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WORK TITLE: The Thunder Beneath Us
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.nicoleblades.com/
CITY:
STATE: CT
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.nicoleblades.com/bio
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born Montreal, Quebec, Canada; daughter of Caribbean parents; married; children: a son.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, editor, journalist, and novelist. Freelance writer. Previously worked at Essence, New York, NY, and as an editor at ESPN and Women’s Health. Cofounder of the online magazine SheNetworks; cohost of the weekly podcast Hey, Sis!
WRITINGS
Contributor of features and essays to periodicals, including More, Cosmopolitan, New York Times, and Women’s Health. Contributor to websites, including Washington Post Online, Buzz Feed, xoJane.com, BlogHer.com, and Huffington Post. Maintains the Ms. Mary Mack blog.
SIDELIGHTS
Nicole Blades began writing when she was in the third grade. “Storytelling has always intrigued me,” Blades noted in an interview with Writer’s Bone website contributor Lindsey Wojcik, adding: “It’s at the core of being a human being. It’s what makes us, us. Through it, we can learn about ourselves, about the world, and our place in it.”
Blades moved from her hometown of Montreal, Canada, to New York City to launch her journalism career. She works as a freelance writer and journalist, contributing articles and essays to periodicals and websites. She also cohosts the weekly podcast Hey, Sis!, with her sister. The podcast focuses on women finding their focus and place in life, including in business, art, and culture. “Nicole has built a reputation as a writer and journalist who excels at communicating stories about identity and growth,” wrote Repeating Islands contributor Deb Rox, who went on to note: “I first fell in love with her work as a blogger … because of her keen ability to observe and analyze everything—from her own life as a mother to the culture at large—with intelligence, resonance and wit.”
In her debut novel, Earth’s Waters, Blades tells a coming-of-age story that takes place in modern-day Barbados. The novel features Lily, a young girl who finds freedom and solace at sea but soon is faced with a fateful decision when her boyfriend is part of a violent crime. Her second novel, The Thunder beneath Us, revolves around Best Lightburn, an up-and-coming writer working at James, a magazine focusing on international style. She is also the girlfriend of an actor who is on a similar rise to prominence in his field.
Life is good for Best as she hobnobs with the elite of New York City. However, she is living a lie. Best has told everyone she is an only child, hiding a secret from her past. A decade earlier, Best was with her two older brothers on Christmas Eve when they took a shortcut and traversed a frozen lake. The ice ended up cracking, sending the three siblings into freezing waters. Best was the only one to survive. Although no one who knows Best would think that she is troubled by her past, the truth is that Best has never gotten over the survivor’s guilt of that Christmas night.
Best is finally faced with confronting her past when a series of events lead to increasing pressure on her life. Best’s boyfriend, Grant, begins to have a nervous breakdown, and the boss she admired and loves leaves the magazine. When new leadership takes over, Best is soon faced with the possibility of losing her job. Then the unthinkable happens: a reporter appears wanting to tell the story of what happened that fateful Christmas Eve night.
In her interview with Writer’s Bone website contributor Lindsey Wojcik, Blades says she got the idea for The Thunder beneath Us from a true story she read about three brothers who fell into a frozen lake while trying to rescue a dog. Only one of the brothers made it out alive. “I kept thinking about the level of guilt and second-guessing and why-me that the surviving brother carried with him,” Blades told Wojcik, adding: “I also thought about how that psychological torment could influence—and not in a good way—how he saw himself moving forward.” Blades then said that she began thinking about how such a scenario would affect someone who was much young than the three real-life brothers, who were in their thirties.
“Blades has crafted a fast-paced, immersive story of reinvention, hard-won confidence, and the power of self-acceptance,” wrote Stephanie Turza in Booklist. A Publishers Weekly contributor called The Thunder beneath Us “a fascinating look at the way people process their own survival in the wake of death.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, October 15, 2016, Stephanie Turza, review of The Thunder beneath Us, p. 18.
Ebony, November, 2007, review of Earth’s Waters, p. 33.
Publishers Weekly, September 12, 2016, review of The Thunder beneath Us, p. 32.
