Ros Dando ✨A Gift of Wild available now!✨
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rosdando.bsky.social
Ros Dando ✨A Gift of Wild available now!✨
@rosdando.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.2K following 2.6K posts
Level 43 AuDHD chaos gremlin. Author, artist, teacher, and owned by three cats. 141 RAADS-R score. Ace and tired.

A GIFT OF WORDS and A GIFT OF WILD (middle grade contemporary fantasy) out now from D&O Publishing

Found in the wilds of Cumbria, UK
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rosdando.bsky.social
Day 3 of middle grade and YA indie book recs! The Heir of Swansgrove by KJ Pritchett.

"I read the first hundred pages of this story in a single sitting because I could not put it down."

Find it here: www.amazon.co.uk/Heir-Swansgr...
Heir of Swansgrove by KJ Pritchett
November 3, 2025 at 1:36 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Day 2! The Power of the Wouivre by Emma Hine.
"A fun time travelling romp of a read."
Find it here: www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Wouivr...
The Power of the Wouivre by Emma Hine
November 2, 2025 at 12:33 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Day 1! The Doppelganger by
@smiddleton-author.bsky.social
"Teenage love story with a twist."

Find it here: www.amazon.co.uk/Doppelganger...
The Doppelganger by Samantha Middleton
November 1, 2025 at 9:41 AM
rosdando.bsky.social
Art vs. Artist
Digital artwork of a young teenage girl with long, ginger hair dyed purple at the tips. She's wearing a black jumper and behind her is a snowy field and bare-branches of woodland. Tracks in the snow shift from paw-prints to footprints as they come closer. A photograph of a 42 year old woman wearing a pink cardigan and Firefly t-shirt, grinning at the camera whilst holding two books (A Gift of Words and A Gift of Wild). She has long, wavy dark hair and dark eyes, and no make up.
October 4, 2025 at 7:47 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Loki! (He's been my favourite for over thirty years, I couldn't not include him in my debut novel!)

(Here he is with my best ADHD girl, Alice. Gorgeous artwork by @bmwillows.bsky.social )
Digital artwork of a boy with golden curls carrying a girl with red hair, the tips dyed blue, through a snowy woodland.
October 4, 2025 at 5:19 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Ok, I'm gonna need readers with tweens and teens who are fully into the autumnal witchy vibes to get on board with my magical books set in October with ravens, a Norse god and found family vibes.

(Written by an anti-AI and gentle queer AuDHD author)

Available here: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
A Gift of Words by Rosalind Dando. Cover image shown against an autumn background. White text reads: BBNYA 2025 finalist! "Filled with magic and heart" "Four of my five children read this and loved it" "Fab blending of everyday life, magic, and Norse mythology."
October 4, 2025 at 1:56 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Behold the adorable cuteness of Alice and Loman, as drawn by @bmwillows.bsky.social - I absolutely love this piece! She has captured their energy and chaotic friendship brilliantly.

You can read how their story starts in A Gift of Words, and how it develops in A Gift of Wild (due on 25th August) 😁
A young boy and girl in the snowy woods. The girl is having a piggyback and they are both laughing. He has blond wavy hair and she has long ginger hair with blue tips.
August 8, 2025 at 3:00 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Book of my book babies in one pretty graphic! (A couple of wee tweaks to Wild before she's good to go, but I love seeing them like this 🧡)
Book covers for A Gift of Words and A Gift of Wild. Fuck all people see my posts on here these days, so if you really want these describing, let me know.
July 16, 2025 at 6:24 AM
rosdando.bsky.social
We are here! Check out the beautiful cover for the second book in the Gifts Trilogy - featuring Alice and one of my favourite ravens.

20 days to go until the preorders for the ebook go live, and 50 days until you can get your hands on a paperback for all your autumn reading needs.

