Little Hatchet | Book 1 of 3
By Phil Oakley
In the years after the Civil War, James Oakley moves his family to the banks of Little Hatchet Creek in New Mexico. When his little brother is kidnapped from the front porch of their cabin, 12-year-old Walter Oakley sets off in pursuit. In time, the Oakleys make their piece with the existing residents of their new neighborhood: the Mescalero Apaches, the Comanches, and the Tejanos. But new challenges await in Texas as the new century dawns. The hardships posed by the frontier pale compared with Walter’s efforts to keep his family together amid the decadence, drunkenness, and violence of Prohibition.
As the first installment in The Oakleys, Little Hatchet is an epic historical family saga that portrays the multigenerational struggle for survival, loosely based on the author’s kin. A tale of courage, determination, and endurance set against the unimaginable tragedies that beset the lives of Ada and Walter Oakley and their eight children.
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Runners | Book 2 of 2
By Phil Oakley
Heartbreak awaits Ada as Book Two of The Oakleys opens. How many of her beautiful children will be lost to the Roaring 20s? Logic says Ralph shouldn’t be wounding Ada’s heart. But as Runners begins, Ralph’s aboard a shrimp boat sailing out to procure another shipment of illegal liquor—only weeks after his brother Glenn was murdered in the rum wars.
Daughter Maryon is battling her high school. An honor she has earned is being given to a male student. Daughter Jimmie is hiding her insecurity behind a crude exterior. Jimmie smokes with the boys, cusses with the boys, and soon is drinking with the boys, too.
Ada’s worries also include two bad marriages, and a perfect marriage that doesn’t happen. Brooks’ lifelong dream dies in one tragic night. Ray will be the second sibling to repeatedly disappear. World War II makes Ada’s anxiety constant with three Oakleys facing danger.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phil Oakley
Phil Oakley is a writer, educator, filmmaker, journalist and executive. He is the author of eight novels. He began working on his first one in the spring of 1964, while a freshman at The University of Texas at Austin. That book finally reached publication fifty years later in 2014. In addition to writing, Phil currently works as a paraprofessional educator at Kennedale HighSchool.
Previously, he served as Director of the Louisiana Film Commission, was a regional executive of The Walt Disney Company, supervising coverage for ABC News in the southwestern United States and Latin America. He also was an editor/producer for The Dallas Morning News. As a journalist, Phil won national awards from Columbia University, the Radio-Television News Directors’ Association and a National Headliners Award. He covered presidents and presidential campaigns, beginning with Lyndon Johnson and extending through the terms of George W. Bush. Phil was born in Austin during the last days of World War II. He lives in Arlington, Texas with his wife, the former Nancy Matens of Baton Rouge. Both are graduates of Louisiana State University. They have two sons and one granddaughter.