ONLINE
Nicole Blades Website, https://www.nicoleblades.com (June 25 2017).
Repeating Islands, https://repeatingislands.com/ (March 9, 2016), Deb Rox, “Interview: Nicole Blades on Writing The Thunder Beneath Us.”
Writer’s Bone, http://www.writersbone.com/ (October 24, 2016), Lindsey Wojcik, “What Lies Beneath: 10 Questions with Author Nicole Blades.”
Nicole Blades is a writer and journalist who has been putting her stories on paper since the third grade. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, by Caribbean parents, Nicole moved to New York City and launched her journalism career working at Essence® magazine. She later co-founded the online magazine SheNetworks, and worked as an editor at ESPN and Women’s Health. Now a freelance writer, her features and essays have appeared in MORE magazine, Cosmopolitan, NYTimes.com, WashingtonPost.com, BuzzFeed, xoJane.com, BlogHer.com, and HuffPost. She also maintains Ms. Mary Mack, a blog that aims to bring compassion and common sense back to parenthood. Visit her online at NicoleBlades.com.
Nicole Blades is a novelist and journalist who has been putting her stories on paper since the third grade. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, by Caribbean parents, Nicole moved to New York City and launched her journalism career working at Essence magazine. She later co-founded the online magazine SheNetworks, and worked as an editor at ESPN and Women’s Health.
As a freelance journalist, Nicole's articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, MarieClaire.com, WashingtonPost.com, Health, SELF, and BuzzFeed. Her next book, HAVE YOU MET NORA?, will be released November 2017, and her latest novel, THE THUNDER BENEATH US, is available now wherever books and ebooks are sold. You can hear Nicole on Hey, Sis!, a weekly podcast she co-hosts with her sister about women finding their focus and place in business, art, culture, and life.
Nicole lives in Connecticut with her husband and their son. You may find her on social media at: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and iTunes.
October 24, 2016
What Lies Beneath: 10 Questions With Author Nicole Blades
Nicole Blades
Nicole Blades
By Lindsey Wojcik
Author Nicole Blades wanted to examine compassion and the human condition that people can so often forget about in her new novel, The Thunder Beneath Us (out Oct. 25), which follows the story of international style magazine writer Best Lightburn.
On the outside, Best seems to have it all. Not only is she a rising star in the magazine world, she’s dating a gorgeous up-and-coming actor and counts New York City’s fabulous socialites as her friends. Yet, beneath the surface of her seemingly amazing life, Best is struggling with the burden of an accident that happened on Christmas Eve a decade ago. While taking a shortcut over a frozen lake with her two older brothers, the ice cracked, and Best and her brothers fell in. However, Best was the only survivor. The guilt Best has carried with her for 10 years resurfaces after every aspect of her life starts to unravel. As the obstacles arise, Best has to learn to carry her loss without breaking, so she can heal and forgive.
Blades recently chatted with me about what inspired The Thunder Beneath Us, how her journalism career helped prepare her for writing fiction, and how the experience of scribing her second book was different from the process of writing her debut novel, Earth’s Waters.
Lindsey Wojcik: You've been writing since a young age. What are your earliest memories with writing? What enticed you about storytelling?
Nicole Blades: Yes, I’ve been writing stories since elementary school. My third grade teacher, Mr. Polka, was very supportive of creative writing. He encouraged us to dream up stories and put them down in our notebooks. I can still see those Hilroy 3 Hole Punched Exercise Books so clearly, without even closing my eyes. And he showed remarkable interest in what these eight-year-olds had to say. He put a lot of stock into our imaginations.
Storytelling has always intrigued me. It’s at the core of being a human being. It’s what makes us, us. Through it, we can learn about ourselves, about the world, and our place in it. My father is an excellent storyteller. As far back as I can remember he would have us rapt, just enchanted by these tales about his life growing up in Barbados—all the funny, quirky sayings and characters in the neighborhood and his crazy adventures. All of it came alive through his words, and I found it completely fascinating, even back then as a child. To be honest, I’m also really curious (fine—some might call it nosy!) and like being able to get a glimpse into someone else’s world, see how they make certain choices, good or otherwise.
