Kelly Esparza
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kellyesparza.bsky.social
Kelly Esparza
@kellyesparza.bsky.social
3.9K followers 1.3K following 1.1K posts
Mystery writer for adults & teens | A SPOONIE's GUIDE TO SELF-ACCEPTANCE (poetry chapbook) @bottlecappress | freelance editor | 💜🥄 | EIC: @flaremagazine.bsky.social 🔥| layout @anascribe.bsky.social | she/her

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Kelly Esparza @kellyesparza.bsky.social · 25d
BIG news! My adult speculative mystery is a SEMI-FINALIST for the fiction category for the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards! In my #amquerying era but in a flare so I’ve been delayed BUT this means a lot as a @uarizona.bsky.social Creative Writing & English alum! ❤️ 719 subs total!🤯
December 8, 2025 Dear Writer, Thank you for entering your work in the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards competition. We appreciated the opportunity to read your writing. We received 719 submissions, and because of the many submissions of high quality, competition was tough and the judges’ decisions were difficult to make. Your submission is a semi-finalist in the fiction category. Finalists are invited to participate in Tucson, March 16-17. 2026, with workshop leaders Laura Da’, Caleb Gayle, Jason Mott, Shonda Rao… Pictured: strike out of cost of workshop and two white arrows in blue boxes pointing at semi-finalist.
kellyesparza.bsky.social
Running my first writing contest with a monetary prize! Calling all disabled, chronically ill, and those who deal with mental health conditions! @flaremagazine.bsky.social has been around for a YEAR! Love championing marginalized voices❤️
flaremagazine.bsky.social FLARE Magazine (SUBS CLOSED) @flaremagazine.bsky.social · 1d
(1/2) FLARE is a year old! Woohoo! To celebrate, we're hosting our first writing contest: Strength in Stories Writing Contest, which is FREE to enter, but winners get PAID! Subs are open NOW through March 1st! Read the guidelines here: flaremagazinecom.wordpress.com/contests/
off white background with pink and blue balloons, streamers, lollipops, presents, and cake: FLARE Magazine is 1! off white background with "Let's Celebrate" graphic with confetti: Strength in Stories Writing Contest OPEN Now Through March 1st! FREE to enter! Winners get paid + publication Theme: Disability as a Strength Visit flaremagazinecom.wordpress.com/contests for more details! off white background: 1st place winner gets $125 + online publication, 2nd place winner gets $75 + online publication, and 3rd place winner gets $50 + online publication There will be 3 runners up and they will get online publication ONLY money bag pictured below from Canva off white background: Special Note: This contest is FREE to enter, but if you donate to the 2025 GoFundMe page and/or buy merch during our open contest sub period, ALL proceeds increase the winners' monetary prize! Find the GoFundMe page and merch page on the FLARE site! illustration of dollar bills pictured below from Canva.
January 2, 2026 at 5:32 AM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
What a way to end 2025! 🤩 My poetry chapbook A SPOONIE'S GUIDE TO SELF-ACCEPTANCE (#BottlecapPress) is getting stocked at a small bookstore, Time Tested Books, in Sacramento, CA! Soooo excited!
Check out my book here in the meantime:
kelly-esparza-merch-and-books.square.site/product/new-...
Kelly's Merch and Books
kelly-esparza-merch-and-books.square.site
December 31, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Reposted by Kelly Esparza
flaremagazine.bsky.social
Happy holidays from FLARE Magazine! Whichever holidays you celebrate, we hope you have a great time and a safe holiday season! ❄️ ✨

