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S.M.’s 2024 Year in Books

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S.M. Stevens

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://authorsmstevens.com/

Twitter

@SMStevens17

Genre

Fiction, Young Adult, Children's

Influences

Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, Kristin Hannah

Member Since

May 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/smstevens

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S.M. Stevens is the author of contemporary novels including Beautiful and Terrible Things, which was named Indies Today Best Literary Book of 2024, and Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. She is also author of a YA series set in a high school drama program, and a Middle Grade adventure for animal-lovers.

A lifelong business writer who dabbled in creative writing on the side, Stevens found her opportunity to write fiction in earnest when she broke her pelvis in three places in a horseback riding fall. On crutches for three months and unable to commute to work, cook, clean or shuttle kids to activities, she turned to writing. The result was Shannon’s Odyssey, a middle-grade novel written for her younger daughter.

The following year, Stevens was diag S.M. Stevens is the author of contemporary novels including Beautiful and Terrible Things, which was named Indies Today Best Literary Book of 2024, and Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. She is also author of a YA series set in a high school drama program, and a Middle Grade adventure for animal-lovers.

A lifelong business writer who dabbled in creative writing on the side, Stevens found her opportunity to write fiction in earnest when she broke her pelvis in three places in a horseback riding fall. On crutches for three months and unable to commute to work, cook, clean or shuttle kids to activities, she turned to writing. The result was Shannon’s Odyssey, a middle-grade novel written for her younger daughter.

The following year, Stevens was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which was treated with surgery and five months of chemotherapy. During this recovery, she wrote Bit Players, Has-Been Actors and Other Posers for her older daughter and all musical theatre-loving teens. Two additional Bit Players novels followed, filling the void in fiction for fans of performance shows like the Glee TV series and the High School Musical movies.

Beautiful and Terrible Things: A Novel, explores social justice themes including racism, immigration and mental health through the eyes of six friends. It reminds us that friendship has the power to validate, transform, destroy and save lives. The book has won multiple awards in general fiction, LGBTQIA+ fiction, and social issues fiction.

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades was her first adult novel, which was prompted by the #metoo movement. Fascinated by the parallels between workplace sexual harassment and childhood incest, specifically how society asks many of the same questions of both types of victim, she wrote the dual narrative of Shelby and Astrid, two women starting their careers in 1980s Boston while struggling with past and present demons.

Her business career includes executive positions at Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations including the Franklin Park Zoo and the USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) Museum in Boston. Currently, she consults and provides marketing and public relations services to solar energy companies.

Her freelance writing career includes articles and columns published in the Boston Globe, Bay State Parent, Bay State Realtor, Strategic Communications Magazine and Guitar & Bass Magazine, plus too many ghost-written articles to list.

Stevens has a bachelor’s degree in English from Cornell University. She also studied at University College at the University of London. She lives in New Hampshire.
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Combine Editions
S.M. Stevens’s books

Average rating: 4.33 · 236 ratings · 157 reviews · 7 distinct works • Similar authors

	Beautiful & Terrible Things 4.45 avg rating — 108 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wallace House of Pain 4.33 avg rating — 39 ratings — published 2022 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Horseshoes and Hand Grenades: A Novel by S.M. Stevens (Goodreads Author), Natalie Simone (Goodreads Author) (illustrator) 4.13 avg rating — 38 ratings — published 2019 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bit Players, Has-Been Actors and Other Posers (Bit Players, #1) 3.94 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bit Players, Bullies and Righteous Rebels 4.23 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bit Players, Bird Girls and Fake Break-Ups 4.15 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shannon's Odyssey 4.75 avg rating — 8 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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S.M. Stevens's Blog

Casting the Movie Version of “Beautiful & Terrible Things”

Happy October! In New England, this is a very special month with warm sun, crisp breezes that leave your cheeks tingling, and of course the start of foliage season. I have two announcements and then will get right into this month’s main topic.

A street near my homeWin Bestsellers

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S.M. is Currently Reading

S.M. Stevens is currently reading

Beautiful & Terrible Things

by S.M. Stevens (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 01, 2024 06:16AM

S.M. Stevens is currently reading

Shannon's Odyssey

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Aug 23, 2022 04:28AM

S.M. Stevens is currently reading

The Wallace House of Pain

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S.M. Stevens said: " Oh, how I wish people who rate a book would take 30 seconds to also write a sentence about why they chose that rating! Especially if the rating is poor. Just imagine your teacher handing you back a paper with a low grade but refusing to tell you why ...more "

