Dearest Jane,

Words cannot describe what you mean to me, but I will try. I can almost guarantee you there isn’t a writer alive today – including myself – that hasn’t been inspired by your courageous attempts to challenge convention. Your spunky, take-no-shit heroines provided me with laughs, cries and invaluable lessons about relationships. At 11, “Pride and Prejudice” was my first “grown-up” novel, and it shaped my understanding of romantic relations. A 21st century mind living in the 18th century, you were ahead of your time.

Thank you, Ms. Austen.

Love,

A person made better because of you