India Hill Brown: Find a Hobby That You Love Outside of Writing
In this interview, author India Hill Brown discusses the real-life astronaut that helped inspire her new middle-grade novel, Girl from the Ashes.
India Hill Brown is an author with a passion for writing, reading, and all things literary. Her debut novel, The Forgotten Girl, has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Youth/Teens and a 2020 ALSC Notable Children’s Book. She graduated from Claflin University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications and with a Concentration in Print Journalism.
In her spare time, she can be found curling up with a good book, a hot drink, and a snack. A self-proclaimed southern belle, she lives in the Carolinas with her husband and two sons. Learn more at IndiaHillBrown.com, and subscribe to her newsletter here.
In this interview, India discusses the real-life astronaut that helped inspire her new middle-grade novel, Girl from the Ashes, her hope for readers, and more.
Name: India Hill Brown
Literary agent: Holly Root of Root Literary
Book title: Girl from the Ashes
Publisher: Scholastic
Release date: July 7, 2026
Genre/category: Middle-grade horror
Previous titles: The Forgotten Girl; The Girl in the Lake; Rhythm & Music
Elevator pitch: While middle schoolers Carter John and Gianna visit their local library to work on their school project, they discover the library is haunted by a ghost who wants revenge.
What prompted you to write this book?
I was inspired by visiting the small town of Johnsonville, South Carolina, which is very close to the town of Lake City, where astronaut Ron McNair was born. The kids at Johnsonville Middle School created this cool travel guide of the city for me, where the Ron McNair Life Center was mentioned. I’ve heard a lot about Ron McNair growing up—he was one of the astronauts on the fateful Challenger Space Shuttle expedition, and he’s from my home state. But after researching him a bit more, I found out something I never knew about him: when he was 9 years old, he wanted to check out books from his local library and was refused, because the library was segregated. He was asked to leave, and when he didn’t, police were called on him! This led me to research more about segregated libraries, and I decided to base my next story around them, and a young Black boy who loved space.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
It changed quite a bit. I knew I wanted to write a story about a Black boy living in a small town, but the ideas I had at first weren’t quite right. I would say it took about 3-4 years from the time I wrote my original idea down, to the book Girl from the Ashes is today.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
Yes! I learned quite a bit about the segregation of public libraries. With my first book, The Forgotten Girl, I wrote about segregated cemeteries, and with my second, The Girl in the Lake, I wrote about segregated swimming pools. While I’m no stranger to research on the topic, I am always a bit surprised at the extent people went to segregate. On a more hopeful note, I read about a lot of people, librarians and activists, who helped fight against the segregations of public libraries as well.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
This was my first book that I drafted after having my second son. I don’t think I was prepared for how much of a change it is to write a story from scratch while being a mom of two! My attention was pulled constantly between the ideas and little ones I care about. I like to write in long stretches of time, and at times those stretches seemed few and far between. But I remind myself that ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a mom and author. I am so thankful that this is my reality, even if it is quite demanding at times!
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope readers understand their worth and their strengths. We all have strengths and weaknesses. We are all wonderfully made, even if the people around us don’t see that yet. Carter John was surrounded by people who magnified his weaknesses over his strengths, and he questioned his worth because of it. Gianna was bullied because of who she was. Once they realized their worth was more important than the naysayers, they were able to tap into their strengths and bring goodness out of the bad situations they came across in the novel. We all can do that in our lives.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Read books you love (and even the ones you don’t.) Journal. Find a hobby that you love outside of writing. It’ll help when you have writer’s block!
