Atlanta writer Colleen Oakley’s new novel is a genre-bending marital adventure

For Oakley, who has lived with her husband, Fred, and four children in Smyrna for 15 years, centering her sixth book around a novelist’s marriage presented her with fun challenges.

Credit: Courtesy Penguin Random House

Credit: Courtesy Penguin Random House

“It’s a running joke that I don’t let Fred read my books until I’m done because I want to preserve our marriage,” she said in a recent interview. “So I can’t have his critiques or have him looking over my shoulder. That’s not what his role is. His role is to read it when it’s completely done and say that it’s fantastic.”

Her own method in the creative process is less certain.

“If I had one, that would be fantastic,” she laughed.

When she begins a new novel, Oakley starts with an idea that intimidates and excites her.

“My method is to come up with a very outlandish story line that scares me, in that I don’t think I can actually succeed in writing it,” she said. “Something that feels very challenging and something that has a lot of room for humor ― I love finding the humor in these very dark scenarios.”

From the first idea, she maps where she thinks the story will go, but it often surprises her.

“I generally know where I’m starting, who my main characters are and where I think it’s going to end up,” Oakley said. “But I have no idea how I’m going to get from point A to point B. That’s where I would say the fun is, but mostly it’s a lot of crying and drinking vodka.”

This method has helped her produce USA Today bestsellers, including “The Invisible Husband of Frick Island” and “The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise.”

In contrast, the character of Jane in the new book feels like a failure as an author because her latest book sold fewer than 500 copies. Then, she becomes convinced that the hostage crisis is using her material as its inspiration, which is something she cannot get her husband to believe.

Credit: Photo courtesy of Colleen Oakley

Credit: Photo courtesy of Colleen Oakley

“That is a hard bridge for Dan to cross,” Oakley said. “He kind of thinks that it’s Jane’s ego getting in the way at first. Then, he finally has to admit that, yes, this is what is happening. And they have to figure out what they’re going to do about it to prevent the terrible ending of Jane’s book.”

Oakley said completing “Jane and Dan at the End of the World” was a challenging feat.

“This one took me two years to write, and there were many, many points when I wasn’t quite sure that I was going to get to the end of it,” she said. “It was a really delicate balance trying to find the humor, the emotional depth and the thriller parts that keep the reader turning pages. There were a lot of balls in the air, and I’m not a good juggler. I’m very proud that I finished this.”

Readers rush to the finish, too.

“It’s a real fun escape,” Oakley said. “So many people are saying they read it one sitting — that they couldn’t put it down.”

Because it puts a troubled marriage in the middle of a pressure cooker situation, the stakes in the novel are relatable and high.

“I was so keen to write this because marriage is great, and I love my marriage and my husband,” the author said. “But sometimes marriage can feel like you’ve been taken hostage and there’s no escape. I really wanted that metaphor, which I think a lot of people who have been married for 15 or 20 years can relate to. It doesn’t mean you don’t love your husband and family and your life. It just means that there’s a lot of monotony sometimes that you have to work through.”

With “Jane and Dan at the End of the World,” that monotony gets interrupted by surprise after surprise in the plot. The book itself doesn’t just fit into one genre. It’s women’s fiction. It’s a romantic comedy. It’s a thriller.

The notion of surprise and the discovery of something new is what keeps readers invested in books, Oakley said. It’s the same things that drive her to write them.

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Benjamin Carr is an ArtsATL editor-at-large who has contributed to the publication since 2019 and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Atlanta Press Club and the Horror Writers Association. His writing has been featured in podcasts for iHeartMedia, onstage as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and online in The Guardian. His debut novel, “Impacted,” was published by the Story Plant.

Credit: ArtsATL

Credit: ArtsATL

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