\u201cI cut my teeth in the magazine world,\u201d said hugely popular, bestselling author Colleen Oakley, now promoting her third book, You Were There, Too. I asked Colleen why she left the journalism for full time writing and the answer was simple and touching. \u201cI fell in love and got engaged,\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cMy then fianc\u00e9, now husband, lived in Atlanta. I wanted to be with him, so I left New York, and moved back to the south.\u201d Even though her journalism career was successful, including tenure as senior editor of Marie Claire, Colleen always loved writing more than editing. Atlanta was very much a homecoming for Colleen, who grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. \u201cI think the South Carolina coast has the most beautiful beaches,\u201d she said when I asked if she had any connections with our area. As a child, we rented homes in Isle of Palms, and I visited Myrtle Beach several times with my church youth group and loved it.\u201d I\u2019m always fascinated by regional influences on writing, and was excited to learn a little about Colleen\u2019s unique perspective. In spite of her roots, she does not define herself as a strictly southern writer. \u201cMy entire family is from the northeast, and my parents moved us to Greenville for my dad\u2019s work. I grew up taking vacations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania \u2013 they made fun of my southern accent,\u201d she told me laughing. \u201cIn my writing it helps \u2013 I can set my books anywhere on the east coast and be familiar with the area. It\u2019s also useful to understand different \u2018southernisms\u2019 that people who don\u2019t grow up here are not familiar with \u2013 my copy editors in New York will circle them and ask me if this is what I meant!\u201d If Colleen\u2019s successful writing career is not enough to impress you, think about this: She does it all with FOUR small children and two of them are twins. I asked her how motherhood influences her writing and all of us with children can relate to her tongue-in-cheek answer. \u201cWhen the kids are in school, I get to make up stories and write. It\u2019s my private time. People ask why I don\u2019t write more about kids, but I\u2019m trying to get away from them. It\u2019s my escape.\u201d After we laughed about this, Colleen continued, this time more seriously, \u201cI have become more emotional since becoming a mother. I never used to be that way, but it\u2019s given more depth to my writing.\u201d When I open a book by Colleen, I forget I\u2019m reading a novel \u2013 her characters and plots lines pull me in and keep me interested. There are magical elements, but this writer says her style is a little different than magical realism. \u201cThe thing I try to do with each book is to take outlandish concepts \u2013 an allergy to other humans, or a dying wife finding her husband someone to take her place, and make them so believable and so real that readers will question whether or not this is actually true.\u201d You Were There, Too follows two strangers who dream about each and eventually meet. \u201cPeople dreaming about each other is an actual, documented phenomenon,\u201d Colleen said when I asked how she came up with this absorbing plot. \u201cOf course, typically it\u2019s husband and wife, or best friends, but for fiction it\u2019s more interesting for the dreamers to be strangers.\u201d As we came to the end of our chat, I had to ask the one question all writers get asked: What do you read? A voracious reader, Colleen reads everything. \u201cI like historical fiction, mysteries, dramas, women\u2019s fiction\u2026I love Stephen King, Ann Patchett, Micheal Crichton and psychological thrillers like Gone Girl. I also like non-fiction and memoirs about topics that interest me.\u201d \u201cI have a great life. I live my life in gratitude, optimistically and hopefully. I know how quickly things can change,\u201d said Colleen. \u201cI am so fortunate to be able to do what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meet Colleen at the Moveable Feast on January 10th at Inlet Affairs in Murrells Inlet, or on February 6, at the North Myrtle Beach Library. See the Sasee calendar for details. Buy You Were There Too, from your favorite bookseller and watch for her next book, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island, due out in spring of 2021.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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