A Mother’s Gift

Last November, I attended the Poetry Society of Texas Annual Awards Banquet, where two of my poems took home first place prizes. The banquet was lovely, the food was good, the poems were wonderful, and of course I was excited about my prizes, but the best part about the whole thing was that my mom was there with me. She was my date. 🙂

My mom is the best. She’s been an integral part of my life as a reader and writer. She read to me when I was little, taking me to the public library to check out every Dorrie the Little Witch book they had, over and over again. Even when I got older and could read on my own, I still preferred reading stories with her. One of my favorite memories is us sitting side by side in my twin bed, giggling our way through the Bunnicula books.

My mom has always been a reader. Mysteries are her favorite, but these days she also reads a lot of middle grade and young adult novels. My whole family read the Harry Potter series as it was published and loved to talk to each other about the books. Now we’re doing the same thing with the Lockwood & Co. series. My mom read the first two before I did and kept telling me how good they were. She was right. Now we get to experience those hilarious and spooky tales together and ponder the cliffhanger endings. I love being able to talk about books with her.

And now, I love being able to talk about writing with her.

Some moms might have second thoughts about their daughters quitting their careers to write. Maybe my mom did too, but if so she never showed it. She’s been excited about and supportive of my writing adventure from the very beginning. Even when I started writing horror, which is not her favorite, she still kept her chin up, learning to accept (if not embrace) the fact that her little girl sometimes writes dark things. Lately though, my mom has become more than just a supportive presence hovering outside the crazy sphere of publishing and marketing and querying. Lately, as I’ve explained more and more of the process to her, she’s become a real ally, asking me now and then how my agent search is going and telling me how proud she is of me and all I’ve learned. She’s read all my published work, as well as my middle grade manuscript. She loved the book, which of course feels pretty awesome. 🙂 My mom feels like a traveling companion on my writing journey now, and I love that too.

Having someone as loving and supportive as my mom on my side is invaluable. That’s why I took her to the PST banquet with me. And that’s why, when the anthology of PST poems including my two winners arrived in my mailbox this week, I sent it straight to her, for Mother’s Day.

I love you, Mom! Thank you for everything.