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
Christmas Book and Game Flood of 2020
On Christmas Eve, Icelanders will celebrate Jólabókaflóð (Yule Book Flood) by giving and receiving books and spending the night reading while sipping hot cocoa. Perfect! As I’ve done in previous years, I’m passing along my recommendations for your own Yule Book Flood. These are books I read (or re-read) this year. I’m including some favorite board games for more family fun.
A Day in the Life of a Teenage Homeschooler
The following essay, “A Typical Thursday,” was written by my unschooled daughter, Caitlin Podemski, for her college admission applications when she was seventeen.
Virtual Conferencing or Where is Everyone?
Last weekend, I attended the Writer’s Digest Annual and Novel Writing Conferences from the comfort of my home in Madison, Wisconsin. I like my house, but I would have preferred meeting agents, editors, and other writers in New York City at in-person events. But, 2020 being what it is, attending virtual conferences was the next best thing. Or was it?