Kelley Eskridge

Make a donation

Click the PayPal button to sponsor Kelley Eskridge by making a donation to Clarion West:

Excerpt

Beautiful Wine (flash fiction written for the 2011 Write-a-thon)

Jimmy and Helen came out of the restaurant into an afternoon of green turning burnt-gold and rust-red, the shadows longer, the world cooling as the sun slipped west. “I did not like the ceviche,” Helen said, “but I liked the chicken, and the wine, oh my god. Beautiful wine.”

“Want to maybe go to a movie? Make a real day out of it?”

“I know you, buster,” she said. “You’ll be snoring before the trailers are done. Let’s go home.”

She did know him. “Sure,” he said.

They turned toward the car. She took a deep breath. “What a pretty day,” she said, and then, in a funny voice, “Jimmy–” and reached for him and stumbled and went down.

And now Jimmy was sitting on the sidewalk holding her in his arms, and she was leaning against his chest, looking up at him with that quizzical frowny-smile that hadn’t changed in forty-seven years, the smile that meant Hang on, is this another goddamn adventure? And he was trying like hell to smile back. I think maybe so, kiddo. Around them, people fluttered and phoned ambulances.

“If you don’t want to go a movie, you can just say so,” he said.

“You know me,” she said, “I like a big moment.” Then her gaze went briefly internal, and he did know her: whatever she saw in there made her feel like something needed doing right now. “You were a big moment. I knew that from the first second I saw you,” she said. “I knew you right away.”

“Helen–”

“It’s not what I expected,” she said, with that quizzical smile again.

“Helen–”

“Forget the ceviche, Jimmy,” she said. “I liked it all.”

Bio

I'm a writer, screenwriter, and independent editor.

My novel Solitaire is a New York Times Notable novel and a finalist for the Nebula, Spectrum, and Endeavour Awards. My collection Dangerous Space includes an Astraea Prize winner, two Nebula finalist stories, three Tiptree Prize Honor stories, and a story adapted for Syfy. I have a science fiction screenplay in development (keep your fingers crossed).

I'm co-owner and editor at Sterling Editing with my partner, novelist Nicola Griffith.

In 1988, I attended the Clarion workshop in Michigan. Today I am the Board Chair of Clarion West. The wheel goes round, you know?

Publications

Solitaire: Print or DRM-free ebook from Small Beer Press. Print or Kindle from Amazon.com.

Dangerous Space: DRM-free ebook from Wizards Tower. Print or Kindle from Amazon.com.

Read three stories from Dangerous Space on my website:"Strings," "And Salome Danced," and "Dangerous Space."

Writing Description

I write about daily moments and extreme states. I write about small choices and big feelings. I'm fascinated by all the ways there are to be human. I explore identity, sexuality, gender, music, love, hope, fear, and joy.

Writing Goals

I'm working on several projects--screenplays, fiction, and nonfiction--that are deeply important to me. Lately I'm losing the time fight to the other demands of my life: editing, my work for Clarion West, and other issues that eat my energy and fragment my focus.

Your money will help sustain Clarion West, and for that I thank you. Your willingness to sponsor me will help sustain my spirit in ways that I can never thank you for enough. I've written more about that in this post.

I will work on one of my projects every day of the Write-a-thon, no matter what. I will write something I love every day.

Every week, I will send my sponsors an email talking about my process for the week. What I accomplish, what I struggle with, what scares me, what excites me, what technical challenges or emotional obstacles I face. My life as a writer.

Please sponsor me, and come with me on my Write-a-thon journey.

Fundraising Goals

I want to raise $2,000 and bring ten new writers to the Write-a-thon. And your sponsorship will make me feel like a million bucks.

Website

http://kelleyeskridge.com


Back to the main Write-a-thon page.