Hello dear readers,
I’m Orna Ross, Irish indie novelist, poet, founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors and all round creative catalyst. And this is Embers & Ink, my blog and newsletter where I serialise my fiction, record my poetry and creative reminders, and offer exclusives to readers (Reader Club) and other self-publishing authors (Indie Author Lab). Sharing my writing and books here on Substack is creative fuel for me and I hope it helps you also to find your fire and make your mark.
About Me
[For official bios see my website media page here]
I was born and raised in the south-east of Ireland, in a loving home complicated by alcoholism, and the patriarchal theocracy of a country that Ireland was back then. I survived it all—including a Catholic convent boarding-school education—by taking refuge in books.
In time, I dreamed of becoming a writer and decades on—all thanks to you, dear Substack Subscribers—here I am: living the dream. I now live in St Leonards on Sea, a creative hotspot in the south-east of England, with The Hub, my husband of almost 40 years (so far, so fair!).
I’m the proud mother of a grown-up daughter and son, who live close by; proud founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors; and proud author-publisher of my own books since 2011. They include novels (I’m serialising my next one here), poetry books, and Go Creative! guides for people who want to apply the creative process to everything in life. We call ourselves creativists.
This Substack has lots of different dimensions but that’s what unites the fiction, the poetry and the essays: conscious creativity. The messy, challenging, beautiful act of showing up as a consciously creative human in our messy, challenging, beautiful world.
About ‘Embers & Ink’
I’m a multi-genre, multi-format author. I write epic, cross-generational historical novels and short episodic fiction; book length poems and pared back haiku; long reflections and short notes—and everything in between. I love connecting with readers online and with other authors.
Chances are, you’re not going to be equally interested in everything and that’s expected. One of the things I love about running my newsletter on Substack is that it’s easy to pick and mix: you can follow my novel-in-the-making or join me live and ask me anything; enjoy a poem or tune into the Go Creative! podcast; post publicly in the comments or have a private chat down the back of the room; be vocal or lurk. Your call. Pick, mix and skip as you will.
Here’s a rundown of the different offerings:
FREE
- Go Creative!
We live in a conventional world and we all need reminders to go creative. I share my reminders-to-self on the Go Creative! podcast each week, and write essays and books about creativism.
- Serialised fiction
I’m publishing my next novel in instalments here on Substack, with an episode or two delivered each week. For readers who like historical fiction, slow reads, Irish settings and being able to feed back on what’s working for you, and not, and perhaps even provoke a plot twist. If you fancy being close to a work as it’s being made, you’ll love this.
- Poetry Picks
Reading of a poem from me and one from another Substack poet on similar theme. If you’re willing to be moved by a few well-placed words, this section’s for you.
PAID
- Reader Club
This is where everything deepens. Paid subscribers get my rawest work — exclusive stories, poems and lift-the-lid essays found nowhere else — plus early access to each new book, with discounts and subscriber specials (see below). It's also where we gather: a monthly live salon, new-moon and full-moon planning sessions, and a member-only chatroom for asking anything, sharing a win or just warming your hands at the fire.
- Indie Author Lab
Indie Author Lab is an archive and year-round workshop, based on the book I wrote for the Alliance, Creative Self-Publishing, my Go Creative! Planners for Authors, and video content harvested at premier author-publishing events around the globe: London Book Fair (UK) and Author Nation (USA).
Indie authors aren't just writers, we're publishers too—which brings conflicting creative challenges that can be hard to integrate. This is where Indie Author Lab comes in. The Lab isn’t a one-off event and it isn’t a conference. It’s an ongoing space for reflection, focus, and forward motion, designed around your challenges, refreshed by the best thinking from the global indie author calendar, and led by me here on Substack.
Though it does offer the latest thinking, the Lab is not so much about advice (Alliance Independent Authors, the global non-profit for self-publishers that I founded back in 2012, already offers all the trusted information you need) as about what happens next: which advice to make your own, what to build on, what to let go and how to publish from the same creative energy that you bring to writing—and, if you’re a creativist, to everything.
In the Indie Author Lab, we work together to create the writing and publishing life we actually want.
- Chat: Creative community
All reader club members and Indie Author Lab members get access to my chatroom. Some people are chatty. Others lurk. All are welcome.
- Extras, early releases, and member offers
All paid subscribers also receive book exclusives, early releases, offers and discounts, together with first notice of events and launches.
All my thanks to you for being here in whatever way is right for you,
