Jo Allen Ash is the pen name Robin Maderich has chosen for her young adult titles. She has begun referring to this alter ego on a first name basis, as Jo. “It’s rather fun, as if she’s somehow separate from who I am. Leaves me free to contemplate new tales in wildly imaginative ways, uninhibited by self-doubt. This is what I tell myself. This is what I choose to believe. And this is how I write as Jo.”

As Jo Allen Ash, Ms. Maderich has penned a young adult tale of dystopian sci-fi/fantasy filled with complex and compelling characters (“according to someone other than me, someone who reviews books for a living,” says Maderich/Ash). In The Shadows We Make Jo Allen Ash has burrowed down into dark themes, such as addiction, hopelessness and loss, which are countered by the strength and quality and unexpected sweetness of forged friendships. The next book in the planned series is entitled The Thrice-Gifted Child and continues where The Shadows We Make leaves off, with the same cast of characters and a few more besides. The Shadows We Make is available now and The Thrice-Gifted Child in January 2023.