Author explores the travails of reckless hearts

N.M. Kelby
N.M. Kelby describes short stories as "the new black." Her collection is called "A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts."
MPR photo/Euan Kerr

Writer N.M. Kelby's new collection of short stories, "A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts," begins with "Jubilation Florida." It's a description of an unfortunate affair.

"It's not a good idea. Nordan and Sara both know it. Both are over forty. Both love their spouses. Both are drunk. Both naked - and not thin. Both wonder if the other is lying when they say, nearly simultaneously, "I've never done this before."

Nicole Kelby has had many careers over the years. She was a writer and performer with In the Heart of the Beast theater in Minneapolis, and a TV reporter in the Twin Cities. She's also written a number of successful novels.

All those jobs involve storytelling. She told Euan Kerr "Jubilation Florida" came about on a bet with a friend that she couldn't tell a particular kind of tale.

Nicole Kelby will read from "A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts" at Common Good Books Thursday evening. She'll read at the Grand Hand Gallery in St. Paul on Friday, and Birchbark Books in Minneapolis and the Book Case in Wayzata next week.

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