Courtesy Image Alpena author K.J. Stevens’ new book, “DEVOTION,” features “a collection of quiet, cutting stories about love, loss, and the weight of what lingers,” the back cover reads.

ALPENA — Alpena author KJ Stevens’ new book, “DEVOTION,” features a collection of short stories that transport the reader into the dark corners of the human condition, only to be reminded that through our grief, our pain, our struggles, hope pulls us back into the light.

This is Stevens’ eighth book, released this month.

“Well, I guess if you count the one I wrote when I was 8 years old, it’s nine books,” Stevens said. “I always knew I wanted to write, ever since I was a little kid, and I think it was a way of dealing with the world. Surviving, you know. Not that things were bad, but as a kid, growing up, you’ve got to find a way to deal with things, if you’re a thinker.”

At 76 pages, “DEVOTION” is a quick read, but it contains a lot to ponder. Stevens published the book through his own independent company, Crooked Steeple Press.

“I’m a stubborn person, and I like things my own way,” Stevens said. “And I like to think I know what I’m doing when I’m writing, so I don’t really wait for a publisher to tell me, ‘That’s good. You can publish it.’ But I’ve had stuff published in Great Lakes Review, Adirondack Review, Temenos, and some other publications over the years.”

Stevens also wrote a monthly Lifestyles column for The Alpena News for several years.

When asked why he writes, Stevens said, “I think I have to do it. I don’t have a choice … There are little things that stick in my head, and if they’re good ones, they’ll stick in there and stay in there. And then I’m like, ‘I’ve got to write that out. Somebody is going to relate to this.'”

His stories contain elements of familiarity, but they are fictional representations of real-life events, relationships, places, and feelings.

“Some of the stuff is based on personal experience, like the stories in this book, ‘DEVOTION,’ but it’s not, like, my life,” Stevens explained. “It’s hard for people to separate, if they know the person.”

He prefers writing short stories. He focuses on each word to get the point across without overly flowery language or cumbersome details.

“I try to focus on short stories,” Stevens said. “I just figure, why paint a huge, big picture when I can make a little teeny one, and it’s the same message?”

He likes to leave room for the reader’s imagination.

“I don’t typically describe the people much,” Stevens said. “Let the person put somebody in there … let them figure out what the story is to them. Let them figure out the scene. I just provide the structure.”

Many stories are set in Northeast Michigan.

“I’m a northern Michigan guy, and I appreciate the outdoors, and I think innately we’re connected to nature, and a lot of us lose that with everything that comes with this life we’re living,” Stevens said. “So I like to bring in a lot of nature references.”

“DEVOTION” touches on struggles with addiction.

“A theme throughout the book, I think, is alcoholism, recovery, and sobriety,” Stevens said. “That’s in there because I drank way too much in my life, and I quit drinking four years ago. It was the best thing I ever did. I didn’t realize how good life is when you don’t depend on something … It’s time to be clear-headed and give the best of myself to my family and friends.”

Stevens hopes “DEVOTION” resonates with readers who relate to the stories.

“Each story stands alone, yet together they form something deeper — a meditation on what we hold onto, what we let slip away, and the spaces that remain between,” the back cover of “DEVOTION” reads. “Stark but full of feeling, this is a book for those who understand that absence is never empty.”

Other books by Stevens include: “Pilgrim’s Bay,” “CUTTING TEETH,” “Infidelity,” “Black,” “dead bunnies,” “A Better Place,” all available on Amazon.

For more information, visit thecrookedsteeple.com.