Tawni O'Dell
Tawni O'Dell
Tawni O'Dellis an American novelist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
CountryUnited States of America
agenda author books coal country last novelist politician presenting reporter sets simply struggling
I'm a novelist - not an expert on coal mining. I'm not a politician with an agenda to push. I'm not a reporter presenting facts, and I'm not a sociologist documenting the last struggling remnants of blue-collar America. I'm simply an author who sets her books in coal country because it's where I come from, and it's what I know.
experience rough town western
My experience growing up in a rough and tumble town in the blue-collar world of Western Pennsylvania in the 1970s was that anything a man did was always more important than anything a woman did.
deaths excuse mine miners mining needless owners
Mining is a dangerous profession. There's no way to make a mine completely safe: These are the words owners have always used to excuse needless deaths and the words miners use to prepare for them.
adept author becomes discovered harder novel reverse time
I've discovered as an author that the process of writing a novel becomes harder over time, not easier. I used to think the reverse must be true, that it would be like any task, and the more I practiced, the more adept I'd become.
literary publishers secretly wrote
I write literary, not commercial, fiction - or so I've been told by my publishers who are proud I write literary fiction but secretly wish I wrote commercial.
accepted avid ball boys catch enjoyed hit perks
I was an avid tomboy, and as long as I could ride my bike just as fast, hit the ball just as hard, and catch just as many garter snakes, I was accepted as one of the boys and enjoyed all the perks of superiority.
buildings burning disaster fit miners press puts quite rid rush streets time tries war
Each time a new disaster puts miners in the news, the press tries to make them into heroes, but they don't quite fit the bill. They don't march off to war or rush into burning buildings or rid our streets of crime.
life saw though
I saw myself as a writer, a novelist, even though I was living the life of a mother and housewife. Writing was - and is - what I do.
I really, really missed the Pennsylvania countryside and hills.
people positive statements
I don't try to sugarcoat things, but I also think my books make positive statements about the people and values in small-town America.
Here I am, this smart, bookish girl, and I have this biker-chick name.
almost blatant coal disregard greed health industry known knows life mining quality rife work
Coal mining is an industry rife with mismanagement, corruption, greed and an almost blatant disregard for the safety, health and quality of life of its work force. Everyone knows this. Everyone has always known it.
considered whether
I'm a novelist, and I'm a woman, and I'm considered to be a serious author whether I like it or not.
cover turned
It turned out I really didn't like journalism. I wanted to make up stories, not cover real events.