I know it's easy to overdo & feel like you have to for the holidays, but please rest & take care of yourself when you need it! -xoxo, EIC @kellyesparza.bsky.social
green background with lights (yellow and red), snowflakes, snowflake cookies, a gingerbread house, stockings, presents, candy canes, hot chocolate with a red mug that has a heart, a gingerbread man, a red sweater with a snowman on it, words: Happy Holidays from the FLARE family!
December 24, 2025 at 10:59 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
Ugh...my #amquerying journey keeps getting delayed because my lupus is really bad. I have to see a cardiologist tomorrow because guess who's having heart issues? It's times like these I remember lupus can be serious and wish it wasn't😭
December 17, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Reposted by Kelly Esparza
carsonrisser.bsky.social
Submissions for Knee Brace Press's "Darkness" issue are open now until January 4! I hope you will submit your writing and art about chronic illness, disability, and neurodivergence to us! :)
Submissions – Knee Brace Press
kneebracepress.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:15 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
My microfiction romantic New Year's Eve story published by @micromancemagazine.bsky.social is published today! The extended version was published in their holiday anthology! Read the story here:
A Kiss with a Stranger
By Kelly Esparza
micromancemagazine.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 7:54 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
I'm now also selling signed copies of my poetry chapbook about what it's like to live with lupus on my @ko-fi.com!
Buy my poetry chapbook! - Kelly Esparza's Ko-fi Shop
This is a poetry chapbook filled with poems I wrote about what it's like to live with lupus, aka a chronic, autoimmune illness. It is published by Bot...
ko-fi.com
December 14, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Kelly Esparza
flaremagazine.bsky.social
Although it’s been almost a year of being around, we made it on the FISH List of lively independent #litmags! Woohoo! FLARE is number 1282 out of 1848 lit mags that qualified! Thank you for curating all this, @charliefish.bsky.social! See the list here: www.fictionontheweb.co.uk/p/fish-list....
Red background with starry banner, white background with black edges: FLARE is on the 2026 FISH List! -4935 literary magazines assessed, 1848 qualified, curated by Charlie Fish, EIC of Fiction on the Web (lit mag), Drum roll… FLARE is 1282! This means a lot as FLARE only started in January 2025! FISH List with lit mags and FLARE at 1282
December 13, 2025 at 1:43 AM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
Screaming! My poetry chapbook that was published by #bottlecappress is FEATURED on the @reedsy.bsky.social discovery site & will be in their newsletter that reaches hundreds of thousands of readers!! Ahhh!

Not every book gets picked up so this is amazing! The link to buy my book is in my bio! ☺️
Purple book cover with spoon and fire, A SpoonieMs Guide to Self-Acceptance by Kelly Esparza, 4 stars, Esparza’s stunning poetic account of living with lupus is a rattling and gripping exploration of identity, reviewed by Stephen Dundas, on the featured list with other books A Spoonie’s Guide to Self-Acceptance has been featured on Reedsy Discovery (email): Hi Kelly, We’re pleased to let you know that you’ve made it to the Discovery Featured list! (Trophy emoji) Head over to our homepage to see your book review at the very top! Open Discovery in white letters, gold box —The Reedsy Team Find your audience. If our reviewers like what they read, your book will receive a high-quality review and be promoted within our community. Top-rated books are spotlighted on our Featured page and in our weekly newsletter, sent to hundreds of thousands of readers.
December 12, 2025 at 10:05 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
Got a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review of my poetry chapbook A SPOONIE’S GUIDE TO SELF-ACCEPTANCE from an impressive reviewer at Reedsy! Read the full review here: reedsy.com/discovery/bo...

If you haven’t yet, you can buy my book here: kelly-esparza-merch-and-books.square.site/s/shop
FREE shipping AND a signed copy!
4 stars, Loved It! With heart eyes emoji, Esparza’s stunning poetic account of living with lupus is a rattling and gripping exploration of identity. Kelly Esparza’s powerful new chapbook A Spoonie’s Guide to Self-Acceptance is a deeply moving account of life with lupus. Though perhaps not as ambitious as it could have been in terms of poetic craft, Esparza’s collection chronicles, confesses, advocates, and empowers with an emotional precision that renders the lived experience of a “spoonie” with clarity. These are poems that demonstrate powerful reflection of both the inner self and the physical body living with chronic illness. In moments of the collection, Esparza comments upon the feeling that mind and body are often at odds in the context of lupus. In “Host,” she writes, “My body and I used to be one and the same,/ but how do I connect with a body that does more harm than good?”
December 10, 2025 at 7:20 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
BIG news! My adult speculative mystery is a SEMI-FINALIST for the fiction category for the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards! In my #amquerying era but in a flare so I’ve been delayed BUT this means a lot as a @uarizona.bsky.social Creative Writing & English alum! ❤️ 719 subs total!🤯
December 8, 2025 Dear Writer, Thank you for entering your work in the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards competition. We appreciated the opportunity to read your writing. We received 719 submissions, and because of the many submissions of high quality, competition was tough and the judges’ decisions were difficult to make. Your submission is a semi-finalist in the fiction category. Finalists are invited to participate in Tucson, March 16-17. 2026, with workshop leaders Laura Da’, Caleb Gayle, Jason Mott, Shonda Rao… Pictured: strike out of cost of workshop and two white arrows in blue boxes pointing at semi-finalist.
December 9, 2025 at 1:54 AM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
Being chronically ill is rough these days! Trying to pick up some extra editing work! I have BAs in English & Creative Writing and 5+ yrs of editing experience + I was previously agented! I have edited books, query letters, business writing, poetry, short stories, essays, etc.

