Cassandra O'Leary

When people ask me why I don't like "AI" I can tell them, here in Aussracia we already know how to write! 😂

Okay listen, let's do some basic maths:

"PC modelling showed that AI would deliver a $116bn boost to the economy over the next decade."
= $11.6bn/year

"Research found that cultural and creative activity contributed $63.7 billion to Australia's economy in 2022–23."
=$63.7bn/year
⬇️
THIS IS MORE

Is productivity only for big companies? How productive will authors and artists be if the government says it's okay for tech companies to steal our work? Makes me want to quit writing, IDK what to make of this. 😐😐😐 #booksky 💙📚

Cover of The Nanny's Handbook to Magic and Managing Difficult Dukes by Amy Rose Bennett

Just finished 👀 The Nanny's Handbook to Magic and Managing Difficult Dukes by Amy Rose Bennett. Out now in AU, NZ and the UK. Out 30 Sep elsewhere.

#booksky #romancelandia

A light hearted read with a touch of magic.

Dick Shooter

Australia, Queensland, Cemetery Records, 1802-1990

Album artwork for "INXS Live at Concert For Life (Sydney 1992)" by INXS

#NowPlaying
🕗 8:10 pm

🎵 Never Tear Us Apart
🧑‍🎤 INXS
💿 INXS Live at Concert For Life (Sydney 1992)

🎧 Apple Music / Spotify / YouTube Music

📝 Lyrics

"I listen to it with my grandma" #deargod 😂 #hottest100 #Farnsy #JohnFarnham

Album artwork for "Human Frailty" by Hunters & Collectors

🥁 Hottest 100 of Australian songs: #25
#Hottest100 #AusHottest100

#NowPlaying
🕔 5:17 pm

🎵 Throw Your Arms Around Me
🧑‍🎤 Hunters & Collectors
💿 Human Frailty

🎧 Apple Music / Spotify / YouTube Music

📝 Lyrics

Awesome. Crowded House at the Sydney Opera House was probably my best ever concert experience. 😎

Ahhh I have been listening to the Aussie #hottest100 on YouTube and honestly it's a good time. Nick Cave, Crowded House, Presets, The Waifs and The Church are personal favs. ❤️🎵

Album artwork for "The Boatman's Call" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

🥁 Hottest 100 of Australian songs: #44
#Hottest100 #AusHottest100

#NowPlaying
🕒 3:26 pm

🎵 Into My Arms
🧑‍🎤 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
💿 The Boatman's Call

🎧 Apple Music / Spotify / YouTube Music

📝 Lyrics

If you see this post, post a vampire and pass it on!

* also a fantastic Murderbot

Covers of Aussie Romance Releases for the week 7-13 July 2025 7 July | Catching Trouble | Vicki Hilton 8 July | Miss Ellis Unleashed | @heather-boyd.bsky.social‬ 8 July | An Accidental Flatmate | Jennifer Raines 8 July | Wildflowers | @kyliescott.bsky.social‬ 8 July | Pipes | Mackenzy Fox 10 July | The Mountain Man's Want | @lexxiecouperwrites.bsky.social‬ 10 July | Obsession | JO Mantel 11 July | Hounding the Truth | Melanie Pickering

Some new Aussie romance releases for 7-13 July. Includes books by @heather-boyd.bsky.social y.social @kyliescott.bsky.social @lexxiecouperwrites.bsky.social

Visit the author’s profile or my bio for links to purchase.

#Booksky #Romancelandia #AussieRomance #AustralianRomance #AussieAuthor

*gently grabs your face so we can discuss things that are COMPLETELY OUT OF THE AUTHOR'S CONTROL*
- if the book is made into a movie/show
- if the book is PB or hardcover or has sprayed edges or signed editions
- if the book is in a cool book box
- if the book is a Monthly Pick at B&N
*STARES*

What a sweet little bird. Reminds me of one of my fav Aussie birds, the pink galah. I have lots of lil galah mates down at my local park and they'rethe cutest.

Like that's basically me headcasting every book I read! 😂

Show me a picture on your phone that has your energy, but isn't a selfie.

Yep, I feel this. I was trad published and didn't make much money at all, went indie for the creative control. Still not much money. I got another casual office job because I have teen boys who basically eat all my money... I don't write fast and neither track is going to fund the basics RN.

AI may give the appearance of understanding our humanity, but the truth is, only a human being can speak to and understand another human being. Every time a prompt is entered into AI, the language that bot uses to respond was created in part through the synthesis of art that we, the undersigned, have spent our careers crafting. Taken without our consent, without payment, without even the courtesy of acknowledgment.

The purveyors of AI have stolen our work from us and from our publishers, too. The hard-working editors and copy-editors and publicists and publishers that cared for and developed and launched the books we’ve written? Their jobs are also in jeopardy, which means that book publishing as an art form—a collaborative art form, nurtured at every stage by the personal touch of a human being—is in jeopardy, too. The audiobook narrators who have breathed life into our stories have already been sidelined by cheaper, simpler AI imitators. To add insult to injury, use of AI has devastating environmental effects, using great amounts of energy and potable water. What happens next?

So glad I woke up to see this. Signed. Immediately and without hesitation.

‘Against AI: An Open Letter From Writers to Publishers’

To add your name, please read and sign here: lithub.com/against-ai-a...

by = ✍️

buy = 💵

bye = 👋

Bye Bye Bye = 💁🏼‍♂️💁🏻‍♂️💁🏼‍♂️💁🏻‍♂️💁🏻‍♂️

Author Cassandra O'Leary dressed in a black Batgirl costume at a romance writers retreat.

Had a great weekend with writer friends at the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild retreat. Our spooky themed dress up dinner and constant book and movie chat was the best fun! 💙📚 #romancelandia #author

Post a book nerd you relate to

Current read: Copper Script by KJ Charles. MM romance with mystery set in 1924, featuring a police detective and a graphology expert. Illustrated cover with London streetlights, art Deco style decoration and handwriting type script, and silhouette of two men walking together.

Current read: Copper Script by KJ Charles. New release MM romance with mystery set in 1924, featuring a police detective and a graphology expert. Enjoying this one very much, as I always do with Charles's books! 💙📚#booksky #Romancelandia

Depends where you live! In Melbourne (my home town) people are playing or watching sports like football or basketball, shopping, going to cultural events like theatre or galleries, or actually working. If it's sunny people will be out at the beach or parks too.

I did one really interesting thing and two extremely dull things at the day job. Now I sound like a spinsterly Jane Austen character on a picnic. Huzzah! 🙌

Here is my personal philosophy, based on several decades of watching publishers go under: the moment a publisher is late on money because they don't have it, they are the enemy and your goal is to get your rights back.

Make an observation about your pantry that also sounds like the title of a novel:

A Lack of Sugar

Oh my goodness! Love it...give it to me baby! 😍💓

Author Cassandra O'Leary with Katrina Louise and audience members at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne, waiting to see Marian Keyes speaking.

Author Marian Keyes in conversation with Jane Harper on stage at the Melbourne Writers Festival, Athenaeum Theatre.

Had a fabulous time fangirling Marian Keyes at the Melbourne Writers Festival today. Glad to see Jane Harper also fangirling hard and talking about what an inspiration Marian is (it's true!) Marian was a delight and had us all giggling. #Romancelandia #booksky 💙📚

Fangirl flail!