by kristinoakley | Sep 1, 2022 | For Writers
Research? But I write fiction; can’t I just make this stuff up? Yes, but even a novel has to be grounded in fact. Lack of plausibility is one of the main reasons agents, publishers, and readers reject a book. Novels that are well-researched are not only...
by kristinoakley | Aug 19, 2022 | Books and Movies, For Readers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
Welcome to my Writer’s Book Club. This month I review a little-known young adult dystopian book called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. In Collins’ novel, one boy and one girl are selected from each region to compete to the death in the Hunger Games. Only...
by kristinoakley | Aug 5, 2022 | Newsletter, Writing Life
I walk two to four miles every day while brainstorming ideas for my books or listening to audiobooks (and photographing wildlife). Currently, I’m listening to The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft, Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained, or Persuasion, depending...
by kristinoakley | Jul 22, 2022 | Books and Movies, For Readers, Newsletter
Welcome to my writer’s book club! This month I read Peter Clines’ sci-fi horror novel 14 about a young man who rents a cheap apartment in a very strange and mysterious Hollywood building. I picked the book up while vacationing in L.A. a few years ago and am glad...
by kristinoakley | Jul 8, 2022 | Creativity & Craft, Newsletter, Writing Life
Last week, I finished the first draft of The Renegade, the fourth book in The Devil Particle Series. WOO HOO!! But, while the draft is finished, the book certainly isn’t. The ending doesn’t have the impact I want and the whole manuscript needs a lot...
by kristinoakley | Jun 24, 2022 | Books and Movies, For Readers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
Welcome to my writer’s book club! This month I review Red Rising by New York Times Bestselling Author Pierce Brown. Red Rising takes place 1,000 years in the future and successfully blends elements of dystopia, science fiction, fantasy, and Greek mythology....
by kristinoakley | Jun 10, 2022 | Creativity & Craft, Newsletter
On Wednesday, I sat in on Reedsy’s First Line Frenzy with Martin Cavannagh and Rebecca Heyman. Participants were encouraged to submit the first line of their manuscript; Rebecca would then offer feedback. My first sentence of The Devil Particle manuscript...
by kristinoakley | May 27, 2022 | Books and Movies, For Readers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
Welcome to my Writer’s Book Club! This month’s selection is the New York Times Bestseller Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Butler was a renowned novelist and, in 1955, she became the first science fiction writer to win the MacArthur Fellowship. In Parable...
