J.L. Oakley
Award-Winning Indie AuthorNovels set in WWII Norway
Novels set in the Pacific Northwest
Hilo Bay Mysteries with a bit of history
About Janet
So glad you came by. I love history and stories, gardening and just being outdoors. (I’ve been tent camping since I was a baby!)
I’ve lived in the Northwest for over 35 years. When I’m not writing, I enjoy delving into local history, looking for little surprises that tell a larger story of my area and the nation’s past, fodder far more novels or non-fiction pieces. I can be found in my garden conversing with chickadees or teaching history hands-on to local grade school students. I churn excellent butter (don’t forget to wash it!) and can spin up a storm.
Latest News
Memory Day
Just a quick post. It's beautiful out and I want to work in the garden before it gets too hot for we northwesterners. And I want to write. But I am thinking of vets today, including my late husband who served in Vietnam and my great grandfather who was a...
Hot off the Press, 1851, that is.
For the past few months I've been up to my eyeballs with the Daily Alta California, a newspaper started in San Francisco in 1849 and the state's first daily. Using microfilm on loan from the state library down in California, it has been both a monotonous and...
The Ann Parry: Talking and Writing about History
For the past two years, I've been involved in research on the Ann Parry, a 19th century bark that had quite the career. Built in 1825 in Portsmouth NH, she was first for the trades between that town and the Atlantic, then off as a whaler all over the Pacific. She...