Now available: The Vessel
Scientists attempt to save humanity by implanting all the world’s evil into one human vessel. Will it work?
The Vessel is the heart-pounding second book in The Devil Particle dystopian YA series. If you like flawed characters and world-shattering stakes, then you’ll love Kristin A. Oakley’s gripping tale.
Book One: The Devil Particle
A skyscraper filled with deception. A troubled teen seeking redemption. Will his race to the top become a fatal dilemma?
Paul Salvage longs to prove himself. So the loyal seventeen-year-old is thrilled when he’s selected to compete in the trials to determine who is worthy enough to save society by accepting all of humanity’s evil. But when his brother is murdered, the gallant young man gives up his dream to comfort his grieving father.
Persuaded not to drop out by a powerful family friend, Paul sets aside his own feelings and joins the group of fifty teens chosen to battle to the top of a tower filled with tests and traps. But as he grapples with one horrible choice after another, the haunted young man fears he isn’t noble enough to be the hero who will rescue everyone on Earth.
Can Paul escape the endless doubts and dangers to climb his way to victory?
The Devil Particle is the explosive first book in the Devil Particle dystopian YA series. If you like flawed characters, deadly competitions, and world-shattering stakes, then you’ll love Kristin A. Oakley’s dark tension.
Award-winning Carpe Diem, Illinois is the first book in the Leo Townsend Series
For decades, the small town of Carpe Diem, Illinois has quietly unschooled its children, eschewing tests and classrooms for real-life experiences. Now, long-smoldering political feuds and deep personal secrets threaten to explode. More
The second book in the Leo Townsend Series
Chicago Examiner reporter Leo Townsend has landed the interview of a lifetime with openly gay, front-running US presidential candidate Griffin Carlisle. But when Leo is forced to abandon the interview to rush to the side of his estranged father, Leo’s personal and professional worlds collide.. More
Latest Newsletters and Posts
Writers Who Predict the Future
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 graduation ceremonies. No baseball or football games, no busy office buildings or department stores, no rock concerts or theatre. I created this sad, scary world in 2018.
I honestly thought taking away people’s right to assemble would never, ever happen, at least not in this country. And then, suddenly, we were living it.
When the book is released next year, readers will assume I was drawing on experiences from 2020. But now you know, I was prescient.
And I’m not alone in predicting the future.
What a Character Does Defines Who They Are
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 advanced writers (someone with at least one finished manuscript).
One thing Shawn says that strikes me as obvious but also brilliant is — the actions of the characters are the best way to describe who they are.
What It Takes to Become a Screenwriter
In the aftermath of the Academy Awards (see my last newsletter), 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 Screenwriters Forum. We discuss how to break into the film industry, the importance of networking, and what it means to build your portfolio.