“Colleen Oakley is in a world of her own when it comes to creating lovable, quirky characters—and those in The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise are her best yet… An absolute blast.” — Taylor Jenkins Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Malibu Rising

Colleen Oakley is the USA Today bestselling author of five novels. Her latest The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise was a Good Morning America Buzz Pick, a Reader’s Digest Book Club pick, a Marie Claire Book Club pick, and named a most anticipated read for 2023 by the Today Show. Colleen’s novels have been translated into 21 languages, optioned for film and have received numerous accolades including the French Reader’s Prize, LibraryReads Hall of Fame, and Georgia Author of the Year.

A former magazine editor for Marie Claire and Women’s Health & Fitness, Colleen’s articles and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Women’s Health, Redbook, Parade and more. A proud graduate of the University of Georgia’s school of journalism, Colleen currently lives in Atlanta with her husband, four kids, four chickens and a mutt named Baxter.

Colleen’s sixth novel Jane & Dan at the End of the World, will be published in March 2025.

Colleen's Featured Titles

Jane and Dan at the End of the World

Berkley |
Women’s Fiction

Date night goes off the rails in this hilariously insightful take on midlife and marriage when one unhappy couple find themselves at the heart of a crime in progress, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise.

Jane and Dan have been married for nineteen years, but Jane isn’t sure they’re going to make it to twenty. 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 five hundred 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

Berkley |
Women’s Fiction

A Good Morning America Buzz Pick * A Marie Claire Book Club Pick for April * A Reader’s Digest Book Club Pick for April * A LibraryReads Pick * One of Southern Living‘s Most Anticipated 2023 Releases * One of Today’s Most Anticipated 2023 Releases

An unforgettable pairing of a college dropout and an eighty-four-year-old woman on the run from the law in this story full of tremendous heart, humor, and wit from the USA Today bestselling author of The Invisible Husband of Frick Island.

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 nineteen 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 1 a.m.  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.

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island

Berkley |
Women’s Fiction

“This is the hopeful book we all need right now. I loved it!”—Emily Giffin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lies That Bind

As Seen on the TODAY SHOW

A Southern Living Best Beach Read * A PopSugar Best Book of May * An Us Weekly Summer Beach Staple * A Frolic Under-the-Radar Book of May * An OK Magazine Best Summer Beach Read * An EW.com Best Book of Spring * A Country Living Can’t Miss Beach Read * A LibraryReads Pick for May * An Emily Giffin Book Club pick

Sometimes all you need is one person to really see you.

Piper Parrish’s life on Frick Island—a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay—is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom’s crab boat capsized and his body wasn’t recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive, but right there beside her, cooking him breakfast, walking him to the docks each morning, meeting him for their standard Friday night dinner date at the One-Eyed Crab. And what were the townspeople to do but go along with their beloved widowed Piper?

Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. A young ambitious journalist, he’d rather hoped he’d be a national award-winning podcaster by now, rather than writing fluff pieces for a small town newspaper. But when he gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. Determined it’s the career-making story he’s been needing for his podcast, Anders returns to the island to begin covert research and spend more time with the enigmatic Piper—but he has no idea out of all the lives he’s about to upend, it’s his that will change the most.

USA Today bestselling author Colleen Oakley delivers an unforgettable love story about an eccentric community, a grieving widow, and an outsider who slowly learns that sometimes faith is more important than the facts.

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My journey to becoming an author

The background/origin story and how Colleen came to be a published author. In this talk, Colleen weaves her love of reading as a child and her mom’s tireless work as a literacy advocate with the importance of education, community libraries, and teachers who encouraged her along the way. She also offers tips for those who want to pursue their own writing careers.

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Redefining Success

What does success look like? When you mix creative pursuits with capitalism, it can be easy to forget why you got into writing (or any art form) to begin with. And if you’re not making loads of money or on the top of bestseller charts, can you still be a success or are you a Failure with a capital F? Colleen Oakley talks about how she had to redefine success for herself in order to keep her head up in an often difficult profession, and how failing is often the springboard to something better.

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The Three R's: Research, research, research

As a former journalist, Colleen’s favorite part of writing isn’t the actual writing—it’s the research. In this talk, she shares the most fascinating bits she’s learned over the years—from wild allergies (there’s a woman allergic to water!) to second-wave feminism facts to the science behind mutual dreaming. She also talks about her process, interviewing experts, and how she starts with facts—and then spins those facts into fun fiction.

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Jane & Dan at the End of the World

How a book on the end of a marriage, midlife, eco-terrorism, and a prohibitively expensive restaurant on a cliff came to be. Colleen divulges the inspiration behind her latest book, fun facts from her research and how she finds the balance between heavy topics and humor.

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Ask Me Anything Author Q&A

Colleen is an open book! In an interview/q&a format, Colleen is happy to answer any questions about her books, writing, publishing, parenting four kids, living on a one-acre suburban farm (complete with chickens and a garden that her husband spends an inordinate amount of time on with little to show for his efforts) and trying to stay sane through it all.

Colleen’s Events Page

Colleen’s Press & Writing Page

Honors, Awards & Recognition

USA Today bestselling author
Indie Next Pick for two books
LibraryReads Hall of Fame author
Winner of French Reader Prize (Close Enough to Touch)
Two-time winner of Georgia Author of the Year
Long-listed for the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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