Flexible w/ pricing!
Editing Services
Hi there, writers! I am offering editing services! As you’ll see, I edit poetry collections, poems, short stories, novels, flash fiction, nonfiction books, screenplays, all types of business …
kellyesparza.wordpress.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:31 AM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
Ahh! A reporter at the Auburn Journal wrote an article about my new poetry chapbook about lupus & me! I’m happy to use my voice to spread awareness! 💜🥄

Read the whole article here: goldcountrymedia.com/news/338640/...

Buy my book here: kelly-esparza-merch-and-books.square.site/s/shop
Folsom author spotlights chronic illness in new book, by Dan Araujo, Kelly Esparza has an infectious laugh, usually punctuating the end of her sentences with a light chuckle brimming with positivity. An avid reader, she’s a book and magazine editor who earned her Bachelor’s degrees in English and Creative Writing before the age of 30.
December 6, 2025 at 10:45 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
#GivingTuesday2025 I'm running a 30% off sale on
Etsy & if you buy my poetry chapbook about lupus, you'll get a FREE bookmark & sticker, w/ proceeds from both places going to the Lupus Foundation of America @lupus.org! If you just donate to @lupus.org, your donation is matched!
Get the links below!
kellyesparza | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
I am a writer and editor!
linktr.ee
December 2, 2025 at 10:34 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
I have an Etsy shop and bookselling site as a Facebook professional page! Go follow it here: www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:44 AM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
Through my site, you can buy a signed copy of my poetry chapbook that’s about my life with lupus for $10 and it’s FREE shipping worldwide and through tomorrow, you can get a FREE bookmark!
Buy here:
Kelly's Merch and Books
kelly-esparza-merch-and-books.square.site
November 30, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Kelly Esparza
flaremagazine.bsky.social
If you celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving from me to you! I am so incredibly thankful for the way FLARE has emerged as a community that many of us, myself included, needed this year! Your stories, your art--it all matters so much! 🧡 --EIC Kelly @kellyesparza.bsky.social
fall background with turkeys, apple cider/warm drink, corn, fall leaves, and acorns: Happy Thanksgiving (if you choose to celebrate) from FLARE! I am so thankful for this community and to you for sharing your support, your stories, your art with FLARE! You matter so much! xoxo, EIC Kelly Esparza
November 27, 2025 at 4:01 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
So thankful my book was shared with NewPages!
newpages.bsky.social NewPages @newpages.bsky.social · Nov 20
In 'A Spoonie's Guide to Self-Acceptance,' poet Kelly Esparza examines the complicated question: "How do you live life to the fullest when you’re diagnosed with a chronic illness in your twenties?" Read more at NewPages!

#booknews #newreleases #poetry #readingcommunity
@kellyesparza.bsky.social
New Book :: A Spoonie's Guide to Self-Acceptance
Poet Kelly Esparza chronicles grief, resilience, and hope while navigating life-changing chronic illness in her twenties.
www.newpages.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:33 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
I'm running my 1st book giveaway! Follow @kellyesparza.bsky.social, tag someone, quote reblog and tag me!

A random winner on 11/30/25 receives 1 FREE copy of my poetry chapbook published by #BottlecapPress & a bookmark!