*excited noises*
Image shows the full cover for A Gift of Wild. Dark blue background with runic symbols. Golden knotted frame surrounding a digital image of a young teen girl with long ginger hair, wearing a black jumper, smiling slightly at the viewer. Behind her is a snowy, wintry scene of woodlands. Above the frame is a raven, wings outstretched. The title, A GIFT OF WILD and the author's name, ROSALIND DANDO, are in capitals and a Norse-inspired golden font. Image shows a 3D mock-up for A Gift of Wild. Dark blue background with runic symbols. Golden knotted frame surrounding a digital image of a young teen girl with long ginger hair, wearing a black jumper, smiling slightly at the viewer. Behind her is a snowy, wintry scene of woodlands. Above the frame is a raven, wings outstretched. The title, A GIFT OF WILD and the author's name, ROSALIND DANDO, are in capitals and a Norse-inspired golden font. Text beneath reads: Preorders open 25th July! Image shows a 3D mock-up for A Gift of Wild. Dark blue background with runic symbols. Golden knotted frame surrounding a digital image of a young teen girl with long ginger hair, wearing a black jumper, smiling slightly at the viewer. Behind her is a snowy, wintry scene of woodlands. Above the frame is a raven, wings outstretched. The title, A GIFT OF WILD and the author's name, ROSALIND DANDO, are in capitals and a Norse-inspired golden font. The book is surrounded by features of the book: ADHD main character, More magic, more problems, Girl and boy besties, Shapeshifting FMC, More of the grumpy raven, Team Bad Decisions, Found family, and Bullies getting their comeuppance.
July 5, 2025 at 12:33 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Less than a week to go until the full cover reveal, and I am starting to get excited about this one. Look at all the awesome things in this book! Can't believe I get to shout about my best #ADHD girl, Alice :D #middlegrade
A partial cover reveal, with part of the titled 'ft of Wild', a black feathered bird wing, and a blue background with runes. A Gift of Wild trope map. ADHD main character bullies getting their comeuppance more magic, more problems girl and boy besties shapeshifting FMC more of the grumpy raven Team Bad Decisions found family
June 29, 2025 at 10:05 AM
rosdando.bsky.social
Woot! Cover reveal for book two in the Gifts Trilogy - dropping on the 5th July!

A Gift of Wild is an upper MG / lower YA contemporary fantasy novel with found family, grumpy ravens, neurodivergent representation, and a sprinkling of Norse mythology.
Cover reveal, July 5th 2025 Image shows a mostly-covered book image, with a sliver of a teenage girl with red hair, a section of gold border, and a dark blue background. Featuring: best friends, sibling bonds, extremely bad decisions, more of the grumpy raven, Loki being his best self, supportive family, ADHD rep, mental health rep, magic! Exciting dates! Cover reveal 5th July. Ebooks available to preorder 25th July. Publication date for ebook and paperback: 25th August. A Gift of Wild, book 2 in the Gifts Trilogy, is published by Shadow Spark Publishing.
June 26, 2025 at 11:37 AM
rosdando.bsky.social
Here we go again...
Image shows a crop of a Word doc screen, with the title 'A GIFT OF WEIRD' in Norse runic font. The cursor is just beneath.
June 1, 2025 at 6:08 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Suitable enough?
Trope map for A Gift of Words: Grumpy raven girl, Dinosuars (no, really!), MC has anxiety, Magical origami, Norse mythology, Supportive family, ADHD bestie.
May 27, 2025 at 5:06 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Announcement! I am open to applications for ARC readers and street team for book two (A GIFT OF WILD), an upper #middlegrade contemporary fantasy due to be published in August.

If you are interested and would also like an ebook copy of book one, let me know in the form. forms.gle/irWhtZshtEta...
ARC applications now open. Google forms link in description. Featuring: best friends sibling bonds extremely bad decisions more of the grumpy raven Loki being his best self supportive family neurodivergent rep mental health rep magic!
May 18, 2025 at 10:59 AM
rosdando.bsky.social
Okay, how frickin' cute are my favourite family from Midsummer Secrets?! I absolutely adore this artwork by @avisraveni.bsky.social and I am quite a bit in love with the dad, Owen. (He has the crappiest ex and is a total cinnamon roll darling)
Digital artwork of a dad with a young son and daughter
May 15, 2025 at 7:12 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Okay, so my little chibi Alice is too cute and I need to do more of these lil babies.
A chibi character of Alice being very excited next to A Gift of Words.
April 26, 2025 at 8:10 AM
rosdando.bsky.social
Interesting prompt on Threads made me go back and find previous artwork. Somewhat staggered by how much progress I've made at something I barely have enough time for, but it's reassuring to see the difference between these two images.
Two digital artwork images, side by side. A young man in grey scale, very anime vibes. A young girl with long red hair, arms folded, in full colour. Text reads: 2021 to 2025. (Only looking at digital art here; I've been drawing a lot longer than the last four years!)
April 16, 2025 at 9:44 AM
rosdando.bsky.social
A slightly belated one from yesterday's #WIPSnips - this time, from A Gift of Wild (which comes out in August this year from @shadowsparkpub.bsky.social). Can't wait to introduce everyone to Alice's brother, Theo... and his monumentally bad decision-making skills.
Theo isn’t someone who gets frightened by anything or anyone. He’s a fighter, a protector, someone who’ll step between you and the monsters and keep them from hurting you. He’s one of the bravest people Alice has ever known, and he’s terrified. It’s there in his eyes, the fear and panic, although he’s attempting to mask it. But she knows him too well.
April 16, 2025 at 9:04 AM
rosdando.bsky.social
This afternoon has been spent posting about my first book and editing the second, and it's been delightful to spend a whole afternoon in the company of my chaos kids and encouraging other folks to read about them.

