Colleen Oakley
USA Today bestselling author of 5 novels including The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise, translated into 21 languages, and Georgia Author of the Year.
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Colleen Oakley is the USA Today bestselling author of Jane and Dan at the End of the World, The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island, You Were There Too, Close Enough to Touch and Before I Go. Her books have been translated into more than 21 languages, optioned for film, and have received numerous accolades, including the French Reader’s Prize and Georgia Author of the Year.
Colleen’s latest book, Jane and Dan at the End of the World, was an instant USA Today bestseller and was selected by Jennifer Weiner as the Today Show’s Best Binge Read.
The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise was a Good Morning America Buzz Pick, a Marie Claire Book Club pick, a Reader’s Digest Book Club pick, a LibraryReads pick, one of Southern Living’s Most Anticipated 2023 Releases, and one of Today’s Most Anticipated 2023 Releases.
Her debut, Before I Go, was a People magazine Best New Book, Us Weekly Must Pick, Library Journal Big Fiction Debut, and an Indie Next Pick. Her second novel, Close Enough to Touch, won the French Reader’s Prize. Accolades for Colleen’s other 6 novels include being twice longlisted for the Southern Book Prize, picks for Good Morning America, Marie Claire Book Club, Reader’s Digest Book Club, O magazine’s Top Romance Books, Southern Living’s Most Anticipated, Today’s Most Anticipated and Best Binge Read, and the Emily Giffin Book Club.
Colleen lives in Atlanta with her husband, four children, three chickens, and a mutt named Baxter. Colleen graduated from the University of Georgia’s Grady School of Journalism and worked across many publications, becoming senior editor of Marie Claire.
If you’re writing women’s fiction, Up Lit, or love stories, you’ll find Colleen a supportive cheerleader and mentor.
Colleen’s Genres
- Contemporary Fiction
- Romance
- Up Lit
- Women’s Fiction
Please note: all genuine emails from Colleen Oakley will come from @thenovelry.com.
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In Concert
A single photo taken one hot summer night forges an unforgettable bond for two star-crossed strangers in this decades-spanning story of fate, love, and ambition.
When Abraham Ford and Rebecca Garavano meet as teenagers in 1977 at a Grateful Dead concert, the connection between them is as instant as the flash of the Polaroid camera someone uses to snap a photo of them together.
Fifty years later, when a flea market owner stumbles across the Polaroid and posts it to social media, one hawk-eyed viewer recognizes the young man as “Ham” Ford, a world-renowned classical violinist. The fervent attention to his love life as onlookers speculate about the young woman in the photo forces the now-reclusive Ham to confront his tumultuous and complicated past with “Bee” Garavano. A past he’d rather keep hidden.
Told only in snapshots of the iconic concerts and performances Bee and Ham attend over fifty years—sometimes together, sometimes apart, but never far from each other’s hearts—their epic love story is a heart-wrenching exploration of the connective power of music and the sacrifices we make for those we love most.
Jane and Dan at the End of the World
Jane and Dan have been married for 19 years, but Jane isn’t sure they’re going to make it to 20. The mother of two feels unneeded by her teenagers, and her writing career has screeched to an unsuccessful halt. Her one published novel sold under 500 copies. Worse? She’s pretty sure Dan is cheating on her. When the couple goes to the renowned upscale restaurant La Fin du Monde to celebrate their anniversary, Jane thinks it’s as good a place as any to tell Dan she wants a divorce.
But before they even get to the second course, an underground climate activist group bursts into the dining room. Jane is shocked—and not just because she’s in a hostage situation the likes of which she’s only seen in the movies. Nearly everything the disorganized and bumbling activists say and do is right out of the pages of her failed book. Even Dan (who Jane wasn’t sure even read her book) admits it’s eerily familiar.
Which means Dan and Jane are the only ones who know what’s going to happen next. And they’re the only ones who can stop it. This wasn’t what Jane was thinking of when she said ‘til death do us part’ all those years ago, but if they can survive this, maybe they can survive anything—even marriage.
The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise
Twenty-one-year-old Tanner Quimby needs a place to live. Preferably one where she can continue sitting around in sweatpants and playing video games 19 hours a day. Since she has no credit or money to speak of, her options are limited, so when an opportunity to work as a live-in caregiver for an elderly woman falls into her lap, she takes it.
One slip on the rug. That’s all it took for Louise Wilt’s daughter to demand that Louise have a full-time nanny living with her. Never mind that she can still walk fine, finish her daily crossword puzzle, and pour the two fingers of vodka she drinks every afternoon.
Bottom line: Louise wants a caretaker even less than Tanner wants to be one.
The two start off their living arrangement happily ignoring each other until Tanner starts to notice things—weird things. Like why does Louise keep her garden shed locked up tighter than a prison? And why is the local news fixated on the suspect of one of the biggest jewelry heists in American history, who looks eerily like Louise? And why does Louise suddenly appear in her room with a packed bag at 1am, insisting that they leave town immediately?
Thus begins the story of a not-to-be-underestimated elderly woman and an aimless young woman who—if they can outrun the mistakes of their past—might just have the greatest adventure of their lives.
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