Jean Davies Okimoto
The Love Ceiling is a Women’s Fiction Finalist!
USA Book News National Best Books 2009 Award 
The Love Ceiling is a winner of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Award.
NEW!
Podcast of Jean Okimoto KCLS interview NEW! Jeanie discusses psychotherapy, publishing and older women in Contemporary Psychotherapy Links to Interviews and Podcasts Page ONE Literary Newsletter 
Uncle Hideki & The Empty Nest The Theatre Off Jackson September 14 - October 8, 2006 From The Seattle Times Jean Davies Okimoto's funny, sometimes wistful play, "Uncle Hideki & the Empty Nest" … gives rare insight into the daunting journey of finding oneself, especially when faced with the warring traditions of two cultures. The Suyama family's awkward situations are often defused by comedy, creating many laugh-out-loud moments as the characters slog through the sticky entanglements of family ties. Time and again, Davies Okimoto's strong writing comes through… Because the well-developed characters lend multiple dimensions to the play, award-winning children's-book-writer Davies Okimoto touches on issues as varied as homosexuality, retirement, second marriages and life dreams…(and) taps into many universal truths about what it takes to be a woman — in the myriad roles of mother, daughter, wife. From The International Examiner Award –winning author Jean Davies Okimoto has crafted a delightful story about the tension between family obligations and self-fulfillment and above all love…the highly entertaining “Uncle Hideki and the Empty Nest” has succeeded beautifully. |
Represented by: Robert Astle and Associates Literary Management - www.astleliterary.com - Email:robert@astleliterary.com 
Walter’s Muse follows Okimoto’s debut novel for adults, The Love Ceiling, a Season’s Reading Pick of the King County Library System, selected by booksellers for the Indie Next Reading Group List, and the winner for ebook fiction in the 2009 Indie Next Generation Awards. It’s the first summer of her retirement and librarian Maggie Lewis is relishing the unfolding of sweet summer days on Vashon Island: walking on the beach, reading the classics, and kayaking. But in June when a sudden storm hits the island, Maggie’s summer becomes about as peaceful as navigating white water. Not only does her wealthy sister arrive uninvited with a startling announcement; but Maggie finds herself entangled with her new Baker’s Beach neighbor, Walter Hathaway. A famous children’s author and recovering alcoholic, Walter has a history with Maggie they would each like to forget. Delightfully told with humor and insight, Walter’s Muse is a page turner for romantics, writers, and the young at heart at any age. “A joy to read!”– Rayna Holtz, Librarian, King County Library System ret. “Readers will connect with this warm story of two lonely people finding each other late in life.”– Library Journal “An exhilarating portrait of a woman in her prime...revives in all of us a lust for life, with its splendid twists and turns, gifts of love and friendship, and promises of more surprises to come.”- Nina Sankovitch, Huffington Post, author of Tolstoy and the Purple Chair “For those who believe in second chances in love and life, Walter’s Muse provides a warm and engaging blueprint. Okimoto’s loveably quirky characters become a reader’s friends and family. I hated to finish the last page.”- Connie Burns, School Library Journal, reviewer, ret. “Brimming with wit and wisdom...a delightful celebration of mature love, sure to enchant fans of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand!”- Juli Morser, Books by the Way “...a delightful story told with wit and charm.”- Ann Combs, Eagle Harbor Books “For those of us who are also aging children’s writers, Walter’s Muse is both frighteningly authentic and blessedly amusing.”- David Lubar, author of Attack of the Vampire Weenies 
Newly arrived from Kazakhstan, Maya Alazova resents her little brother and the way her mother babies him. When the school moves her from the English Language Learner program to mainstream classes, the world of this pretty seventh grader turns upside down. Maya meets a boy who opens the floodgates to her heart, but she becomes the target of a jealous bully and the boy’s attention sets off a hurricane at home. But when Maya finds that her little brother can help with their new culture in ways their parents can’t, she discovers a bond she didn’t know existed. “Okimoto explores the world of kids in middle school years—fitting in, dealing with ‘old fashioned’ parents, dating, and attachment to one’s home—with laser-like clarity and a huge dose of tenderness. This book will leave students saying, ‘Hey, that is exactly me!’” “In this illuminating, beautifully told story, an immigrant teen and her Kazakh family struggle to cope with poverty, long hours of menial labor, school bullies, American permissiveness, and the clash of Kazakh and U.S. family morés. Plucky Maya and her family pay with hard labor and heartaches for the chance to live the American dream.” “I really identified with Maya and her struggles with her role at school, her parents’ rules, and her desire to feel like she is good at something. These issues come up again and again in childhood, and especially in middle school. It is definitely a book I’d recommend to any student at that stage in life.” “Okimoto creates a realistic scenario with warmly drawn characters...a great book and very needed in this time of new prejudices against people from other cultures.” 
Women, aging and creativity...a book club favorite! The Love Ceiling In The Love Ceiling you'll meet sixty-four year old Anne Kuroda Duppstaad, who after the death of her Japanese American mother, confronts the toxic legacy of her father, a famous artist and cruel narcissist, to become an artist in her own right. Rave reviews for The Love Ceiling "rich with life experiences... rendered with compassion and insight.” “The Love Ceiling will ring true with many women.” “...an intriguing, absorbing, and unusual novel.” “...wonderful, touching, funny. Jean Davies Okimoto writes with literary perfect pitch.” “A lovely book, full of wisdom and compassion. With keen insight, the author examines the problems of achieving fulfillment as both a woman and an artist.” “A fine painting of words by a true artist....so compelling that once you begin you cannot put it down.” “Any woman who has ever wrestled with a difficult father will find inspiration and solace in these lucid pages.” "In this courageous journey, Okimoto gives us a model for any woman yearning to claim her truth, to be seen for who she is in her deepest heart. I was inspired by The Love Ceiling and recommend it for any woman seeking greater self-expression." |
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