One of Us (31 page)

Novelists are amateur psychologists. We spend a lot of time trying to figure out what makes people tick, why they do the things they do, what factors in their lives form their personalities, and then applying the answers to the creation of our fictional characters. I often find myself talking to my characters like a shrink: “How does that make you feel? Do you think that was a healthy decision? Let’s talk about your father.” I’ve always been interested in the subject of psychology so I’ve gathered information about it throughout my life and in the process have also learned about various mental illnesses. I’m not ever going to have a character pop into my head that has a profession I know nothing about since he’s originating in my thoughts. It made sense to me that eventually I’d write about a psychologist.

The Denver Post
has praised your writing, calling you the “master of [your] craft” and complimenting the “authenticity of character” that is a mark of your writing, and, indeed, your portrayal of life in the coal-mining town of Lost Creek is incredibly authentic. How did you create the world of Lost Creek? Are any of the characters drawn from your own childhood in the coal-mining region of western Pennsylvania?

I don’t base my characters on specific people but obviously they’ve been influenced by people I’ve known throughout my life just as the towns I’ve created in my novels have sprung from the towns I’ve lived in. As a writer, everyone I’ve ever met and every experience I’ve ever had provides material for my work. Authenticity is very important to me. I strive to make my characters as real to my readers as their own neighbors and the places where they reside as vivid as their own back yards yet remain true to the area I write about. Even if you’ve never been to a Pennsylvania coal town, after reading one of my novels I want you to not only think you know what it’s like to live there but feel that you have lived there, if only briefly and if only in your mind.

What would you like your readers to take away from
One of Us
?

When I finish reading a great novel, my faith in and connection to humanity is revived. I feel that I’ve experienced the immenseness of our world and everything we value and abhor, everything we question and know for sure, while absorbed in the highly intimate world of the individual. This is what I hope my readers take away from
One of Us
and all of my novels. Despite our flaws and limitations, I want them to feel hopeful and restored in a way that ironically can’t be put into words.

What are you working on next?

I’m working on my next novel. I’d like to tell you what it’s about but I’m not sure yet.

about the author

Photograph by John Mark Rafacz

Tawni O’Dell is the
New York Times
bestselling author of four novels, including
Back Roads
, which was an Oprah’s Book Club pick and a Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection. She is also a contributor to several anthologies, including
Becoming Myself: Reflections on Growing Up Female
. Her works have been published in more than forty countries.

FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR:
authors.simonandschuster.com/Tawni-ODell

MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT

SimonandSchuster.com

contents

Dedication

A Memory

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Acknowledgments

Readers Group Guide

Introduction

Topics And Questions for Discussion

Enhance Your Book Club

A Conversation with Tawin O’Dell

About the Author