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
Working with a Literary Agent
I’m on the fence — should I sign with a literary agent and traditionally publish my young adult series The Devil Particle or publish it myself? Both paths to publishing have advantages and disadvantages.
My friend and colleague, Valerie Biel, is taking both paths. She independently published her young adult Circle of Nine series and is working with her agent, Tina Schwartz of The Purcell Agency, to get her middle-grade books traditionally published. To help me decide, I interviewed Valerie:
A Homeschooling (Unschooling) Novel
During the summer of 2007, I listened to Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 while I driving around in my car. It made me wonder why novelists tend to create dystopian futures. I thought, why don’t I write a book with a better future, a better society? That’s when I came up with the idea of a small town without schools — a utopia.
Checking in on New Year’s Resolutions
It’s been almost a month since I started 2021 as my Year of Writing by implementing my 2x2x2 Daily Writing Method — 2 hours of working on The Devil Particle, 2 hours of marketing, and two hours of reading every day. So far it’s working.