Saturday, January 30, 2010

Poor Neglected BTT and Blog

Is there anyone left who still checks in? Sadly, I've not had much time to write this lately. I guess for one thing, working full-time at a writing job will do that to you. I spend all day at the computer, writing stories about high school musicals and town board meetings, and the thought of writing more at home is a little wearying.

Except I discovered the other day that I actually still enjoy it. It's different, writing on a topic that can be anything, that doesn't have to be super-timely and happen within my town and still be something no one else has written before. So I'm going to get back into it, probably not as much as I had been, but a little bit.

I picked out a BTT from a couple of weeks ago that I really liked:



Favorite Unknown January 21, 2010
Filed under: Wordpress — --Deb @ 1:39 am



Who’s your favorite author that other people are NOT reading? The one you want to evangelize for, the one you would run popularity campaigns for? The author that, so far as you’re concerned, everyone should be reading–but that nobody seems to have heard of. You know, not JK Rowling, not Jane Austen, not Hemingway–everybody’s heard of them. The author that you think should be that famous and can’t understand why they’re not…


I think this is a GREAT question, personally. I enjoy seeking out the offbeat in all aspects of my life. I'm one of those people who will often deliberately avoid what everyone else is watching/wearing/reading/listening to.

I guess my main "unsung author" would have to be Tawni O'Dell. O'Dell only has three books, and they were all terrific. She writes about coal towns in Pennsylvania, about life in the lower-middle class, often on the edge of poverty. Her books are filled with humor, with brutality, and with wonderful, believeable characters. I thought Sister Mine might be a breakthrough for her, with the interesting surrogate mother angle. It seemed to be displayed prominently in several places that summer. I guess it doesn't help that she hasn't had anything out since, although her web site shows that she's got something coming out in March. So maybe you'll hear more from her. But remember: you heard about her here first!