N.M. Kelby

Our authors are winners! We are pleased to announce that our book, Twin Cities Picture Show: A Century of Moviegoing by Dave Kenney and the Minnesota History magazine article, “Constructing Suburbia: Richfield in the Postwar Era” by Lisa Plank and Thomas Saylor are winners of the 2010 David Gebhard Award from the Minnesota Chapter of the Society for Architectural Historians.

In addition to being a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award, N. M. Kelby’s A Travel Guide for Restless Hearts won the Florida Book Award  Gold Medal for best general fiction.

And finally, today you can vote for your favorite book nominated for a Minnesota Book Award in the Reader’s Choice category. Click on the link and vote!

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Well, they may not be the Grammy Awards, but the announcement this past weekend of the finalists for the Minnesota Book Awards  is cause for celebration for Borealis Books and Minnesota Historical Society Press and our authors! Five of our titles made the finalist list:

General Nonfiction:
I Go to America: Swedish American Women and the Life of Mina Andersonby Joy K. Lintelman

Memoir & Creative Nonfiction:
Kevin Kling’s Holiday Inn

Minnesota:
Minneapolis in the Twentieth Century: The Growth of an American City by Iric Nathanson
Opening Goliath: Danger and Discovery in Caving by Cary J. Griffith

Novel & Short Story:
A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts by N. M. Kelby

Winners will be announced at the Minnesota Book Awards Gala on April 17, presented by the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library.

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The New York Times Book Review praised N. M. Kelby’s  A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts yesterday as “an artful collection of stories.” To find out when and why N. M. is moving back to the Twin Cities, see her interview with Amy Goetzman in MinnPost.

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N. M. Kelby, author of the short story collection, A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts, will be in the Twin Cities later this week to share her work at Common Good Books, Grand Hand Gallery, Birchbark Books, and The Bookcase in Wayzata. The Star Tribune explains why “it’s fun to have N. M. Kelby’s voice banging around your head.”

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We’re thrilled that the Southern Independent Booksellers Association (SIBA) has chosen N. M. Kelby’s  A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts as an Okra Pick this fall! Okra Picks are titles chosen by Southern indie stores that they want to handsell–the selections include both non-fiction and fiction in various genres.

A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts is a collection of stories rooted in the Midwest and cultivated in the Deep South, for those of us who suddenly find ourselves tourists in our own lives. N. M. lived in the Twin Cities for several years before moving to Sarasota, Florida. We’re delighted to be working with her on a book tour and look forward seeing her back in the Twin Cities in October for a few readings and signings.

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Tomorrow, Friday Sept. 18th at 4:30 p.m. on FM 107 in the Twin Cities, N. M. Kelby, author of A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts will be a guest on the popular radio show,  Lori & Julia. N. M. is a former broadcast journalist in the area who has since written several widely acclaimed novels and now an intimate and heartwarming collection of short stories. To quote Pulitzer Prize winning author Robert Olen Butler:

“N. M. Kelby has long been one of my favorite writers, and her new story collection, A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts, is the sweet, pure, hilarious, sneakily profound essence of her. We ache and we laugh: this is the experience of living in the 21st century.”

The Utne Reader Great Writing blog recently began a lively discussion on the future of the short story collection in print and online. To quote N. M. Kelby, “short stories are the new black because they are the perfect read for the digital age!”

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N. M. Kelby was recently posed a few questions about the writing life from SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Association). Our favorite responses:

Q: Why do you write?
A: Asking a writer why they write is like asking a dog why they breathe . . . they don’t understand the question, but they’re still hoping you’ll toss them a bone.

Q: When do you write?
A: I write when I am sleeping, lying, eating, flirting, praying and pulling weeds. Living life is writing. It’s paper optional.

N. M. is the author of A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts out this month from Borealis Books. She is also the author of The Constant Art of Being a Writer: The Life, Art & Business of Fiction. She is working on  the movie Whale Season with Dwight Yoakam!

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Get to know N.M. Kelby, author of the new book A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts, as she reads from one of her new stories and answers illuminating questions about the art of writing.

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MHS Press/Borealis Books is pleased to present a new collection of short stories from acclaimed novelist N. M. Kelby, A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts. As we speak, it is on its way from our warehouse to bookstores across the country.

N. M. Kelby lives in Florida, but spent a great deal of time here in Minnesota. Many of the stories in this collection reflect upon being from the Midwest, leaving the Midwest, wanting to return to the Midwest, and just plain looking for home. The stories are funny, touching, and true. For a taste, read an excerpt from the new story  The Last Rites.

N. M. Kelby is the author of In the Company of Angels, Murder at the Bad Girl’s Bar and Grill, Theater of Stars, and Whale Season, which is now being made into a feature film! She also has a new non-fiction book this fall as well–The Constant Art of Being a Writer.

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