LW: Who were your early influences and who continues to influence you?
NB: There are so many! It’s always tough to winnow it to a few names, otherwise I would be writing long, 3,000-word term papers on my influences for you right now.
Early inspiration definitely came from my dad, my third grade teacher, and authors like Judy Blume, Jamaica Kincaid, Margaret Atwood, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Derek Walcott, and—this might sound a tad odd—the World Book Encyclopedia. We had the full set, including the year in review specials, and I would sit in our basement for hours reading up on an insect with a strange name or some human organ’s superior function or about the phases of the moon. I read those books a lot, plus we also had this crazy-thick, atlas-like book that laid out all these cultural tidbits along with facts about the different countries of the world. I just loved it.
For those who continue to influence me now, the list is exceedingly long. It’s the early influences, plus authors like Alice Munro, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Junot Díaz, Edwidge Danticat, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Kazuo Ishiguro, Octavia Butler Zadie Smith, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and magazine writer Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah. Then there are screenwriters and artists like Issa Rae, Donald Glover, Sarah Polley, Ava DuVernay, and Vince Gilligan. And then there’s another jumbo list of one-off books or short stories that I could re-read every year—if somehow we tacked on extra months to the calendar.
LW: What is your writing process like?
NB: I can see certain aspects of my fiction writing process that stem from my career as a journalist. How I approach a story is quite similar to how I would a magazine feature. For example, I do a lot of research, ask questions, interview people, and venture down plenty of rabbit holes to try to understand something from all sides. Also, I take writing seriously. It’s my vocation. And when I’m actively writing, I’m very focused on it. That means devoting large chunks of the day to writing and editing and re-writing and working on it. I write even when I’m not writing. That might sound corn-dog, but it’s the truth. If I’m in the middle of a story, it’s parked on the brain all the time. While I’m out running or eavesdropping on two people at a café (come on, who doesn’t do this?) or acting out dialogue in the shower or just letting my mind float free—I’m always thinking about the story and writing it.
That’s the bulk of my process: writing it down, getting words on the page. I like to edit as I go instead of waiting until I’m completely “finished” with the first draft. That comes from being a journalist and editing other people’s work. I don’t typically do a full-on outline, but I did write a very detailed synopsis for Book No. 3 that I just finished in September, and I found it so very helpful. Knowing where I wanted to end up and the specific plot points and being able to manage the pacing, it was all due to having that synopsis on hand. So, this is me saying I might just go sit with the outline or bust people’s table.
LW: What inspired The Thunder Beneath Us?
NB: Five or six years ago, I read this magazine story about these three brothers who went duck-hunting as part of their Christmas tradition. But it all turned tragic when the family dog accidentally punched a hole in the lightly frozen lake. And while trying to save the dog, all three brothers were sucked down into the freezing water. Two of the brothers drowned and one survived.
The story stayed with me. I kept thinking about the level of guilt and second-guessing and why-me that the surviving brother carried with him. I also thought about how that psychological torment could influence—and not in a good way—how he saw himself moving forward. In that real life story, the men were in their 30s at the time of the ice accident, but then I wondered how the heaviness and utter despair around what happened would be different if the survivor were just a teenager when, after one horrible night, their entire world fell apart.
LW: How much of yourself—and the people you have daily interactions with—did you put into your main characters in the novel? How do you develop your characters in general?
NB: I think many writers fold some facets of their real world into the ones that they create. Whether it’s a particular sentiment or experience that they’ve lived or observed someone else go through, it gets embedded in their creative skin and finds a way to seep out. With this story, there are definitely certain aspects drawn from real people and real issues in my life and experience. I took some of that and pulled it apart and refashioned into other fresh storylines and characters that become their own new thing.
