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.

Tawni O'Dell

Agenda America Author Because Blue-Collar Books Coal Come Country Expert Facts Her Know Last Mining Novelist Politician Presenting Push Reporter Sets Simply Struggling Where Who

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

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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.

— Tawni O'Dell

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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.

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I should have been deliriously happy. I had my dream come true. I'm a best-selling author. So why is everything in my life, including my writing, going bad?

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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.

— Tawni O'Dell

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