Aunts offer kids an opportunity to try out ideas that don't chime with their parents and they also demonstrate that people can get on, love each other and live together without necessarily being carbon copies.

If we don't value the people who inspire us (and money is one mark of that) then what kind of culture are we building?

Today women have the rights and equality our Victorian sisters could only dream of, and with those privileges comes the responsibility of standing up and being counted.

I find it inspiring to actively choose which traditions to celebrate and also come up with new ideas for traditions of my own.

It is through our extended family that we first learn to compromise and come to an understanding that even if we don't always agree about things we can still love and look out for each other.

A book is a story, even if it's non-fiction, and once I've read it, I have the story with me inside my head always.

Sometimes I create a character from a scrap - a mere mention that has been left behind.