Thanks for stopping in, my name is Edwin Leskin and I am an aspiring professional author who seeks to pull big questions into meaningful moments with my work. Below you can find some projects I’m working on, links to collaborate, and short works.
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follow me @CURRENT NOVEL PROJECT [2025]: BEAUTIFUL CUT
“Though the worst serial murderer in history terrorizes the city, though his family is breaking, though he’s a failure and he knows it, Lom cares about one thing only… Cat Racing.”
Beautiful Cut is my most recently completed novel project, a 115k word adult fantasy genre-hybrid, fusing sports fiction and murder mystery on an island loosely based on the Yucatan Peninsula. This work gives readers huge doses of high octane races, wild parties, and bloody murders, but ultimately centers on the two main characters’ moments of transformation in the face of brutal odds, both those imposed upon them and those they nurture in their own souls.
I’m currently seeking representation for Beautiful Cut with reputable literary agents. Interested in learning more? Reach out to edwin@edwinleskin.com
MAYAN JAGUAR ART between circa 550 and circa 950
FROM: REDDIT
READING FOR OCTOBER: SOUTHERN REACH BY VANDERMEER
Every couple years I re-read Southern Reach and Borne, Jeff Vandermeer is in my opinion the spear tip of modern concept.
In October of 2025 I am currently re-reading this massive inspiration, starting with Annhilation and continuing onto the very funny (current) finale, Absolution. I always liked the final POV in Absolution Lowry in some immediate way. Our characters in Southern Reach are a bit self-consumed (haha) and Lowry was a character that I felt could live true in the world in his own destructive way. Whereas Control, Biologist, and the like, all find their fire within Area X, Lowry shines all the time in his own provocative way. No wonder Area X had such fun with him.
On this reread I am awestruck again by the depth of characterization in these novels. The modern form can allow plenty of plot before character, but is best encapsulated with deep character work filtering a fascinating plot. No better example than the modern master Jeff Vandermeer.
Also read (but not finished) this month: The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson, All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, Alien Clay by Adrien Tchaikovsky
PERSONAL UPDATE 10/22/25: HURRICANES AND DANCING
Pic is from Germany with my family a few months after Hurricane Helene destroyed my home. Almost a year later, and we are still on the cusp of getting back into our lovely new house we bought, rightfully starry-eyed at the time.
There are many lessons from catastrophic events, but the one that lives with me from this one is to not take shelter for granted. In the past year of being in my (lovely) folks home with my wonderful wife and cat, I realize that I wasn’t quite fully appreciating the present prior to the storm.
With that said, the past year has produced some great art, and Beautiful Cut my novel project is looking good and wading into trenches of seeking representation. The small wins do stack up, just takes a lot of them. Tipper’s final tour was masterful and deeply inspiring, and shoutout to the incredible creative community of Asheville’s underground scene for keeping my heart filled, as always. Will be updating this monthly
IN GERMANY, a few months after my house was destroyed
