I liked my fellow Marines. I didn't like pointless orders.
— Daniel Woodrell
I tell the story by feel most of the time, and I am not much given to labyrinthian digressions but seem to be naturally drawn to compression and pace, and the feelings come about on their own.
I joined the Marines the week I turned 17, and that led to a few experiences that might qualify as adventure - eye of the beholder.
I felt like a number of things in me as a writer just clicked.
The opening novel of the 'Bayou Trilogy' was the first one I finished.
I've bumped into at least three people in town who all insist 'Winter's Bone' is about them.
I was born in West Plains, and we lived here till I was one. Then my dad needed to get a job, so we moved to the St. Louis area. I lived in St. Charles, on the Missouri River, till I was 15.
I am well aware that the writers of New York, London, and Toronto are more readily noticed, though the shadowy and potent Ozarks Literary Cabal does what it can for me, then nightly joins me for dinner and calls me 'honey.'
But I've been at writing long enough now to know that every three or four books I have to start a new direction.
I didn't really expect to be coming to the Oscars.
There's an overlap between social-realist fiction and crime fiction - a sweet spot there.
One of the interesting things about the Ozarks is you just about don't have street crime. It's strictly between people who know each other. It really isn't indiscriminate; it's kind of between themselves.
Earned a bachelor's at 27, then an M.F.A. that is still completely unused and in mint condition, never taken out of the box.
I have a book in the pipeline of short stories. You want to hear an agent scream, say 'I'm thinking about doing a collection of short stories set in the Ozarks.'
When I started to be a writer, I was not going to run the risk of boring you.
I always loved the verve and vivacity of pulp and I kind of merged it with my own interest in family stories.
