by Kristin A. Oakley | Sep 6, 2026 | For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
Before I moved into my condo last year, I gave away books that I had had a long and never read. I’d finally realized I never would. But there were some books I still kept, determined to read them. This month’s Writer’s Book Club reviews one of those...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Aug 24, 2026 | For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writing Life
It’s been a crazy, fun summer–prepping for and teaching at Novel-in-Progress Bookcamp, painting baseboards, doors, and rooms at my daughter and son-in-law’s new house, babysitting my grandson and grandpuppy for the big move, playing pickle ball,...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Aug 1, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter
This month’s book club goes back in time to late 1700s Maine and Ariel Lawhon’s novel The Frozen River. Lawhon based her historical murder mystery upon the journal entries of real life midwife Martha Ballard. Martha delivered over 800 babies and was called...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Jul 6, 2026 | Conferences, For Writers, Newsletter
Last year, Deborah King asked me to be one of the two All-Genre instructors at the amazing Novel-in-Progress Bookcamp. Years before, I had presented a workshop on characters and sat on a publishing panel. But being an instructor meant teaching an eighty-minute...
by Kristin A. Oakley | Jun 14, 2026 | Books and Movies, For Readers, For Writers, Newsletter, Writer's Book Club
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister is my favorite book of 2026 (so far), and one of the best books I’ve read in the last decade. I listened to the audio book version of this psychological thriller twice, narrated by Leslie Sharp who did an excellent...
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...