Oct 31, 2022 06:15AM · see review

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S.M.’s Recent Updates

S.M. Stevens wrote a new blog post Casting the Movie Version of “Beautiful & Terrible Things” Happy October! In New England, this is a very special month with warm sun, crisp breezes that leave your cheeks tingling, and of course the start of f Read more of this blog post »
Oct 03, 2025 01:33AM · like
S.M. Stevens rated a book it was amazing DARE by Mimi Wahlfeldt (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
“Dare” is a gripping psychological thriller that pulled me in from page one, and I stayed up far too late a few nights reading it. It’s not easy to transform a relatively mild-mannered person into a revenge-obsessed character who takes things into he ...more
Oct 01, 2025 07:23AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of DARE by Mimi Wahlfeldt. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — DARE by Mimi Wahlfeldt <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
S.M. Stevens rated a book it was amazing Arkansas Black by Alexander Blevens (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
When identical twins Jesse and Silas are born connected by a finger, the severing of that connection seems to foretell the cleaving of more than some flesh. It foretells the cleaving of the brothers’ personalities, philosophies and, eventually, moral ...more
Sep 26, 2025 05:53AM · like · see review
S.M. Stevens and 2 other people liked Shanessa's review of Arkansas Black: "Arkansas Black is a searing, beautifully wrought novel that captures the rugged heart of 1920s Arkansas. Blevins writes with stark lyricism that makes every page feel alive — the failing orchards, the bitter frost, and the quiet betrayals simmering b" Read more of this review »
Sep 26, 2025 05:45AM · see review
S.M. Stevens is now following Mimi Wahlfeldt Author of Forks & Knives: A Marriage at the Crossroads of...
Sep 12, 2025 08:47AM · like
S.M. Stevens is now following Alexander Blevens and Karen K Brees
Sep 01, 2025 01:14PM
S.M. Stevens rated a book it was amazing Pride's Children: Purgatory (Pride's Children 1) by Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is a wonderfully written story with three main characters strongly drawn. It portrays the tricky dynamic of a man and woman nurturing a friendship while teetering on the edge of romance. Will they or won’t they? The tension on both sides is palp ...more
Jul 23, 2025 03:48AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Pride's Children by Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Pride's Children by Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
S.M. Stevens rated a book it was amazing Class Action: What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You by Gail Ward Olmsted (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
With Lennon Gallagher, Olmsted has written one of the best character voices in recent fiction. Lennon is authentic, blunt, and very, very funny. It’s her voice that keeps her constant challenges from weighing the reader down, even while Lennon hersel ...more
Jul 18, 2025 05:29AM · like · see review
S.M. Stevens rated a book it was amazing Jenny Goodnight by Killarney Traynor (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I didn’t know what to expect when I cracked this book open as I hadn’t read anything by Killarney Traynor before. Well, I loved it!! Jenny Goodnight is a nearly fearless woman whose badass actions and thoughts in the old Wild West were completely rea ...more
Jul 04, 2025 02:40PM · like · see review

More of S.M.'s books…

Quotes by S.M. Stevens (?)

“When a show ends, for a few days, my body sizzles with leftover energy, like a tree in the wake of a lightning strike.”
― S.M. Stevens

tags: arts, bit-players, musical, theater, theatre, young-adult

12 likes

“When you're in a show, all through rehearsals Tech Week hovers out there like a magical holy grail. In reality, Tech Week is always a train wreck of missed cues, forgotten lines, malfunctioning set pieces and short tempers.”
― S.M. Stevens

tags: arts, bit-players, musical, theater, theatre, young-adult

11 likes

“This was awkward to infinity. Alex living here would change my entire routine. I was sharing a bathroom with my boyfriend. How scary was that? I had tampons and pads and everything in there. He was going to be naked in the shower on the other side of my bedroom wall. And I was going to be naked in the shower with him in my house.”
― S.M. Stevens, Bit Players, Bird Girls and Fake Break-Ups

tags: arts, bit-players, musical, theater, theatre, young-adult

0 likes

See all S.M. Stevens's quotes »

S.M.’s Quotes

“When a show ends, for a few days, my body sizzles with leftover energy, like a tree in the wake of a lightning strike.”
― S.M. Stevens

tags: arts, bit-players, musical, theater, theatre, young-adult

12 likes

tags: arts, bit-players, musical, theater, theatre, young-adult

0 likes

tags: arts, bit-players, musical, theater, theatre, young-adult

11 likes

“The first few weeks of school were always surreal, like you landed on an alien planet with strange teachers and unfamiliar classrooms, even though the lockers and cafeteria seemed familiar.”
― S.M. Stevens, Bit Players, Has-Been Actors and Other Posers

tags: arts, bit-players, musical, theater, theatre, young-adult

0 likes