Colleen Oakes & The Black Coats Feb 07, 2019

Colleen Oakes says there were many points of inspiration for her novel The Black Coats. In fact, she says, the came out of a “giant cauldron” of inspiration. There was a vision in her head of a group of girls holding baseball bats, a black pea coat lying on the side of the road in Nebraska and Colleen’s fascination with vigilante justice. At the time she first stirred the pot on this particular novel, however, Colleen was getting ready to write a new book an earlier series. She quickly put that book aside in favor of The Black Coats. As she puts it, The Black Coats “burst out of the chest” of her other works. And now, three years after completing it and turning into her publisher, The Black Coats is being published this month – the official publication date in February 12. Colleen Oakes is the bestselling author of books for both teens and adults, including, in addition to The Black Coats, she has written The Queen of Hearts Series and three-book Wendy Darling Saga, among others. She lives in North Denver with her husband and is currently at work on her third YA fairytale series, a YA contemporary thriller and a fantasy collaboration.