Happy Mother’s Day! Please join Omnific Publishing authors as we celebrate our mothers on our weekly Thursday Blog Bounce.
Today we discuss how our mothers have influenced our writing.
With her encouragement and kooky sense of humor, my mother had an early influence on my imagination. She enrolled me in art classes before the age of five (too bad the lessons didn’t stick!) My mom valued education and the power of the written word, especially for firing off letters to politicians who weren’t doing their job! And, my mother is a lot of fun. I remember her driving me and my neighborhood teammates home from swim practice one night . . . for some reason she started making animal noises. We had a blast imitating chickens, rabbits, and wookies.
Here’s an example of a movie that cracks us up (Every Which Way But Loose):
Finishing a novel takes bountiful hard work and perseverance–qualities my mother instilled in me. The fact that she’s still working four days a week in her seventies is testament to her work ethic. And she definitely had to be persevere to overcome dysfunction in her family of origin.
I can be an anxious perfectionist, but my mom has helped me take myself less seriously. When I was grumpy after a long day of school and two swim practices, she asked me if I wanted to quit the sport. That question freed me up to make sure I was swimming for the right reasons. When I beat myself up after disqualifying a relay at the NCAA championships, she asked me if I would remember that race in one year, which helped me chill out. My mom is great at putting things in perspective.
Currently, my mom probably knows more about my psychologist career than my writing career. She used to enjoy reading fiction but she’s a little too hopped up on thyroid medication to sit down and finish a novel these days, ha ha. I know she’s in the background supporting me, though.
Now bounce over to these participating authors to check out their awesome moms!
Jennifer Lane Books 
Fiery letters to politicians sounds like excellent use of the written word…maybe not so much because they actually read them, but it shore does help let off steam. This was a lovely tribute to how your mum contributed to your writing, even if the meds are keeping her away from your actual writings.
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Your mom sounds like my kind of lady! Animal noises? She rocks. Thanks for sharing her with us!
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Aww! Love your mom, Jennifer!
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Aw, your mom sounds pretty darn awesome. ~JD
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You mom sounds like a lot of fun and an amazing woman 🙂
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Awesome! Mom putting it all into perspective is just what you need sometimes. Go mom!
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lol… your mom sounds awesome Jennifer! she really sounds like an amazing woman. I loved the video too, very funny!
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Your mom sounds lovely! Great post!
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Jen, I like your cooky mom already! I think parents who can help put things in perspective are the best kind. I know so many parents who interview for pain, or over-identify with their kids suffering. Resilience, people! It's like the #1 life skill, as all of us authors know 🙂
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Your Mom sounds awesome.. what wonderful advice she shared!
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Moms ask the best questions! I remember almost having a nervous breakdown over Trigonometry in my Senior year. I could NOT get better than a 'C', no matter how hard I tried–this was tragic to a pretty much straight 'A' student. SHe watched me writhe for a while then asked, \”DO you really need this class?\” \”Well, no.\” \”Then drop the damn thing!\” LOL! Such a simple thing, but it hadn't occurred to me 🙂
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My mom used to say that all the time. \”This won't matter a year from now.\” I don't think I have it quite right though. My kids roll their eyes when I say it!
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