As for developing my characters, I don’t think I have a set formula. Sometimes it’s based on someone that I’ve met or observed, and then I start wondering about their lives beyond the slice that I was allowed to see. For example, in Thunder there’s a character that was in this horrible car accident where her taxicab crashed into a double-parked delivery truck and she suffered serious facial wounds. The horrible cab accident actually happened to someone I know long before I met them, and I’ve always wondered about the recovery and dealing with the trauma of it and having your face basically rebuilt. So I used that pivotal moment in this character’s life and built on it to develop who she is and why she’s so bitter and feels blighted. Other times a character emerges from a wholly dreamed-up place, based on something that I’ve long been curious about, and then I dive into that world, researching it and “reporting it out,” like I would a freelance magazine feature. Yes, yes, we’ve all been told write what you know. But you can also write about what you don’t know; just research it and peel back the layers to it.
LW: When you were writing The Thunder Beneath Us, was there something in particular you were trying to connect with or find?
NB: I’m very interested in compassion, in general, and with this book I wanted to look in that. We have no idea what’s rumbling beneath the surface of someone’s life, no matter how filtered and fabulous and hashtag blessed it may appear. We all need to feel valued and heard and supported as we make our way through this life. I’ve said it before: The human condition can knock the wind out of you. It’s crucial to understand that we’re allowed to make mistakes. We can have a misstep or even a total wipeout and still get back up, knowing and believing that we are all worthy of honest love and acceptance and compassion.
Another central theme in the book is forgiveness. Everyone in it—Best Lightburn, her parents, her actor boyfriend, her best friends—they all have to forgive someone or themselves (or both!) in order to move forward and begin living a full and real life.
LW: How was the process of writing The Thunder Beneath Us different from writing your debut novel Earth's Waters?
NB: One major difference is that I became a mother in between writing when my debut novel and now Thunder. And parenthood changes every single process or routine you thought you had, basically overnight! I went from “me” to mom, and that meant settling into this new identity while trying balancing it with the other parts of myself, and ensuring that those other vital parts don’t get tucked away. It’s a lot. But it had allowed me to learn so much about myself and develop an even finer sense of compassion.
The other big difference is social media. Back when I was writing my first book, Twitter had just launched. My friend Larry Smith (of Six-Word Memoirs fame) actually introduced me to Twitter while I was working on edits for Earth’s Waters. I was in that early crew that joined, but I was like, “What even is this??” I didn’t get the point of it. So I hopped out only to return several years later, and now I’m all in. Social media definitely changed the process of writing books for me. The procrastination element aside, it’s an incredible tool for research and interaction, and getting a peek through other people’s lenses and lives.
LW: How did your journalism career prepare you for writing and publishing fiction?
NB: One word: deadlines. I met one of my good friends when we were both editors at a women’s magazine. She moved out of journalism a few years back, but we often laugh about how the deadline anxiety is still there, soaked into our bones, so much so that no matter what we’re doing, if you give us a deadline, we are compelled to meet it. More important, journalism has also forced me to pay close attention to details. It’s the details that make something feel authentic or relatable. And those details are what help a fiction writer draw the reader in and, often, keep them there.
Being a journalist has also taught me to appreciate the anatomy of a story and making sure I honor those different parts of it so that I don’t lose my audience. I’ve also learned that all stories—fiction or non—are essentially about conflict. It’s the essence of storytelling, and I make sure I fully understand what that conflict is in what I’m writing. Trying to resolve it—or not—that helps drive the story forward.
LW: What's next for you?
NB: Next up for me is promoting Thunder and getting folks excited to buy the book and talk about it with their friends and book clubs. I have a few book events coming up, and I’m really looking forward to it! Then, there’s book number three. I just finished writing that one in early September. It’s another story about secrets and family and working through knotted relationships, but this story has a big race piece to it that I find fascinating and hope others will too. At its heart, this next book is about identity and the lengths that we’ll sometime go to create and protect our ideal selves. It’s being published by Kensington again and will be out in November 2017.
LW: What's your advice for aspiring journalists and authors alike?
NB: First, I would say read. I know, I know. It feels like there’s not enough time to read this link and that news story, plus this book as well as the other nine that everyone is screaming about on social media. But you have to make the time. You do. Writers read and read and read. That’s just how it goes. Next, write. Writers write. Find a schedule that works with your life—getting up before the sun or blocking off two hours at night after everyone’s gone to bed—and write, and try to do it every day. Storytelling is a craft, and you have to continue to work on it.
