Curtis Smith: this heart

Welcome again to the interview series at 100 Word Story to promote forthcoming and recently published books by our contributors. Authors answer five questions, each in 100 words or fewer. If you’re a contributor with a new book and you’d like to be included in this series, please reach out to us at hundredwordstory [at] gmail.com.

This week, we’re excited to share an interview with Curtis Smith about his new story collection, this heart, which releases from Running Wild Press, along with his new novel (step)sisters, on September 22nd. Smith’s 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 Norton anthology New Micro. He’s published five previous story collections, two essay collections, seven previous novels, and one book of creative nonfiction. His 2020 novel The Magpie’s Return was named one of Kirkus’s best indies of 2020, and his 2023 novel The Lost and the Blind was a finalist for Foreword Reviews’ Best Indie of the year. His piece “Somewhere Along the Line” was first published in 100 Word Story in 2024.

 

How does brevity figure into your book?

this heart consists of thirty stories, twenty-nine of which were previously published in lit journals. Two are long, two are longish, but the rest are flash. So there’s a lot of brevity here. I mostly write novels, but when I need a break, I’ll write a cycle of stories. Using those different processes and muscles is helpful—it allows me to see something through to completion while I’m navigating a book with a longer journey. And it’s always good to remind myself of the power of compression and saying less. I’m hoping fans of flash will enjoy my work.

 

Tell us about a habit that played an important role in the writing of this book.

For me, it’s keeping a regular routine. I write every morning and every evening. I often have projects in various stages of completion—that allows me to go back and forth and work on what’s calling me most. There’s a freedom to the whole endeavor—I don’t feel pressure to publish or produce—I just want to sit down and lose myself in my work for a few hours. That helps keep my mind clear.

 

What was particularly challenging about writing this book?

When I started writing, I just wanted to write stories. But now I mainly write novels and nonfiction books. I still love stories—and while I have good handle on flash, I’ve been struggling with writing longer stories—which is odd because the 3-5K story was once my go-to. There are a couple longer pieces in here—they were more of a challenge than most of my stories.

 

If you were to write a short thank-you note to your book, what would the note say?

Thank you for rescuing me from watching sports every night. And thank you for keeping me engaged and focused in this life of endless distractions.

 

What are you working on these days?

I’m working on some edits—I have a nonfiction book coming out next fall, a series of essays all related in one way or another to Robert Altman’s Nashville, and in spring of 28, my next novel, my stab at a campus comedy, will be published. I’m currently working on a nonfiction essay collection about photography, which is coming together nicely, and a new novel, which isn’t.