O'Dell, Carol D.

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O'Dell, Carol D.

PERSONAL:

Children: three daughters. Education: Jacksonville University, B.S.; Bethany Theological Seminary, studies in theology and church organization, 1983. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, writing, art, theology, philosophy, astronomy, cooking, traveling.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. E-mail—writecarol@comcast.net.

CAREER:

Writer. Has taught at writers' conferences and seminars. First Coast Writer's Festival, FL, committee member.

MEMBER:

National Storyteller's Society, National League of American Pen Women, Authors Guild, Author's Writer's Programs, Zona Rosa Women Writers, Georgia Writers, Saint Louis Writer's Guild.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Partial fellowships from Southeast Writers Conference, 2001, and Middle Georgia College, 2002, Summer Literary Series (St. Petersburg, Russia), 2005; John Woods Scholarship, Prague Summer Institute, 2006.

WRITINGS:

Mothering Mother: A Daughter's Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir, Kunati (Largo, FL), 2007.

Also contributor to numerous magazines, periodicals, and journals, including, HER: Home Education Resource, Jacksonville Magazine, Atlanta Magazine, America's Interracial, Margin, Pisgah Review, Andwerve Literary Journal, Flashquake.com, and Chicken Soup Celebrates Sister.

SIDELIGHTS:

Carol D. O'Dell is the author of fiction and creative nonfiction, including short stories, articles, and essays. In her first book, Mothering Mother: A Daughter's Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir, O'Dell writes of caring for her mother as she slowly succumbs to both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The author details her hectic life as she deals with her mother, husband, and three children. In the process, she also recalls her mother as she once was—a six-foot-tall imposing figure and a firebrand minister. "When reading this haunting and substantive memoir, two other books came to mind: A Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom," wrote T.K. Kenyon on the Suite 101 Web site. Kenyon went on to note that the O'Dell's "memoir … is a more realistic, gritty book than either one of those two." For example, O'Dell eventually must make a fateful, life- or-death decision about whether or not her mother should be placed on a feeding tube. In another episode, she discovers her mother at night covered in feces. Several reviewers, including Kenyon, noted that, despite the difficult task of caring for her mother, the author includes humorous anecdotes. Mary Frances Wilkens, writing in Booklist, commented that O'Dell tells her story "with plenty of humor, a touch of martyrdom, and much love." Kenyon wrote: "Although this book is, in some places, emotionally difficult to read, it's a beautiful book about coming to terms with the death of a loved one."