Orna Ross

Orna Ross is the pen name of Aine McCarthy,[1] born 1960. She is an Irish author,[2] former literary agent, blogger and an advocate for creativism.[3][4] She is the founder of the Alliance for Independent Authors,[5][6] a professional association for authors who self-publish their work, and has been named one of the top 100 most influential people in publishing by The Bookseller, the UK publishing trade magazine.[7][8]

Orna Ross
BornAine McCarthy
Waterford, Ireland
OccupationAuthor
NationalityIrish
Alma materUniversity College Dublin
Website
www.ornaross.com

Early life

Ross was born in Waterford, Ireland and was raised in Murrintown, County Wexford. She attended Murrintown National School and the Loreto Convent Wexford. She completed two degrees at the University College Dublin, including a Bachelor's degree in English Literature and a Master’s Degree in Women’s Studies. She also worked for some years as a lecturer in culture and creativity studies at UCD, teaching a groundbreaking Creative & Imaginative Practice course that forms the basis of her Go Creative! book series.

She is related to author and historian Nicholas Furlong as well as director of Tandem Press Paula Panczenko.[9]

Career

Writing career

Ross published her first two books, A Lover's Hollow[10] and A Dance in Time, with Penguin Books.[11] In 2012 she self-published the first two books in a forthcoming trilogy, The Irish Trilogy I: After the Rising and The Irish Trilogy II: Before the Fall, She has since gone on to self-publish her next two works of fiction, Blue Mercy[11][12] and The Secret Rose, a tribute to W.B. Yeats.[13][14][15]

In 2015, Ross contributed a volume to Outside the Box: Women Writing Women.[16] She collaborated on the box set of novels with six other female writers.[17] Ross' works of fiction are often set in her home country of Ireland, family drama sagas that have been lauded by the Sunday Independent, Irish Times, RTÉ Guide and many other review outlets .[18][19][20]

Alliance of Independent Authors

Ross believes strongly in the benefits of self-publishing[21] for authors both established and just starting out in their careers.[22] In 2012, she launched the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), a not for profit organization that aims to protect the rights of writers and promote self-published books.[23][24]

In her capacity as the head of ALLi she has advised the BBC on publishing costs for an independent author.[25] In 2014, she was referred to by The Guardian as an "indie star" of the writing world, and featured on the Guardian Books Podcast.[26]

Works and appearances

Fiction
  • Lovers’ Hollow, Penguin, 2005[27]
  • A Dance in Time, Penguin, 2008[28]
  • After the Rising,Orna Ross, 2012[29]
  • Before the Fall, Orna Ross, 2012[30]
  • Blue Mercy, Orna Ross, 2013[11]
  • Outside the Box: Women Writing Women, Orna Ross and Joni Rodgers, 2015[31]

Poetry
  • Ten Thoughts About Love, Orna Ross, 2011[32]
  • Ten More Thoughts About Love, Orna Ross, 2013[33]
  • Ten More Thoughts About Love 2, Orna Ross, 2013[34]
  • Poetry for Christmas: Twelve Inspirational Poems for the Holiday Season, Orna Ross, 2013[35][36]

Non-fiction
  • F-R-E-E Writing Notebook: A Go! Creative Tool. OrnaRoss, 2013[37]
  • Opening Up To Indie Authors: A Guide for Bookstores, Libraries, Reviewers, Literary Event Organisers ... and Self-Publishing Writers, Alliance for Independent Authors, 2013 (with Dan Holloway and Debbie Young)
  • Choosing A Self Publishing Service 2014: The Alliance of Independent Authors Guide. Alliance for Independent Authors, 2014 (with Mick Rooney and GiacomoGiammatteo)[38]
  • A Compendium For Creativists: How To Apply Creative Principles to Life: An Anthology, Orna Ross, 2015

Podcast appearances
  • Guardian Books Podcast (9 May 2014): Indie stars Hugh Howey, Orna Ross and Catherine Quinn explore how self-publishing is changing the literary landscape (Podcast)[26]
  • T E Shepherd (2014): (Orna Ross talks about self-publishing on BBC R4 PM. BBC Radio 4 (Podcast)[39]
  • Creative Penn by Joanna Penn (2014): Creating Money, Creating Meaning. Getting Into Financial Flow With Orna Ross[40]

Personal life

McCarthy has been married for over thirty years, and has two children named Ornagh and Ross (whose names she combines to use as her pen name). She currently lives and writes in London. In 2008, she revealed her breast cancer diagnosis.[41]

