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Orna Ross
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Orna Ross

Goodreads Author


Born
in Waterford, Ireland
Website

Twitter
ornaross

Genre
Historical Fiction, Poetry

Influences
W.B. Yeats, Charlotte Emily Bronte, Winston Graham, Susan Howatch, Bar ...more

Member Since
December 2008

URL


Orna Ross is an award-winning historical novelist, poet, and founder-director of the global non-profit for self-publishing writers, the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).

An international bestseller, she enjoys book sales in 120+ countries worldwide and her awards include the Goethe Historical Fiction Grand Prize Award for fiction, Gold Literary Titan award for poetry, the Romantic Novelists Association's Indie Champion Award, The Writers' Digest's Top Websites for Writers, and The Bookseller's Top 100 people in publishing.

In what she describes as “the best move of my writing life”, Orna took her book rights back from her publishers in 2011. The experience has made her a passionate advocate for the commercial and creative empowerment of ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
Orna Ross Write, write, write; read, read, read.
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How do you deal with writer’s block?
Orna Ross Inspiration meditation, F-R-E-E-Writing and expressive exercise mean I'm never blocked. My challenge is keeping up with the flow of ideas and knowing …moreInspiration meditation, F-R-E-E-Writing and expressive exercise mean I'm never blocked. My challenge is keeping up with the flow of ideas and knowing which one to select. (less)
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 3.91 · 998 ratings · 189 reviews · 57 distinct works • Similar authors
After the Rising (An Irish ...
3.79 avg rating — 346 ratings — published 2006 — 13 editions
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Blue Mercy
3.65 avg rating — 219 ratings — published 2012 — 7 editions
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Before the Fall (Irish Tril...
3.97 avg rating — 155 ratings — published 2012 — 11 editions
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After The Rising & Before T...
4.29 avg rating — 42 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions
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Her Secret Rose: A Literary...
3.69 avg rating — 32 ratings
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A Dance in Time
3.69 avg rating — 29 ratings — published 2008 — 3 editions
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Allowing Now: A Book of Min...
4.92 avg rating — 13 ratings — 5 editions
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Secret Rose
4.43 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions
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Poetry For Christmas & Othe...
4.07 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2012 — 5 editions
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Selective Rights Licensing:...
4.69 avg rating — 13 ratings — 3 editions
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More books by Orna Ross…

1748 posts
Orna Ross's Blog: Historical Fiction, Inspirational Poetry

Short Story: Amber Scorched with Honey (Maud Gonne finds Lucien Millevoye is Married)

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Orna is Currently Reading

The Testament of ...
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Mar 03, 2026 01:03PM
Small Boat
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Feb 28, 2026 06:20AM
Butter
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Feb 28, 2026 06:17AM

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Orna’s Recent Updates

Orna Ross is currently reading
The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín
The Testament of Mary
by Colm Tóibín
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Mar 03, 2026 01:03PM  · 
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Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix
Small Boat
by Vincent Delecroix
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Feb 28, 2026 06:20AM  ·   ·  preview book
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Butter by Asako Yuzuki
Butter
by Asako Yuzuki
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Feb 28, 2026 06:17AM  ·   ·  preview book
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The Book of Alice by Diamond Forde
The Book of Alice: Poems
by Diamond Forde
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Feb 02, 2026 08:16PM  ·   ·  preview book
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Bloody Awful in Different Ways by Andrev Walden
Bloody Awful in Different Ways
by Andrev Walden
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Feb 02, 2026 01:45PM  ·   ·  preview book
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Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Midnight's Children
by Salman Rushdie
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Jan 13, 2026 05:19AM  ·   ·  preview book
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Bloody Awful in Different Ways by Andrev Walden
Bloody Awful in Different Ways
by Andrev Walden
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Jan 10, 2026 02:20PM  ·   ·  preview book
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The Names by Florence Knapp
The Names
by Florence Knapp
Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee in Readers' Favorite Fiction, Readers' Favorite Debut Novel
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Birdie by Nuala O'Connor
Birdie
by Nuala O'Connor
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Dec 19, 2025 07:43AM  · 1 like ·   ·  preview book
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Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Klara and the Sun
by Kazuo Ishiguro (Goodreads Author)
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Dec 01, 2025 09:58AM  ·   ·  preview book
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Quotes by Orna Ross  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“It's good to have an end in mind but in the end what counts is how you travel.”
― Orna Ross, Beyond The Law of Attraction: A Creativist Compendium
tags: life-and-living, mindfulness
24 likes
Like

