A Montgomery County Public Schools special education teacher and Damascus High School graduate has released her fourth young adult novel.
Natalie Evans, a 2004 graduate of Damascus High School who writes under the pen name Natalie Blank, recently published Rock Bottom Rise, the latest addition to her growing collection of young adult fiction.
The novel follows 18-year-old Link, who returns home from boarding school only to find himself estranged from his family and living out of his car. While working to save for college, he also tries to rebuild his life and reconnect with his ex-girlfriend, Amy. The story explores themes of resilience, perseverance, identity and hope, continuing the focus found throughout Blank’s previous works.
In addition to teaching in Montgomery County, Blank is developing presentations for Girl Scout troops, schools and libraries, where she shares her journey from aspiring writer to published author and encourages young people to pursue their creative goals.
She has also recently been featured on Good Morning Washington and in the UMBC Alumni Magazine, highlighting her career balancing education and writing. Blank says she often writes before her children wake up in the morning and returns to her manuscripts after they go to bed.
Blank holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies in Dance and Culture from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, along with a teaching certificate from Moreland University.
Her previous novels include The Mass (2024), The Tangibles (2022), and Walking Off Pluto (2014). The Tangibles received the In the Margins Book Award in 2023. Blank lives in Maryland with her husband and their three children.
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