Author Archive: Kelly Oliver

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Kelly Oliver, On Writing Historical Fiction

Kelly Oliver, On Writing Historical Fiction

I love reading historical mysteries—Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody, Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs, Rhys Bowen’s Georgiana Rannoch, Sujata Massey’s Perveen Mistry. Recently, I wrote my first historical mystery, Betrayal at Ravenswick, a WW1 mystery featuring file clerk turned spy, Fiona Figg. It’s 1917, the height of the Great War, and a suspicious South African war correspondent […]

May 8, 2020 | By | Reply More
Why I Write Funny Feminist Noir

Why I Write Funny Feminist Noir

When I was in grad school, I dated a guy who would dress me up in skimpy outfits, lock me in handcuffs, and put me in a box. No, not like that! He was a magician and I was his assistant. My kitten, Merlin, was his magic rabbit. He would pull Merlin from a hat […]

September 25, 2018 | By | Reply More
Tackling Contemporary Social Issues in Fiction

Tackling Contemporary Social Issues in Fiction

  In addition to page-turning entertainment, my novels take on ripped-from-the-headlines women’s issues.  My first novel, Wolf: A Jessica James Mystery, deals with the timely issue of party rape on campus, while the second, Coyote takes on the human trafficking on Indian Reservations that comes along with hydraulic fracturing (Fracking). And the third, F.O.X. features […]

May 1, 2017 | By | Reply More
Dealing With Serous Issues with Humor and Wit

Dealing With Serous Issues with Humor and Wit

A couple of years ago, I was pitching my first novel, WOLF (KAOS press June 2016), in New York City, and when I told a group of young women authors about the subplot and themes of date rape, party rape, and rape drugs, and I said it was a humorous mystery, some of them were […]

September 9, 2016 | By | 1 Reply More