Lastly, find your voice and rock with that. Don’t bother emulating your favorite writer. That’s their voice. Use yours to tell the stories you want to read. Getting your mind tangled in what sells or what other people are doing is just not worth it. Focus on one goal: telling a great story. All the other stuff—genre, loyal readers, book deals—they are byproducts that often show up when you’re fixed on telling a good story in your voice.
To learn more about Nicole Blades, visit her official website, like her Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @NicoleBlades, or follow her on Instagram @nicole_blades.
March 9, 2016
INTERVIEW: Nicole Blades On Writing ‘The Thunder Beneath Us’
bladesthunder
An interview with Deb Rox for Blogher.com
Are the events of our past forever fault lines in our future? In Nicole Blades’ new book, The Thunder Beneath Us (Kensington, Fall 2016), she chronicles the life of Best Lightburn, a young woman with a charmed life who harbors a painful past that she has tried to deny.
“Best is quick-witted and headstrong, but how do you find a way to happiness when you’re sure you haven’t earned it—or embrace a future you feel you don’t deserve? Evocative and emotional, The Thunder Beneath Us is a gripping novel about learning to carry loss without breaking, and to heal and forgive—not least of all, ourselves,” writes the publisher as they announce the cover reveal for this anticipated title. This is Nicole Blades’ second novel to be published, and the first of a two-book deal with Kensington.
Nicole has built a reputation as a writer and journalist who excels at communicating stories about identity and growth. I first fell in love with her work as a blogger (and the Family Section Editor here at BlogHer) because of her keen ability to observe and analyze everything — from her own life as a mother to the culture at large — with intelligence, resonance and wit. With The Thunder Beneath Us, she brings forth a gripping story about how we live with grief, survivor’s guilt and loss; about the ice that cracks beneath our every move forward; and, about the resilient drive to survive.
Today, Nicole is excited to reveal the cover of her new book. She answered a few questions about writing and about what lies ahead in her publishing journey.
Is The Thunder Beneath Us your first novel?
NB: No, this is my second book. My debut novel, Earth’s Waters, came out in 2007. Set in modern-day Barbados, it was the coming-of-age story of a young woman slowly drowning in paradise. It was published by DC Books, an indie publisher out of my hometown in Montreal, Canada, and I’m still thrilled to have that story out in the world.
How long did you spend writing it?
NB: It’s interesting, the way it all works. After EW was published, I wrote another book right afterward. I worked on that one for about five years. Then I sent it out, querying agents. No bites. But while I “waited” for the rejections (nice no’s but no’s all the same), I did what I come to realize is the best thing for me to do: I started telling another story. And that book—which took a solid year to write the initial first draft, plus another year-and-a-half of a major revision slugfest—became The Thunder Beneath Us.
Did writing TTBU make you think about your own childhood?
NB: In many ways, yes. There are definitely parallels between the protagonist, Best Lightburn, and me. For instance, Best is from Montreal and raised by Caribbean parents. Check and check! But the similarities in our childhoods kind of end there—thankfully. I used some memories and moments and real-life characters from my own life and pulled them part, reconfigured them into fresh and intriguing storylines and characters with their own quirks and sensibilities.
How did you come up with the title?
NB: Titles, man. They can be really tough. This book has had about five different titles over the years, and those earlier ones were not quite right. Coming up with this title took some time. It weighed on me for months—in the shower, in my dreams, I just kept thinking and sounding out different ideas. My husband has been claiming that he gave helped me come up with this title. Now, as much as I love that man and treasure having him always in my corner rooting for me and supporting me…uh, the jury’s still out on this name claim. Ha.
Actually, back in the summer, there was a moment where my lovely editor at Kensington Books introduced the idea of changing the title. I almost collapsed into a ball at the thought of going thorough the “how about_______?” craziness in my head all over again. But, so thankfully, we all returned to “Thunder” as the title of the book, and here we are.
Do you think we all have two selves secretly?
