(step)sisters

Kiley loves her stepsister Nora, loves her so much she refuses to use the word step, believing it gives too much credit to the fathers who gave them nothing. The girls came up hard, watching over each other, their backs to the wall and their fists raised. Their small town and all its sad histories abandoned with their move to Philadelphia, where they work nowhere jobs and pocket the money they make in the city's underground economy. Their goal— a stash large enough for a down payment, their dream of owning a shop they'll call their own. But there are problems. The sketchy characters of the city's drug trade. The months-long trash strike and rats everywhere. Most troubling, Nora's demons, the ones she's tried so desperately to escape yet which rise just when their dream is within reach. (step)sisters offers an unforgettable portrait of struggle and addiction and hope and heartbreak, and above all, the love between two survivors who can only count on each other.

Curtis Smith published over 125 stories and essays, and his work has been cited by or included in The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Mystery Stories, The Best American Spiritual Writing, The Best Small Fictions, The Best Microfictions, and the WW Norton anthology New Micro. He worked with indie presses to put out seven novels, five story collections, two essay collections, and one book of creative nonfiction. His 2020 novel The Magpie’ s Return was named an indie pick of the year by Kirkus, and the 2023 novel The Lost and the Blind was a finalist for Foreword Review’ s indie fiction release of the year. Fall of 2026 will see the simultaneous release of his next two books, (step)sisters (a novel) and this heart (a story collection).