It’s not his thumping tail or his soft brown eyes looking up at me that kills me. The discarded collar slices my heart like a blade through soft butter. Most weeks, I’m okay. But today, I’m unsure if grief is worth the price of love. Broken Hearts Gallery Literary is a new venture created by […]
All June Left Behind is the story of a grieving farmer determined to uncover the truth about his wife’s murder. ARC readers say, “Ray will grab your heart from the beginning. This mystery is a whopping good page-turner that will keep you guessing until the end.” Coming May 6. Preorder Today! Ray had it all—a […]
Early morning sunlight filters through the kitchen window. Darlene turns from the counter and her eyes lock on my plate. Alone together, I feel her heat.“You’re kidding, right?” she says, holding a plump red apple.There is a deafening silence. Even the birds outside hold their song. I shift in the chair, wait. It won’t be […]
Originally Published by Punk Noir Press on February 1, 2025. Punk Noir Magazine put out a call for flash submissions themed Valentine Crimes of Passion, written in less than 100 words. It was a challenge! Grateful ‘Ice Child’ was accepted. It was only a box of chocolate. But I knew my dream girl deserved it. Problem was my paper-route paid $4 a week, […]
Thank you for choosing Flat Out Lies for your next book club read. I’m always happy to join you for your discussion. There is no higher honour for a writer than to be invited into your circle. Having been to many book clubs, I often find I learn more from you than you do from […]
Karen Grose is from Toronto, Canada. Her debut novel, The Dime Box, was selected by Amnesty International for its 2021 Book Club. Her second is Flat Out Lies, and All June Left Behind is coming Spring 2025. She has flash, poems, and short stories published by Roi Faineant Press, Paddler Press, Punk Noir Magazine, Epistemic Literary Magazine, Hooghly Review, Bunker […]
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Another day, the red sun risescrimson beams cut through the gloom, it’s hard to breath whendust blows in my eyes, lost particlesbut to sweeten the morningI escape to the old worldlong gone, somewhere out of reach. I claw back to the aroma of cinnamon buns—warm and stickytoilet paper, the garden in bloom, birdsong.Hoofing it across […]
The final bell rings, a signal another day of learning is over. I skip along the cobblestones passing old stone buildings, without a care in the word. At the end of road rests my house, where I open the front door. Darkness engulfs me as I weave through belted black pants, skirts and bulky purses, […]
Mist hovers above the surface of the waterlight creeping from the east, a golden pinky glowI cut the blade throughthe silence,a heightened awarenessof my insignificancedawn silhouetting the pines, the land around untouched. Time stands still, swallowing me wholemorning brightens dull untila breeze, hot and welcome carriesthe unmistakable scent of rain,while I paddle back across the […]