My mother taught me the value of hard work. I was lucky enough to accompany her on two of her book tours. What that lady could pull off on little sleep, tons of travel, and Diet Pepsi was amazing. She made every single person in every single room feel like they knew her, like we were all friends, and we were just getting together for our yearly lunch! I spent hours in the car with her driving across the country to see and meet some readers, and at every stop she always knew a few attendees by name.

We had so many adventures together on tour and off. Once, we were on our way to a book signing in North Carolina and wound up in Asheville, because my mother read and entered the address with “road” instead of “street” into the GPS after yelling at me that she could “totally handle an iPhone.” It was hilarious and I still laugh about it. What was so wonderful was that we showed up two hours late to the event, but not a soul left—they just had more wine! Which turned out to be very good for book sales that day.

My mom and I laughed a lot, mostly together. I’d love to call her and tell her jokes; her laugh was so contagious. I think she was always the proudest of me when I made her laugh. She taught me to entertain, and she threw some of the best parties. She hired a full-on acting troupe to reenact The Wizard of Oz for my fourth birthday. She had painted the yellow brick road with a giant sponge and mural paper all over our house. Nothing was ever too much. The big rule in our house was that you could say anything, but it had to be smart and with a sense of humor.

Along with so many other talents, she was an incredible hostess. We had shared obsession for china, silver, and linen. If you were ever lucky enough to spend the night in our guest room, I’m sure you still dream about those sheets. She was a crazy-talented cook, something I absolutely inherited from her. Although we didn’t cook together often—too many hens in the hen house—we would call each other for tips all the time. We liked to cook the same recipe—her in New Jersey, me in Charleston—and compare.