Named one of Literary Hub's 100 Notable Small Press Books 2025
RUNNER-UP, Literary Fiction, Midwest Book Awards (2026)
FINALIST, Fiction, Society of Midland Authors Awards (2026)
FINALIST, Short Stories, National Indie Excellence Awards (NIEA) (2025)
From a dive bar in Big Rapids, Michigan, to nowhere Ohio, and back, the characters in Close to a Flame are broken in the ways all people are. On a cross-country road trip, Robin can't stop thinking about her ex-boyfriend. Carol has grown increasingly unhappy in her long marriage to Gerald. On a summer Saturday, Christine comes through for Dalia in an important way. Pat takes his girlfriend, Katie, to San Francisco for what he hopes will be a romantic proposal. Beth's son, Jonah, gets called to the principal's office; and Jamie gets a scare from her elderly mother. With her radiant stories, Colleen Alles wants to tell you it's often the case that deep connections to other people . . . sometimes friends, sometimes sweethearts, sometimes spouses . . . help restore what's broken.