We all know you can't write well without being able to observe life and be influenced by the people and things around you. And out of all those people who have probably influenced your writing over the years, I'm willing to bet good money that your mother was one of them (though I will happily refrain from guessing whether it was in a good way or bad...). 

Without real life mothers, we'd be sorely lacking the great literary mothers of the ages, from the good (Little Women's Marmee) and the well-meaning-but-annoying (Pride and Prejudice's Mrs. Bennet) to the absent-yet-strongly-felt (Harry Potter's Lily Potter). I'll leave out the bad and the ugly, since it seems lacking in holiday spirit.

So please go give your mom a big hug. And if you are a mom, go demand a big hug.

And on behalf of the team at CJLA, happy mothers' day.