You know those moments that make you stop, blink a few times, and think, Is this even real? Well, this is one of those.
Not long ago, the gifted poet Mia MP reached out to tell me that my book, A Thousand Times, helped inspire some of the beautifully evocative pieces in her latest poetry collection, In The Same Place. I had to read her message twice. Then a third time. Then I sat there, a little stunned and a lot teary.
Mia didn’t stop there, though. She dedicated one of the poems, “Mausoleum,” to me in honor of A Thousand Times. The photo in this post is her book opened to that page—shared with her permission—because it felt too special not to celebrate. *click image to enlarge
As an author, you always hope your stories will mean something to someone. You hope they’ll land in the right hands on the right day and maybe make the world feel a tiny bit softer, or a tiny bit more bearable. What I didn’t expect was that my book would go on to inspire someone else’s art in such a direct, intentional way.
And knowing that Liv and Zak’s story echoed enough in Mia’s heart that it helped shape her own work? That’s the kind of thing you tuck away for the hard days, when the words aren’t cooperating and the doubt is loud.
If you enjoy emotional, lyrical poetry, I definitely recommend checking out Mia MP’s In The Same Place, and maybe pausing an extra moment over “Mausoleum.” You can find her book on Amazon HERE, and it’s available on Kindle Unlimited.
Mia, if you’re reading this: thank you, from the bottom of my heart.