About Me
I worked for 20 years in writing and publishing in Dublin, as journalist, editor, novelist, creative writing lecturer and literary agent.
In 2009, I moved to London to write fulltime. And, like Proust said about Venice, when I came here: “I discovered that my dream had become..quite simply, my address”. (Though the dream does includes a sojourn to the sunnier climes of California each winter.)
I used to be published by Penguin but am now an indie author of fiction, film scripts, poetry and nonfiction writing about creative intelligence.
Born: Aine McCarthy, in Waterford, Ireland (see below).
Nationality: Irish (Rover).
Raised: Murrintown, Co. Wexford in nuclear Irish Catholic family. Eldest of five, three brothers and a sister.
Hometown: Luvverly London.
Education: Murrintown National School. Loreto Convent Wexford. University College Dublin (BA English Lit, MA Women’s Studies).
Religious Views: Wide ‘n’ Deep.
Marital Status: Till Death Do Us Part.
Children: Two twenty-somethings, Ornagh and Ross (Yes, they lent me their names).
Pseudonym: Outside Ireland, people find my real name, Áine, difficult to pronounce (it’s “awn-ya”, folks, not “ay-neh”) and my publisher at the time thought it a good idea — but there’s a bit more to it than that. Every writer is engaged in a creative double-act, between the writing and the life. (Here’s a poem about that!). For me, having a pseudonym keeps those two separate in a way that I find helpful.
Where did the name come from? One day I was calling my two children – ‘Ornagh! Ross! Dinner’s ready!’ – and felt the perfect name had delivered itself to me. I asked them if they’d mind, they said fire ahead and Orna (anglicised version) Ross was born.
Politics: Yes we can! Can’t We?
Day jobs Past: Schoolteacher, waitress, aerobics instructor, journalist, university lecturer, writing mentor, literary agent.
Diet: Vegetarian since 1995, when I visited an abattoir. And almost vegan since a breast cancer diagnosis brought Jane Plant’s work on the links between hormone-saturated dairy and cancer to my attention.
Interests: Reading. Walking & jogging. Yoga & gym. Tennis. Movies. Music. Travel. Meditation. Philosophies, East and West. Human Potential. Beaches. Wild swimming. History. Web surfing. Theatre.
Not so keen on: Spectator sport.
Inspirations: History: I agree with Mr Hartley that the past is, indeed, another country and it’s my favourite place to travel. I’m especially drawn to bohemian times and places where shackles are thrown off and creativity flourishes — fin de siecle Paris (1890s); literary revival and revolutionary Ireland (1910s); hippy (1960s) and gay lib (1980s) San Francisco. Gender and Sexual Politics: We are all seeded by man and born of woman and we all carry ‘male’ and ‘female’ characteristics within. How these play out, in an individual life and in different societies, is endlessly fascinating to me. Ireland: You can take the girl out of, but… The sea: Everything I ever really needed to know I learned by watching the waves.
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