Sarah K. Stephens

Sarah K. Stephens is the author of eight novels and a developmental psychologist at Penn State University.

Although Fall and Spring find her in the classroom, she remains a writer year-round. Her writing has appeared in LitHub, The Writer’s Chronicle, Hazlitt, and The Millions. Sarah’s books include the psychological thrillers A Flash of Red,  It Was Always You, The Anniversary, Isolation, The Good Life, The Killing Kind, The Girl in the Fire, and I‘ll Smile More When You’re Dead.  

Sarah loves using her psychological training to craft darkly human stories with killer twists. When she’s not plotting death and betrayal, she can be found enjoying the pleasures of country life with her husband and children in Central Pennsylvania.

E-mail: skstephensauthor (at) gmail (dot) com

Sarah enjoys attending Book Clubs and other literary events.  E-mail with your inquiries.

Twitter: @skstephenswrite

Facebook: @sarahkstephensauthor

Instagram: @skstephenswrite

Publications: Fiction

• Stephens, S.K. (2026). I’ll Smile More When You’re Dead. State College, PA: Kindle Direct Publishing.
• Stephens, S.K. (2024). The Girl in the Fire. State College, PA: Kindle Direct Publishing.
• Stephens, S.K. (2023). The Killing Kind. Cambridge, UK: Bloodhound Books.
• Stephens, S.K. (2022). The Good Life. Cambridge, UK: Bloodhound Books.
• Stephens, S.K. (2020). Isolation. Cambridge, UK: Bloodhound Books.
• Stephens, S.K. (2020). The Anniversary. Cambridge, UK: Bloodhound Books.
• Stephens, S.K. (2020). Clothed. Glint Literary Journal.
• Stephens, S.K. (2019). It Was Always You. Cambridge, UK: Bloodhound Books.
• Stephens, S.K. (2016). A Flash of Red. Austin, TX: Pandamoon Publishing.
• Stephens, S.K. (November 2016). Sensate. (parenthetical). http://www.wordsonpagespress.com/parenthetical/sixteen/
• Stephens, S.K. (September 2016). Inheritance. The Indianola Review: http://www.theindianolareview.com/inheritance.html
• Stephens, S.K. (July 2016). In celebration. eFiction. Vol. 7 (# 4), pp. 16–24.
• Stephens, S.K. (June 2016). Inheritance. Manawaker Studio’s Flash Fiction Podcast (Ep. 127): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLOlDPckX0c
• Stephens, S.K. (June 2016). Sensate. Manawaker Studio’s Flash Fiction Podcast (Ep. 121):http://www.manawaker.com/podcast/ffp-0121-sensate/
• Stephens, S.K. (April 2016). In Concert. The Voices Project: http://www.thevoicesproject.org/poetry-library/in-concert-by-sarah-k-stephens
• Stephen, S.K. (March 2016). Boys. Five on the Fifth: http://www.fiveonthefifth.com/issue-6-boys-by-sarah-k-stephens/

Publications: Nonfiction

•  Stephens, S. K. (October/November 2018). An Interview with Inara Verzemnieks. The Writer’s Chronicle. https://www.awpwriter.org/magazine_media/writers_chronicle_issues/octobernovember_2018
• Stephens, S. K. (April 5, 2018). My Father’s Calling. Hazlitt. https://hazlitt.net/longreads/my-fathers-calling
• Stephens, S. K. (Sept. 6, 2017). Getting Out of Her Own Skin: The Millions Interviews Nancy Pearl. The Millions. http://themillions.com/2017/09/getting-out-of-her-own-skin-the-millions-interviews-nancy-pearl.html
• Stephens, S. K. (April 17, 2017). What Edith Wharton Taught Me about Marriage.The Millions. http://www.themillions.com/2017/04/edith-wharton-taught-marriage.html
• Stephens, S.K. (March 29, 2017). Flynn Berry’s Under the Harrow Pushes Readers to Examine Their Own Feminist Failings. ROAR. http://roarfeminist.org/2017/03/29/flynn-berrys-under-the-harrow-pushes-readers-to-examine-their-own-feminist-failings/
• Stephens, S. K. (March 22, 2017). Be Deliberate: A Baker’s Approach to Renewal. Mindsoak Project. http://mindsoak.me/deliberate-bakers-approach-renewal/
• Stephens, S. K. (February 28, 2017). How P.D. James and Detective Fiction Healed my Broken Heart. The Millions. http://www.themillions.com/2017/02/p-d-james-detective-fiction-healed-broken-heart.html
• Stephens, S.K. (February 23, 2017). Penn State and the Intrafraternity Council Suspend Social Activities: Why now? ROAR. http://roarfeminist.org/2017/02/23/penn-state-and-the-intrafraternity-council-suspend-social-activities-why-now/
• Stephens, S.K. (January 6, 2017). NBCC Reads Resistance Lit: Sarah K. Stephens on Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars. Critical Mass. http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/nbcc-reads-resistance-lit-sarah-k.-stephens-on-lois-lowrys-number-the-stars
• Stephens, S.K. (January 6, 2017). NBCC Reads Resistance Lit: Sarah K. Stephens on Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars. LitHub. http://lithub.com/resistance-lit-sarah-k-stephens-on-lois-lowrys-number-the-stars/