NB: If I may be so forward as to speak for “all of us” (ha.), for the most part, I’d say we do have secret selves. Especially now with all social media everything, people have the curated version of themselves—the filtered, carefully cropped, façade—that they present to the world and there’s the other side of them, that is maybe more private, vulnerable and perhaps less self-assured. Even taking social media out of it, I still think that human beings are layered and nuanced, and that life is rarely ever straight up and down, so we have different editions to the same book.
What’s next? Another novel in the works?
NB: Yes! My third novel (thanks again to Kensington) will be published Fall 2017. And that book is actually the one I wrote before The Thunder Beneath Us. I’m working on it now and it’s gone through a major revise, but the essence of the story is the same and so is the main character. Everything else is fresh and new. I’m definitely having fun building that world!
The Thunder beneath Us
Stephanie Turza
113.4 (Oct. 15, 2016): p18.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
The Thunder beneath Us. By Nicole Blades. Nov. 2016. 320p. Dafina, paper, $15 (9781496704597).
At first glance, you'd never know that Best Lightburn had a heartbreaking childhood and a terrible secret. She's a smart, witty writer at one of New York's top fashion magazines, and she's made a name for herself in the savage Manhattan media world. Industry gossip and romantic entanglements are decent distractions, but a cold Christmas Eve in Montreal still weighs heavily on her conscience. Best and her brothers decided to take a shortcut across a frozen lake that December night, but Best was the only one who was found alive. Now that her glittering New York world is threatening to collapse under the weight of her guilt, Best has an opportunity to absolve herself and embrace her future. Author and journalist Blades has crafted a fast-paced, immersive story of reinvention, hard-won confidence, and the power of self-acceptance. Best's journey of personal growth is the centerpiece of this genuine and hopeful story. Fans of Lynda Rutledge and Kimberla Lawson Roby will enjoy the stubborn yet vulnerable heroine, the warmth of Blades' voice, and an insiders glimpse into an elite industry. --Stephanie Turza
Turza, Stephanie
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Turza, Stephanie. "The Thunder beneath Us." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2016, p. 18. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA468771237&it=r&asid=aff4e94ca6b31a37f83545b760b6b9a4. Accessed 30 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A468771237
The Thunder Beneath Us
263.37 (Sept. 12, 2016): p32.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
The Thunder Beneath Us
Nicole Blades. Dafina, $15 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-4967-0459-7
In Blades's second novel, a talented but self-sabotaging writer is forced to grapple with her painful past as years of secrecy and shame come back to haunt her. Best Lightburn is an ingenue making a name for herself in the New York magazine world; she is surrounded by fabulous, fun friends and is dating a handsome movie star. But things take a bad turn when her boyfriend, Grant, has a breakdown and her beloved boss leaves the style magazine t where she works. Suddenly, Best finds herself forced into a corner by the new leadership and under pressure from a reporter who wants to break the one story Best has worked for years to keep quiet: when she was a child, she and her brothers fell through the-ice on a lake; she was the only survivor, a secret source of guilt that she has kept hidden from even those closest to her. Blades layers her narrative with twists, snap decisions, and deep introspection, building a story that feels realistic and human. Although at times Best's stubborn self-preservation feels overwrought, as a whole the book is a fascinating look at the way people process their own survival in the wake of death, and the many ways the past can wreak havoc in the present. Agent: Sharon Pelletier, Dystel & Goderich. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Thunder Beneath Us." Publishers Weekly, 12 Sept. 2016, p. 32. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA464046225&it=r&asid=56b5c936d64f2efa18361d72b395843a. Accessed 30 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A464046225
Earth's Waters
63.1 (Nov. 2007): p33.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2007 Johnson Publishing Co.
In EARTH'S WATERS (DC Books, $19.95), first-time author Nicole Blades writes an evocative coming-of-age story about a young island girl, Lily, who finds solace at sea away from a world rife with oppressive boredom. But when her once-charismatic boyfriend becomes involved in a violent crime, she has to decide whether to buck-up and swim away to safety or remain trapped.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Earth's Waters." Ebony, Nov. 2007, p. 33. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA170113842&it=r&asid=c1de04a767c85e1b1efd99b9421bedae. Accessed 30 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A170113842