Shardai Smith
Shardai has degrees in political science and creative writing as well as a certificate in publishing from New York University. She currently lives in New Jersey, where she is completing a master's in creative writing.
FROM OUR BLOOD
Fleeing the charred pieces of her past, aspiring artist, Arden "Ari" Gnight transfers to the prestigious Easton College. Ari is not your typical overachiever. She’s manipulative, conniving, and has a wicked secret. As she begins to navigate Easton, Ari realizes that she's the only Black student there and that the other students are the kind of rich one can only dream of being. Ari plans to keep her head low and take what she needs from Easton, but her new haven is ruined when the body of a Black boy is found on the grounds of her residence hall.
Haunted with images of this lost boy and of the girl she left behind, Ari’s dark past begins to reveal itself in her paintings. Anxious to keep her secret concealed, Ari conspires to charm Easton's golden boy, Dorian "Ian" Easton, into falling in love with her. Ari and her professor, Bec, have until the end of the semester to solve the mystery of the dead Black alum. Tormented by their discovery, Ari must choose between fighting for Easton’s Black victims or saving herself. As she begins to fall for Ian, it’s already too late as Ari soon finds out the sinister reason Easton is so prestigious.