S.M. Stevens began writing fiction during back-to-back health crises: a shattered pelvis and ovarian cancer. She writes contemporary novels designed to make readers laugh, cry and think. Her most recent novel, Beautiful and Terrible Things, has won seven awards including Indies Today’s Best Literary Book of 2024, and an Honorable Mention in the Social Issues category of the 2024 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest. Her novella The Wallace House of Pain won the 2023 American Fiction Award for Best Novelette, and First Place in the Short Fiction category of the Chanticleer International Book Awards. A lifelong New Englander other than stints in England and Italy, she lives in Washington, N.H.