Link here: books2read.com/u/bp1lMq

And here is some nonAI artwork I drew of them:
Digital artwork of five pre-teens, drawn in a cartoony style.
April 15, 2025 at 4:35 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
Not all kids have the easiest time at school, and Avery's definitely had her own struggles. But it's still a place she enjoyed on balance, and she's had to leave it all behind for an unknown length of time. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #YA
It hadn’t always been the easiest of things, going to school. There had been a few teachers she really got on with really well, and friends she argued with as much as had fun with. There had certainly been times, when she was at primary school and Milo was in infants, when she’d had screaming disagreements with adults and other children. Sometimes those were even about Milo, about how weird and different he was. Avery hated those arguments, in part because she knew, deep down, she was weird and different as well, and had simply learned to bury some of those parts deep enough inside her where nobody outside of family could see them or know about them. But she enjoyed learning, and she liked spending time with the people she got along with. The idea of saying goodbye to all of that was a miserable one.
April 11, 2025 at 4:16 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...
One of my online writing group did a thing! If upper YA paranormal romance is up your alley, then please check out The Doppelganger. I've already done a couple of pieces of artwork for this one, and it's super exciting to see it so close to release.
Digital artwork of a young white man with black, wavy hair, wearing a leather jacket and grey t-shirt with a ring on a chain around his neck. Digital artwork of a young white woman with wavy red hair, wearing a long, knitted green jumper. She's carrying a sketchbook of papers, and has a gold locket on a chain. Trope map for The Doppelganger by Samantha Middleton.
April 11, 2025 at 1:47 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
When we first meet Goblin in Midsummer Secrets. He is half my beloved and much-missed Ash and part my bestie's gone-too-early Siamese, and entirely his own self.

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #YAFantasy #YAWriter
Goblin was not his intended name. Avery couldn’t remember what they’d planned on calling him, but the moment Dad laid eyes on the tiny kitten with huge ears in the animal shelter, he’d laughed and said it wasn’t a cat, but definitely a goblin. And the name had stuck. Even now, fully grown into his ears, and a striking black smoke colour which shifted from pale grey to deep charcoal, he was and forever would be the goblin kitty. A long-haired black smoke cat. This is what Goblin looks like, in my head.
April 6, 2025 at 5:57 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
As someone who once had difficulty telling the difference between reality and what my brain decided was more interesting, Avery is extremely me-coded in this book. She's one of the reasons it's so close to my heart.

#WIPSnips #WriteSky
“You sound so sure, little one. The memory plays such tricks, especially on one who finds it hard to distinguish between fantasy and reality.” Mirai’s voice was calm, patient, like a river eroding its path through rocks. If it took her an hour or a year to break Avery’s will, it wouldn’t matter to the faerie either way.
April 1, 2025 at 4:19 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
I have so many! In the book I'm currently editing, I have Avery (AuDHD), her younger brother Milo (ASD), and their dad, Owen (AuDHD). They are the best family I've written, and I love all three of them.
And in the Gifts trilogy, Alice is my ADHD girl, and Cam is high anxiety.
Picrew images of the six main characters in Midsummer Secrets. digital artwork of a young girl with ginger hair, the ends coloured blue and purple. Her arms are folded and she's wearing a long-sleeved black jumper. Digital artwork of a young boy with dark curly hair, wearing a red hoodie. He's carrying a green book in one arm.
March 24, 2025 at 5:53 PM
rosdando.bsky.social
I finished artwork of my ADHD best girl, Alice, from A Gift of Wild (book two in the Gifts trilogy from @shadowsparkpub.bsky.social). Really happy with this one!

#digitalart #originalcharacters #ocdesign
Digital art of a pre-teen girl with long ginger hair, the ends coloured blues and purples. She's wearing a black jumper, her arms folded, and staring at the viewer with greenish hazel eyes and a knowing smile. The background is pale greyish purple in tones.
March 23, 2025 at 6:40 PM