BONUS entry: add my book to Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/24...
blue and white background: Giveaway: smiley icons, Follow These Steps: Follow @kellyesparza.bsky.social, tag a friend in the comments (counts as another entry), quote reblog and tag me. Randomly selected winner on 11/30/25 receives 1 FREE copy of my poetry chapbook published by Bottlecap Press! yellow background with asterisks: A Spoonie's Guide to Self-Acceptance by Kelly Esparza, purple cover with spoon and fire
November 20, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Reposted by Kelly Esparza
flaremagazine.bsky.social
It's that time again. FLARE gets to participate for the 1st time! If you like what FLARE does, vote for us for Chill Subs' Community Favorites Best Lit Mag Awards (@chillsubs.bsky.social)! Let's spread more awareness about what we're trying to accomplish! Vote: www.chillsubs.com/best-lit-mag...
red background: FLARE Magazine logo with heart flame and matches: It's time to vote! Now through December 7th, you can vote for Chill Subs' Community Favorites Best Lit Mag Awards! FLARE gets to participate for the first time! Vote for FLARE, and bring awareness to all we do here!
November 17, 2025 at 7:44 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
My lit mag isn’t even a year old yet and it’s already getting recognized🥹
flaremagazine.bsky.social FLARE Magazine (SUBS CLOSED) @flaremagazine.bsky.social · Nov 13
Announcing the results of the @genrepunkmag.bsky.social Awards! Congratulations!

Winner: @nicolezelniker.bsky.social
Finalists: Brady Alexander, @sarahmchen.bsky.social, & @2heartcore4u.bsky.social

Read their pieces here: flaremagazinecom.wordpress.com/nominations/
green background: WINNER: Genrepunk Award for Disabled Creatives 2025: "Sliding Scale" CNF, issue 2 by Nicole Zelniker with pic of trophy and arrow green background: FINALIST: Genrepunk Wildcard Award 2025, "Iterations" issue 1, experimental poem by Brady Alexander with pic of trophy and arrow green background: Genrepunk's Editors' Choice Award 2025: "Taking Space" issue 1, CNF by Sarah M. Chen with pic of trophy and arrow green background: FINALIST: Genrepunk's Haunting Award 2025, "Asking the Body" special issue 1, poem by Dawn Levitt with pic of trophy
November 13, 2025 at 7:37 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
I’m selling bookmarks now as merch that goes with my poetry chapbook published by #BottlecapPress! Soon, I’ll be selling signed copies & stickers!

Buy my bookmark here ($5 each): kelly-esparza-merch-and-books.square.site

Buy my poetry chapbook here: bottlecap.press/products/aspoke
Soar the skies like a butterfly bookmark Welcome to Kelly’s Merch and Books! Website Butterfly bookmark!
November 8, 2025 at 12:56 AM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
My poetry chapbook is on Goodreads! Add it here: www.goodreads.com/book/show/24...

Buy my book: bottlecap.press/products/asp...
#bottlecappress
A Spoonie's Guide to Self-Acceptance
How do you live life to the fullest when you’re diagnos…
www.goodreads.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:31 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
My poetry chapbook is getting stocked in
@uapoetrycenter.bsky.social, my alma mater
@uarizona.bsky.social! 🤩 So thrilled! I am an alum with BAs in English and Creative Writing!

Want to read my poetry chapbook published by #bottlecappress? Buy a copy here: bottlecap.press/products/asp...
A Spoonie's Guide to Self-Acceptance, by Kelly Esparza
Poetry, chapbook, 28 pages, from Bottlecap Features. How do you live life to the fullest when you’re diagnosed with a chronic illness in your twenties? In this grief-inspired poetry chapbook, Kelly Es...
bottlecap.press
November 5, 2025 at 9:26 PM
kellyesparza.bsky.social
Can't believe I've already sold a good number of copies!🥰 I am trying my best to sell to bookstores, get interviews, and reviews. If you're interested or have any knowledge, please feel free to get in touch!
Buy my book: bottlecap.press/products/asp...
#smallpress #bottlecappress #poetry
A Spoonie's Guide to Self-Acceptance, by Kelly Esparza
Poetry, chapbook, 28 pages, from Bottlecap Features. How do you live life to the fullest when you’re diagnosed with a chronic illness in your twenties? In this grief-inspired poetry chapbook, Kelly Es...
bottlecap.press
November 5, 2025 at 5:43 AM