42 Quotes by Tawni O'Dell

She told me once she envied the women who lived back in the good old days who only had to worry about Indians and mountain lions killing their husbands. Something about those things being beyond a wife's control.

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.

Here I am, this smart, bookish girl, and I have this biker-chick name.

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.

I really, really missed the Pennsylvania countryside and hills.

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'm a novelist, and I'm a woman, and I'm considered to be a serious author whether I like it or not.

It turned out I really didn't like journalism. I wanted to make up stories, not cover real events.

People, including me, can get so detached from everything, but when you can focus on a defined place, a home, it gets you back in touch.