by kristinoakley | Aug 27, 2021 | Creativity & Craft, Newsletter
Writers, like most artists, tend to be perfectionists. They imagine how they want the story to unfold, but their inner critic tells them the writing will fall short. Sometimes, this discrepancy between what writers envision and what they attempt to do is so...
by kristinoakley | Aug 16, 2021 | Creativity & Craft, Newsletter
I’m revising Gaige Devlin, book three of the Devil Particle quadrilogy, and have realized the voice is all wrong. Books one and two are told from Paul Salvage’s first person point of view. Book three is in Gaige’s point of view. These two teenagers...
by kristinoakley | Jul 28, 2021 | Creativity & Craft, Newsletter
This Sunday, August 1st at 4:00 p.m. my editor, Tim Storm, and I will be talking to Samantha Hoffman about the author-editor process during the Chicago Writers Association’s virtual Cocktails and Conversation. This event is free and open to the public and will...
by kristinoakley | Jul 22, 2021 | Creativity & Craft, Newsletter
I’ve missed you! Instead of sending you my bi-weekly newsletter these past few weeks, I’ve spent all my writing time on the latest draft of The Devil Particle Vessel (book two of my young adult dystopian series). I completed the draft — yahoo!...
by kristinoakley | Jun 18, 2021 | Newsletter, Writing Life
When I discovered Christina Clancy’s debut novel, The Second Home, had been optioned by TriStar for a limited television series starring Game of Thrones’ Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, I wanted to know how this wonderful turn of events came about. I asked Christina if I...
by kristinoakley | Jun 4, 2021 | Creativity & Craft, Newsletter
The setting for my novel, The Devil Particle, is a dystopian world where it is illegal for more than 10 people to gather in one place. Knowing we’re social animals, I imagined the horrors of living in a world like this–no weddings, no funerals, no...
by kristinoakley | May 23, 2021 | Creativity & Craft, Newsletter
I’ve been listening to fledgling novelist Tim Grahl interview Shawn Coyne on The Story Grid Podcast. Shawn’s been an editor for over thirty years and is the author of The Story Grid; What Good Editors Know. I highly recommend these podcasts for more...
by kristinoakley | May 7, 2021 | Creativity & Craft, Newsletter
After writing about the Academy Awards, I was curious about screenwriting so, I decided to interview my friend and colleague, Rebecca Williams Spindler. Rebecca is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, producer, and the former Vice President of the Wisconsin...