References
  1. "About Orna Ross".
  2. "Orna Ross". The London Book Fair. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  3. "Spotlight On: Orna Ross- Exploring Creative Intelligence and Writing". Creativity Portal. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  4. "The Seven Stages of The Creative Process (Writing a Book) Part Three". Writers’ Hub. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  5. "The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi)". Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  6. "Orna Ross- Biography". Frankfurter Buchmesse. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  7. "The Bookseller 100". Bookseller.com. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  8. "Orna Ross". Battale of Ideas. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  9. Pepper, Maria (15 February 2020). "Nicky's comic novel goes global in time for Valentine's Day". New Ross Standard. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  10. "Lovers' Hollow by Orna Ross". Penguin Books Ltd. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  11. Blue Mercy by Orna Ross (Kindle ed.). Font Publications. 31 July 2012. ISBN 978-0-9573-4121-0. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  12. Richards, Heidi (8 January 2014). "Worth Reading: Orna Ross's Blue Mercy". WE Magazine. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  13. "Secret Rose by Orna Ross". Pubslush. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  14. "Leading author Orna Ross announces crowdfunded publication for #Yeats2015". Yeats2015. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  15. "Event To Celebrate WB Yeats's Poetry in Aid of Creative Cricklewood and Friends of Cricklewood Library". Creative Cricklewood. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  16. "Outside the Box: Women Writing Women". WomenWritingWomen. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  17. Flood, Alison (6 March 2015). "Self-publishing lets women break book industry's glass ceiling, survey finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  18. After The Rising & Before The Fall: Two-Books-In-One. Font Publications. 31 May 2014. ISBN 978-1-9098-8819-7. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  19. Flood, Alison (8 August 2014). "Bestselling authors take out full-page New York Times ad against Amazon". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  20. "Orna Ross in Amazon". Amazon. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  21. "UK Publishing Crowd Gathers in London to Discuss Self-Publishing". Publishing Perspectives. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  22. Tagholm, Roger (29 September 2014). "The Future of Self-Publishing: a Conversation with Orna Ross". Lateral Action. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  23. "Self-published author society prepares to launch". Bookseller.com. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  24. Monaghan, Gabrielle (11 February 2012). "Author unites DIY writers against 'publishing sharks'". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  25. Peachey, Kevin (11 July 2014). "The costs and benefits of publishing your own books". BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  26. "Self-publishing revolution – books podcast". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  27. Lover's Hollow by Orna Ross. Penguin Ireland. 1 January 2005. ISBN 978-1-8448-8052-2. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  28. A Dance in Time by Orna Ross. Penguin Books. 1 January 2008. ISBN 978-1-8448-8054-6. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  29. After The Rising: A Novel (An Irish Trilogy Book 1) by Orna Ross. Font Publications. 30 September 2012. ISBN 978-0-9548-7564-0. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  30. Before the Fall: A Novel (An Irish Trilogy Book 2) by Orna Ross. Font Publications. 21 December 2012. ISBN 978-0-9548-7566-4. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  31. Outside the Box: Women Writing Women [NOOK Book] by Jessica Bell, Orna Ross, Joni Rodgers, Roz Morris, Kathleen Jones. Women Writing Women. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  32. Ten Thoughts About Love by Orna Ross. Font Publications. 15 November 2011. ISBN 978-0-9548-7568-8.
  33. Ten Thoughts About Love (Poetry Pamphlet Series No. I) [NOOK Book] by Orna Ross. Font Publications. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  34. Ten More Thoughts About Love (Poetry Pamphlet Series No. II) [NOOK Book] by Orna Ross. Font Publications. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  35. Poetry For Christmas: Twelve Inspirational Poems for the Holiday Season [NOOK Book] by Orna Ross. Font Publications. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  36. The Artist Unleashed: POETRY FOR CHRISTMAS, by Orna Ross. Font Publications. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  37. F-R-E-E-Writing Notebook: A Go Creative! Tool (Volume 4) Paperback by Orna Ross. Font Publications. 13 October 2013. ISBN 978-1-9098-8800-5.
  38. Choosing A Self Publishing Service 2014: The Alliance of Independent Authors Guide [Kindle Edition] by Mick Rooney (Author), Giacomo Giammatteo (Author), Orna Ross (Editor). Font Publications. ASIN B00CC0NYCM.
  39. Shepherd, Thomas. "Orna Ross talks about self-publishing on BBC R4 PM". SoundCloud. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  40. Penn, Joanna (15 September 2014). "Creating Money, Creating Meaning. Getting Into Financial Flow With Orna Ross". Creative Penn. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  41. "'I'm almost 50, I have cancer... and my time is limited - Independent.ie".
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