her library and choose as many books as I wanted. Now she doesn’t have much space for books in her room but she has a shelf dedicated to my books that I’ve published. She always asks when the next one is coming.

My late mother-in-law also used to read my books. She especially liked Small Town Witch and I regret that I didn’t finish the series before she passed away.

This Mother’s Day, I am grateful for all the women who have helped me, especially my mom. I hope you all have someone who supports your dreams. Having someone like that goes a long way to helping you achieve them.