About the writer

Janet Oakley is an award winning author of memoir essays. She has been published in various magazines, anthologies, and other media including the Cup of Comfort series and Historylink

, the on-line encyclopedia of Washington State history.  She writes social studies curricula for schools and historical organizations, demonstrates 19^th century folkways, and is the curator of education at a small county museum in La Conner, WA.  Her historical novels, The Tree Soldier set in 1930s Pacific NW and The Jossing Affair set in WW II Norway were PNWA Literary Contest finalists.  She currently is revising a novel set in mid-19^th century Washington Territory.

She writes both non-fiction and fiction, applying her research skills to both types of writing.  In 2006 she was the manager of a History Channel grant, researching old court cases in early Washington Territory.

She especially enjoys the hunt in old newspapers, court cases, and other delights in archives around the country.  The history of the Pacific Northwest is rich and not as well known in the rest of the country beyond Lewis and Clark’s passage through, yet crucial happenings took place here that influenced the formation of United State of America.   Her latest non-fiction project is a  19th century bark that was a part of the coastal trade between Puget’s Sound and San Francisco.

Oakley has a degree in History and a Masters in Education and teaches history and writing at several different college programs in the Northwest when she is not involved with museum work.