Somewhere in the Night is a collection of lyric poetry that deals with the complexities of life, and embraces poetic reflection as a means to help heal. Set in four parts, Somewhere in the Night begins with the section "Lifeboat Drill," a compilation contrasting child-like imagery with intense subject matters such as loneliness and yearning. "Kids with Balloons" expresses the themes of the transition from childhood to adulthood, while "Wedding Party" examines human relationships. The final section, "Night," is a meditation on the human condition, exploring complex issues such as depression, isolation, and grace under fire.

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Renate Thomas was born in 1953 in Germany and immigrated to Canada in 1957, where she has resided ever since. She became a Canadian citizen in 2005. Thomas has worked at tree-planting, various jobs in the lumber industry, such as manufacturing picket-fence posts and telephone poles, and on the green chain. She also drove an eighty-ton truck for a mining company.

In the midst of that busy life, she married and had two children. But the marriage did not last, and a car accident later robbed her of her eldest child. Renate picked up the piece of her life, had a stint picking fiddlehead greens in the forests around Prince george, and later moved to Calgary. She eventually moved back to terrace, BC and worked for the school board for ten years. Thomas now resides in the Fraser Valley city of Chilliwack, BC, the town in which she grew up.

"Life as I knew it," she said, "ended on August 16, 1999, with the loss of my son and my personal injury." Expressing her deepest emotions in her poetry helped Thomas recover, collect herself and put things in perspective.