Come see me! (and bring your mom...)

The Mother-Daughter event at Flintridge Bookstore is a great opportunity for girls and moms to visit with a variety of authors. You go in groups from table to table, author to author--sort of like literary speed dating. I'm bringing my historical research and weird discoveries I made while working on THE AVIARY. And have you seen who else is on the agenda? BIG TIME authors! Authors of legend! So don't miss it!

A Merry Book Club Christmas!

This year our book club decided to take a holiday picture. Proudly showcased in the center? THE AVIARY! Its evergreen cover was a perfect match for our ensembles. The author is in brown antlers and a snowman turtleneck. A memento for the ages!

Chilling Portraits of Early 20th Century Children

I'm putting together a presentation featuring my research on turn-of-the-century life for THE AVIARY. The little girl pictured here lived in Eastport, Maine (a fishing village and port of entry) around the time my fictional Clara Dooley lived in Lockhaven. Until I started poking around in search of images for my book, I hadn't heard of Hine. His photographs of working children are stunning, heartbreaking and shocking to our modern sensibilities. Russell Freedman has a beautiful book for kids on Hine titled: KIDS AT WORK: LEWIS HINE AND THE CRUSADE AGAINST CHILD LABOR. Highly recommended!

AVIARY article at Bangor Daily News

It's true, I've never been to Maine, but I've written a book with a Maine setting. My friend, Carla, who is a longtime Portland resident helped me with some of my story's logistics. I'm happy to say she's included in this article:
Check it out:
http://bangordailynews.com/2011/11/06/living/book-reviews/west-coast-author-sets-historical-fantasy-on-maine-coast/

THE AVIARY from a Pug's P.O.V

My writer friend, Linda Zinnen, has interviewed my pug, Max, asking him to give his two cents on the making of THE AVIARY. After all, it was on my walks with Max that I discovered that house in the neighborhood with the outdoor cage of tropical birds. He was in on the whole process--sleeping soundly beside me as I tapped out the story at the kitchen table. So I said, why not? He's almost eighty in dog years and has never yet been interviewed. See his take at: lindazinnen.com!

You want it? Baby, you've got it...

A word to the elderly: you know when you're stuck with one of those golden oldies in your head and it's driving you crazy? ("Love is a highway, I want to ride it all night long...") My bete noir awhile ago was the Young MC hit, "Bust a Move." They say you can get rid of these ear worms by listening to the song all the way through. So I try downloading it from itunes. Usually, I have no problem with this, but "Bust a Move" is particularly stubborn and I get nothing but error messages. So I keep clicking to download--errors again. I give up, but later when I'm back at my laptop, "Bust a Moves" download en masse to my itunes folder. Now I can listen to the song all day nonstop if I want to without putting it on a loop. Anyway, that was a couple weeks ago and I thought I was through "bustin'." Until one afternoon this weekend I open my laptop and BOOM! Another one downloads.

"You want it, you got it," indeed.

Wild Rose Bouquet for THE AVIARY from School Library Journal

"O’Dell weaves a tapestry of hauntingly gorgeous imagery with this atmospheric tale of suspense, magic, and adventure. Readers will be captivated from the first page on."

Huzzah!