All the Buzz

Orna Ross is my writing name (real name Áine McCarthy, which my publishers thought too difficult for non-Irish readers to pronounce). I’m married to Philip and have two children, Ornagh and Ross, who allowed me to borrow their names for my pseudonym.

I was born in Ireland in Co Waterford and moved to Murrintown, a small village in Co Wexford at the age of four. Primary school was a two-roomed building down the road and secondary was a convent boarding school. I left Wexford for college in Dublin at the age of 17 and I have lived in Dublin, London and in the North of England.

I spent my early twenties doing a variety of jobs, from waitressing to managing a gym to secondary school teaching before becoming a freelance features journalist, working for most of the major newspapers and magazines in Dublin and London. My real goal, though, was to write fiction and as my 40^th birthday loomed, I realized if I was going to write a novel, it was time I settled to it.

I thought it would take me about two years to write but I underestimated the challenges of writing fiction with two small children at home -- and also didn’t realize when I set out that I was going to write what was effectively three stories in one. It was a full five years before the 668-pages of Lovers’ Hollow were completed.

Then began the almost equally drawn-out task of finding the right publisher. After a London literary agent held onto the manuscript for a couple years while failing to win interest, I reluctantly took the task upon myself. I was soon fascinated by the business of publishing and interested in the struggles of other writers to write and publish well. From that interest I founded Font Literary Agency & Writing Centre.

In a short life I'm only going to produce so many books. I get as much kick from supporting other writers along their creative and publishing pathways as I do from nudging myself along my own.

Lovers’ Hollow was published by Penguin as part of a two-book deal. It managed to reach No 2 in the Irish bestseller lists and to keep the reviewers happy too. The second book, A Dance in Time, is due in September next and I’m at work on a third.

My interests include reading (of course), movies, jogging, yoga, dance and I’m getting into blogging and photography. And travel. Now that the kids are older, I am free to up and off again more often. I am currently investigating the possibility of buying a bolthole abroad. Where? Anywhere from Portugal to the US – but it’s got to be sunny. I love Ireland but I do not love its climate and intend to spend some of every winter abroad from now on.