by Kristin A. Oakley | May 31, 2026 | Books and Movies, Creativity & Craft, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter
Opposable thumbs? When I attended elementary school, my teachers asked, “What makes us human? What separates us from the beasts?” They then posited the opposable thumb theory—we’re human because, unlike animals, we have opposable thumbs. That theory...
by Kristin A. Oakley | May 17, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
It’s been a while since I’ve read one of Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole/Joe Pike books, and I’d forgotten how much I love them—the humor, the smart, competent characters, the twists. His latest novel, The Big Empty, doesn’t disappoint. Ex-con...
by Kristin A. Oakley | May 4, 2026 | Creativity & Craft, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writing Life
In November, I’ll attend Author Nation in Las Vegas. With 2,000 attendees, it’s one of the largest writers’ conferences in the world. This year, they’re producing three anthologies, including a sci-fi one with Andy Weir (the author of The...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Apr 19, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter
For this month’s Writer’s Book Club, I’m reviewing the young adult mystery One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus. In the novel, a teacher sends five high schoolers to detention for having phones—phones they claim aren’t theirs. When one...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Apr 7, 2026 | For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writing Life
As a novelist, I am anti Artificial Intelligence. Full disclosure, I use Spellcheck, Grammarly, and ProWritingAid to check my grammar (I suck at commas). I also use people—my critical and ARC (advanced reader copy) readers point out missed commas and typos. The rest...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Mar 22, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
For this month’s Writer’s Book Club, I’m tackling the spooky thriller We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook (expertly read by Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Corey Brill). In We Used to Live Here, Eve and her...
