A Reader Loved This Book: Wednesday Good Read Recommendation

This is the week for posting from our readers, which I love. After a while, I tire of hearing my own voice and we always love to hear YOUR voice. Nancy Simpson recommends Same Kind of Different As Me. Her book club read it and loved it. Her comments: "True story. Wonderful characters. So many details for discussion. Makes you really think." That's a great book review - succinct but enticing! Per her recommendation, I've already acquired the book and it's on my "to read" stack. Thanks Nancy. Okay, we would love more book recommendations from you. To get you motivated, here's a prompt: send us your favorite summer read. Surely you've finished it by now, right? lisa@miamagazine.net, or post a comment here. Happy Reading!

From a Reader: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, September 12

I'm posting a wonderful writing prompt that a reader sent a few weeks ago. She loves yoga and says that it sparks her creativity, so she wanted to put this out for our bloggers/writers: Write about an activity or sport you do that takes your thoughts to new creative levels. Although hers was yoga, she said she also gets some of her best ideas in the shower! I can relate to that one. My mother used to solve the world's problems when she was ironing. What's the activity that sparks your creativity? Write about it and then send it our way: lisa@miamagazine.net For our subscribers, you should be getting your copy of the Fall issue in the mail this week! The issue will hit the stands next week. (Hint, hint: if you subscribe, you get your copy first.)

First Day Jitters: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, August 22

She couldn't get out the door fast enough this morning. With a bookbag, an umbrella, and her new school uniform (first year for these and I'm doing a fist pump!), she looked every bit like the confident fifth grader who is ready to start a new school year. Every year is not this way. With each of my three children there have been those years when angst ruled on the first day. They worried about new teachers, math class, the pimple that emerged the morning of, friends who might be - or not be - in class with them. But this morning, my youngest bounded out of the house not worried about anything but getting there early enough to socialize before the bell sounded. It was nice. But next year is sixth grade and there is a good chance that it could be a hand-wringing first day of school. So I'm reveling in the ease of this year's first day.

As you continue to write YOUR story, here is a writing prompt to take you back a few years:

What was your most unusual or memorable first day of school? Write about it and describe your feelings, worries, excitement, and of course, what you wore (even if it was a uniform!).

Happy Monday!

Baby It's Cold in Here! Monday Morning Writing Prompt, August 16

I'm a stickler for sticking with titles. So even though it's Tuesday, this is still the Monday Morning Writing Prompt. I've been taking my daughter to a variety of doctor appointments before she goes back to college: dermatologist, eye doctor, foot doctor, and now the migraine doctor complete with a flurry of testing. She had an EEG this morning, and I sat with her while all the wires were attached to her head and the lights were blinking at her closed eyelids. For some reason, the room where she had the test was frigid. Why are doctor's offices always this way? Is it germ control? To keep waiting patients awake? To remind us that there is a reason we hate being here?

I'm cold-natured, so I always carry a sweater in the summer for the purpose of fending off the blasts of air-conditioning that most businesses and offices love. But I forgot my sweater this morning, and so I sat and looked at the bumps on my arm and tried to remember the coldest place I've ever been. It was Chicago. I'm telling the story in my writing prompt journal as I ponder today's writing prompt:

Where is the coldest place you have ever been, and what were you doing there? How did it feel? How did YOU feel?
If you love the cold, you'll write it one way; if you hate it you'll write it another way. Either way, I'd love to read about your coldest experience. Send it to lisa@miamagazine.net

Stay warm!

Music and Memory: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, August 8

I just returned from our annual family vacation in Colordao last Friday evening. We've been going to various places in Colorodo for about 43 years (since I was about three years old) , and every year I am reminded that memories creep up at the most unusual times. I heard this song on the radio while I was there, and I was instantly transported back across at least three decades to the backseat of our old green Plymouth. I was about seven years old and trying to teach this song to my grandfather. He had only heard it a few times, but it was one of my favorites and I was determined that we would sing it together. It was not to be. He could never get the tune to the chorus right and it drove me mad. I kept asking him to repeat the tune after me, but he had it all wrong every time. "Why don't you sing and I'll listen," he finally said, probably weary of my efforts to teach him a song he didn't really want to learn. He got what he asked for. Many miles down a Colorado highway, Papa listened to me sing this same song over, and over, and over. He must have been a patient man. Or perhaps he was already losing his hearing.

Here is your writing prompt for today:

What song instantly takes you back to a vivid moment in time, or a poignant memory. Write about it.

Your Turn: Wednesday's Good Read Recommendation

It's time for our YOU, Mia reader, to weigh in:
What is a book you would recommend without hesitation? Can you tell us about it? You don't need to write a book review, just give us the name of the book, the author, and what you loved about it. You can even give us the blurb from the dust jacket! We want your Wednesday Good Read Recommendations and we need your voice. Send your recommendation to lisa@miamagazine.net. We want to start posting our readers' favorite books each Wednesday. So...are you in?

Collecting: Monday Morning Writing Prompt, August 1

Last week, a friend sent me the link to a wonderful blog belonging to a photographer. Among her many photos are a set of images reflecting her love of collections. It made me stop and think about what I collect. Everyone really should have a collection of something. It's fun, and it is a way to tell a story about what is meaningful to you. I've never been a big collector, but in looking at this blog I realized that collections don't have to fall into the category of figurines, stamps, coins, antique dolls. I'm not going to go any further with that, because the writing prompt for today will get you thinking creatively about what you collect. Don't limit it to stuff. Here you go:

What do you collect? Write about the things that you have more than two or three of, why you have them, and what they mean to you (think out of the box here: maybe you are a collector and you don't even realize it!)

This one might take some time for you to think about it, but after you have written about your collection, we would love to hear about it. We're compiling reader responses on this one for a future Mia issue!

Happy Monday!