Orna Ross

Last updated

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

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]

Contents

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.[ citation needed ]

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

Poetry

Non-fiction

Podcast appearances

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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkley Books</span> Publishing imprint of Penguin Group (USA)

Berkley Books is now an imprint of the Penguin Group.

Gabrielle Carey was an Australian writer who co-wrote the teen novel, Puberty Blues with Kathy Lette. This novel was the first teenage novel published in Australia that was written by teenagers. Carey became a senior lecturer in the Creative Writing program at the University of Technology Sydney, studying James Joyce and Randolph Stow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuala Ní Chonchúir</span> Irish writer and poet (born 1970)

Nuala Ní Chonchúir is an Irish writer and poet.

Manju Jaidka is an Indian author, known for her contribution to American Studies in India. she contributed critical works that are widely acknowledged as standard references. she was chairperson and professor at Panjab University, in Chandigarh, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernardine Evaristo</span> British author and academic (born 1959)

Bernardine Anne Mobolaji Evaristo is a British author and academic. Her novel Girl, Woman, Other jointly won the Booker Prize in 2019 alongside Margaret Atwood's The Testaments, making her the first Black woman to win the Booker. Evaristo is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London and President of the Royal Society of Literature, the second woman and the first black person to hold the role since it was founded in 1820.

Floyd Skloot is an American poet, novelist, and memoirist. Some of his work concerns his experience with neurological damage caused by a virus contracted in 1988.

<i>Ross OCarroll-Kellys Guide to (South) Dublin</i> Book by Paul Howard

Ross O'Carroll-Kelly's Guide to (South) Dublin: How To Get By On, Like, €10,000 A Day is a 2008 faux-travel guide by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, as part of the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series. It takes the form of a tourist guide to South Dublin, written by Ross and his friends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gail Sidonie Sobat</span> Canadian writer and international presenter (born 1961)

Gail Sidonie Sobat is a Canadian writer, educator, singer and performer. She is the founder and coordinator of YouthWrite, a writing camp for children, a non-profit and charitable society. Her poetry and fiction, for adults and young adults, are known for her controversial themes. For 2015, Sobat was one of two writers in residence with the Metro Edmonton Federation of Libraries. She is also the founder of the Spoken Word Youth Choir in Edmonton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leone Ross</span> British writer (born 1969)

Leone Ross FRSL is a British novelist, short story writer, editor, journalist and academic, who is of Jamaican and Scottish ancestry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoshanna Evers</span>

Shoshanna Evers / Shoshanna Gabriel is an American author of contemporary and erotic romance novels and novellas, and the editor and publisher of non-fiction books on writing and publishing. She is the co-founder of SelfPubBookCovers.com, the first website where authors could customize original pre-made book covers and instantly download them. Shoshanna Evers was also listed as one of the “Most Popular Authors in Erotica” on Amazon.com in 2013, and one of the "Most Popular Authors in Contemporary Romance," and "Most Popular Authors in Romance" on Amazon.com in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Rubery Book Award</span>

The Rubery International Book Award is the largest cash award for books published by independent publishers and self published authors in Great Britain. The London Review of Books described it as "independent publishing's response to the Booktrust and the Orange Prize. The Alliance of Independent Authors describes the award as: 'holders of the respected Rubery Award [...] should be considered to have a quality endorsement.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Abbott</span> British author

Rachel Abbott is an English author of psychological thrillers. A self-publisher, her first seven novels have combined to sell over three million copies, and have all been bestsellers on Amazon's Kindle store. In 2015, she was named the 14th bestselling author over the last five years on Amazon's Kindle in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beatriz Copello</span> Australian writer and psychologist

Beatriz Copello is an Australian writer, poet, playwright and psychologist. Her fiction and poetry has been published in Australia and overseas, in literary journals such as Southerly and Australian Women's Book Review, and in several anthologies and feminist publications. Her poems have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Polish and Chinese. She is the recipient of several prizes, including a first prize at the 2000 Sydney Writers' Festival. Her book of lesbian poetry Women Souls and Shadows is her best-known work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eithne Strong</span> Irish writer

Eithne Strong was a bilingual Irish poet and writer who wrote in both Irish and English. Her first poems in Irish were published in Combhar and An Glor 1943–44 under the name Eithne Ni Chonaill. She was a founder member of the Runa Press whose early Chapbooks featured artwork by among others Jack B. Yeats, Sean Keating, Sean O'Sullivan, Harry Kernoff among others. The press was noted for the publication in 1943 of Marrowbone Lane by Robert Collis which depicts the fierce fighting that took place during the Easter Rising of 1916.

Yewande Omotoso is a South African-based novelist, architect and designer, who was born in Barbados and grew up in Nigeria. She currently lives in Johannesburg. Her two published novels have earned her considerable attention, including winning the South African Literary Award for First-Time Published Author, being shortlisted for the South African Sunday Times Fiction Prize, the M-Net Literary Awards 2012, and the 2013 Etisalat Prize for Literature, and being longlisted for the 2017 Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction. She is the daughter of Nigerian writer Kole Omotoso, and the sister of filmmaker Akin Omotoso.

Debbie Young is a British writer of cozy mystery novels, UK ambassador for ALLi the, and founder in 2015 of the now annual Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival. Her debut novel, Best Murder in Show, was published in 2017 as the first part in a series of seven novels that spans the course of a village year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance of Independent Authors</span> Non-Profit Organisation of Independent Authors of United Kingdom

The Alliance of Independent Authors is a non-profit organisation of independent authors. The organisation was founded at the London Book Fair in 2012, by Orna Ross and Philip Lynch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Sedgwick</span>

Helen Sedgwick is an author of literary fiction, science fiction and crime, a literary editor, and a research physicist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SuAndi</span> British poet, writer, curator

Susan Maria Andi, better known as SuAndi, is a British performance poet, writer and arts curator. Based in North West England, she is particularly acknowledged for raising the profile of black artists in the region as well as nationally. Since 1985 she has been Cultural Director of the National Black Arts Alliance. She was appointed an OBE in 1999 for her contributions to the Black Arts sector.

Beda Higgins is a poet and writer living in Newcastle upon Tyne.

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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 "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".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.