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.

Reminiscent of the work of Lorrie Moore and Jill McCorkle, the 10-story collection features the sweetly off-beat love story, “Jubilation, FL,” where two highly unlikable people share dairy products and  “The Faithful,” a funny yet tender story about a family torn apart by their beautiful mother “Kitty” who will not give up her coyote fur or cat’s eye sunglasses for anything. We also meet landlocked mermaids and a twisted Camp Fire Girl troupe who will do anything to sell the most P-Nuttles in history. The collection includes four new stories including the riotous “The Last Rites,” featuring Zimmer, a rock idol who “had always wanted to be buried in his 1953 Cadillac Eldorado convertible” and is not disappointed.

They have appeared on National Public Radio’s “Selected Shorts,” and on NPR’s CD Travel Tales, and New Stories from the South: Best of 2006.

“This is a collection of love stories, each and every one of them true to what goes on between us when our hearts collide.  Beautiful, sweet and a little sad: love, exactly.  N.M. Kelby knows a thing or two.”—Daniel Wallace, author of four novels including Big Fish, which was also a film of the same name.

"Kelby peeks into the hidden places of the heart, the sweet-spot where love dwells.  Each story's tender and exact words explore the bittersweet, hopeful, and gentle ways love captures our soul within a single breath, a vulnerable moment. Reckless, yes, and also beautiful!"––Patti Callahan Henry, author of six novels including Between the Tides.

Whimsical, surreal, touching, and often fiercely funny, this collection takes a clear-eyed look at what it means to be disconnected from our loved ones, our landscapes, and ultimately ourselves.