Ash & Feather received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Sharon Frances.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Ash & Feather, April 2025
What’s the book’s first line?
At this moment, flying free over the fields, a story echoes in my bones, a story I must tell.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Ash & Feather is a novel in verse for upper middle grade and young adult readers. Here is how I describe it:
When fourteen-year-old Phoenix learns of her parent, Eagle’s cancer diagnosis, her shoulder blades start to itch. It’s the end of summer vacation, eighth grade starts next week, and Phoenix’s world collapses. Every hall she runs down, every room she hides in, Phoenix feels herself changing, growing wings while Eagle may be dying. She builds a new nest from the comfort of grandparent Duck, counselor Hen, and sweetheart Ing. But cancer is like a coyote howling in the hills waiting for Phoenix to land so it can destroy everything. If she is to rise from the ashes of this uncertain world– one of surgery and medicine, classes and teachers–Phoenix must learn to feel everything, and become the bird she always imagined.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
Ash & Feather is a work of fiction, but it is based on my real life experiences. My father had brain cancer but it could not be treated for very long. Th e cancer was too advanced and in too many parts of his brain. In comparison, Eagle’s cancer is treatable with the headdress, inspired by the device my friend’s husband wore to help his brain cancer slow down. I have been thinking about cancer since I was seven, when my father was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It required chemotherapy and radiation around his heart. As a family, we never talked about cancer. I only knew he was hurting. I tucked into a ball and listened to his retching. I saw his chest marked with purple lines, to guide his surgery or radiation. But we never talked about cancer or the treatment. His hair fell to the floor, his skin hung on bones. I wondered if it was something I did that made him sick. Like when I lost his watch or lied about using the radio or cried too much or too loud when my parents argued. Maybe if I hid in the darkness, I told myself, it would go away. I never asked, but I wished my parents had held me more during that time. Talked to me. Noticed me. I needed it more than I ever knew. My dad died at seventy years old from brain cancer, three days after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I never got to tell him about my experiences with cancer, his or mine. So, during my own chemotherapy and radiation, while grieving his loss, I wrote Ash & Feather. I wanted to write about the parent I wished I had grown up with, and about how much being a daughter of cancer affected me. I also wanted to write about how much I was not defined by my dad’s cancer. I wanted to create a character in Phoenix who was smart, strong, sure, and willing to process whatever came her way, however hard it was. I wanted to stumble with her and learn how to thrive regardless. When she rose from the ashes, I did too. I am so glad regardless. When she rose from the ashes, I did too. I am so glad Phoenix came into my life. I hope you enjoy having her in yours.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Ash & Feather is about a young teen using the power of her imagination and confidence to take flight from the ashes of her own grief, gaining for the first time a sense of her own power. It’s time to meet this fire girl and watch her fly!
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
You might think that being part bird would be the most unique quality about Phoenix, but really it’s her willingness to not shy away from hard questions and feelings.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I started writing when I was about ten years old, about a play about a girl running an orphanage and taking care of other girls. I continued writing through depression in college, poetry in particular, and later after my breast cancer diagnosis, when I started to write stories I wanted to share with others who were also going through hard times.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
My first book was a children’s picture book in 2018 called Little Green Monster: Cancer Magic!
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I create social justice art posters, go on long walks with my partner and spend time with our daughter, especially watching her dance.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The best part is not having to compromise on the story I want to tell.
The hardest part is doing all the jobs myself and maintaining the persistence, funding, and belief in myself to keep at no matter if I get responses from the public about my book, or big sales.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Keep working hard and telling your story. It deserves to be told, and you deserve to be heard.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
Sure, if the relationship was right!
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
A desire to tell stories that are in my heart motivates me.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Maya Angelou, Shel Siverstein, Karen Hesse, Gloria Anzaldúa, Langston Hughes, Franz Fanon