“You can have anything you want so long as you realise that you can't have everything you want.”
― Orna Ross, Beyond The Law of Attraction: A Creativist Compendium
tags: creativity, inspirational-success-failure
20 likes
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“If you can't change your mind, you can't change anything.”
― Orna Ross, After The Rising
tags: living-well, mind
14 likes
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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
2026 Reading Chal...: ~*Lindsay's Reading Challenges*~ 6 27 Feb 20, 2013 09:39AM  
Crazy Challenge C...: Winter Seasonal Spell Challenge 2012/13 182 168 Sep 20, 2013 03:14PM  
2026 Reading Chal...: The Favorites Yearly Challenge 108 405 Dec 28, 2013 12:11PM  
Crazy Challenge C...: A-Z Author 2013 251 204 Jan 06, 2014 07:26PM  
ALLi Goodreads Group: * Meet the Authors & Giveaway: Nov 15th 801 425 Nov 27, 2014 08:41AM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Fall Challenge 2015: Completed Tasks (DO NOT DELETE POSTS) 3254 605 Nov 30, 2015 09:01PM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Completed Tasks: PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ANY POST IN THIS THREAD 2555 478 Nov 30, 2016 09:00PM  
Crazy Challenge C...: Disney Movie Challenge 587 430 Jun 03, 2021 03:59AM  

Orna’s Quotes

“You can have anything you want so long as you realise that you can't have everything you want.”
― Orna Ross, Beyond The Law of Attraction: A Creativist Compendium
tags: creativity, inspirational-success-failure
20 likes
Like

“It's good to have an end in mind but in the end what counts is how you travel.”
― Orna Ross, Beyond The Law of Attraction: A Creativist Compendium
tags: life-and-living, mindfulness
24 likes
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“Imagination is not an icing on the cake of life but the oven in which it is baked.”
― Orna Ross
tags: creativity, imagination
14 likes
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“If you can't change your mind, you can't change anything.”
― Orna Ross, After The Rising
tags: living-well, mind
14 likes
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“It takes a great reader to make a great book. (Creative Self-Publishing)”
― Orna Ross
tags: books, creative-reading, reading
3 likes
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Orna’s Groups

148718 ALLi Goodreads Group — 164 members — last activity Apr 28, 2015 07:44PM
ALLi Goodreads Event
73787 The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) — 854 members — last activity Jan 30, 2026 11:52AM
This group is moderated by Jessica Bell, publisher of Vine Leaves Press. Jessica is also a widely published indie author and a Goodreads Librarian. Sh ...more
220 Goodreads Librarians Group — 317369 members — last activity 1 minute ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
83438 indieBRAG — 445 members — last activity May 02, 2021 01:54PM
BRAG is owned and operated by indieBRAG, LLC, a privately held organization that has brought together a large group of readers, both individuals and m ...more
49702 Goodreads Ireland — 2126 members — last activity Mar 17, 2026 06:15AM
Welcome to Goodreads Ireland, a bookgroup for people from, or just interested in Ireland and Irish literature. Please introduce yourself in the Introd ...more
85538 Oprah's Book Club (Official) — 86044 members — last activity 19 hours, 48 min ago
Welcome to the official Oprah's Book Club group. OBC is the interactive, multi-platform reading club bringing passionate readers together to discuss i ...more
59543 21st Century Literature — 3581 members — last activity 8 hours, 44 min ago
We read literary fiction from 2000 to present, with the intent of finding those literary gems of timeless and enduring quality. We're less focused o ...more
187001 Newest Literary Fiction — 1303 members — last activity 20 minutes ago
Discover and share your discovery of the most recently published literary fiction. If you love reading novels before anyone else decides they are good ...more
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Orna’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-4)    post a comment »
dateDown arrow    newest »

message 4: by Susan
Nov 15, 2014 06:28AM

Susan Thank you for the invite! Can't wait to read your book, Blue Mercy!


message 3: by Christine
Jun 25, 2012 05:22AM

Christine Hatfield thanks for being my friend


message 2: by Orna
Jan 12, 2012 12:06AM

Orna Ross Shelley wrote: "Dear Orna,
My thanks for following on Goodreads. I can't wait to read your books. My favorite authors are Shakespeare, Sophocles,Homer,Joyce,Dante and last but not least Milton. I did enjoy readin..."

How nice to meet you here and what a wonderful list of authors. I'm a lover of Portugal and great admirer of Saramago.

I hope you enoy reading and look forward to your feedback.


message 1: by Shelley
Jan 11, 2012 10:55AM

Shelley Jerige Dear Orna,
My thanks for following on Goodreads. I can't wait to read your books. My favorite authors are Shakespeare, Sophocles,Homer,Joyce,Dante and last but not least Milton. I did enjoy reading Junot Diaz's The Brief and Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao, and Jose Saramago's Blindness. Shelley@whirlz on Twitter.


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