Tawni O'Dell (born 1964) is an American novelist. Her first published novel, Back Roads, was selected by Oprah Winfrey for Oprah's Book Club in March 2000.Brink, Julie A. "Six unpublished novels later, Tawni O'Dell hits pay dirt with Oprah book club." State College, Pennsylvania: Centre Daily Times, September 17, 2000, p. C3 (subscription required).Cloonan, Patrick. "Tawni O'Dell: Indiana High School grad strikes publishing gold." Indiana, Pennsylvania: The Indiana Gazette, July 3, 2019.Hoover, Bob. "Coming home gives Tawni O'Dell a new lease on writing." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 6, 2004, p. E-5 (subscription required).Weeks, Linton. "High roads and back roads." Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: The Ottawa Citizen, June 24, 2000, p. E10 (subscription required).
Formative years Born and raised in Indiana, Pennsylvania in the United States, O'Dell grew up in the same town where movie actor Jimmy Stewart was born. The first in her family to attend college, she graduated from Indiana High School and then from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism.Brink, "Six unpublished novels later, Tawni O'Dell hits pay dirt with Oprah book club," Centre Daily Times, September 17, 2000.Cloonan, "Tawni O'Dell: Indiana High School grad strikes publishing gold," The Indiana Gazette, July 3, 2019.Hoover, "Coming home gives Tawni O'Dell a new lease on writing," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 6, 2004.Weeks, "High roads and back roads," The Ottawa Citizen, June 24, 2000.
She lived for many years in the Chicago area before moving back to Pennsylvania, where she now lives with her two children.Brink, "Six unpublished novels later, Tawni O'Dell hits pay dirt with Oprah book club," Centre Daily Times, September 17, 2000.Cloonan, "Tawni O'Dell: Indiana High School grad strikes publishing gold," The Indiana Gazette, July 3, 2019.Hoover, "Coming home gives Tawni O'Dell a new lease on writing," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 6, 2004.Weeks, "High roads and back roads," The Ottawa Citizen, June 24, 2000.
Career O'Dell disliked journalism and preferred writing fiction.Brink, "Six unpublished novels later, Tawni O'Dell hits pay dirt with Oprah book club," Centre Daily Times, September 17, 2000.Weeks, "High roads and back roads," The Ottawa Citizen, June 24, 2000.
Her literary career, however, began with uncertainty. During a thirteen-year period, she wrote six unpublished novels and collected more than three hundred rejection slips before publishing her first novel, Back Roads. It was widely praised.Brink, "Six unpublished novels later, Tawni O'Dell hits pay dirt with Oprah book club," Centre Daily Times, September 17, 2000.Cloonan, "Tawni O'Dell: Indiana High School grad strikes publishing gold," The Indiana Gazette, July 3, 2019.Hoover, "Coming home gives Tawni O'Dell a new lease on writing," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 6, 2004.Weeks, "High roads and back roads," The Ottawa Citizen, June 24, 2000.
The July 24, 2000 issue of People magazine featured her in a story and mentioned that Oprah Winfrey described her not only as "an author but a writer."Maloney, Ainsley. "Author's life reflects her novel." University Park, Pennsylvania: Daily Collegian, November 18, 2004.
Works Back Roads, novel (New York: Viking, 2000) Coal Run, novel (New York: Viking, 2004) Sister Mine, novel (New York: Shaye Areheart Books, 2007) Fragile Beasts, novel (New York: Shaye Areheart Books, 2010) One of Us, novel (New York: Gallery Books, 2014) Angels Burning, novel (Gallery Books (5 Jan. 2016))
References
Sources Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2002. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000142270.
External links Official website Interview with O'Dell