The Dakota Stevens Mysteries Series

Livin’ the Dream

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A couple weeks ago, I finished the second draft of the third episode (or volume) of the epic-length novel I’ve been writing for seven years. I’m now headed into the homestretch with this draft, since the next episode will be the last one in the series. What this means is, I hope to be finished … Read more

The Social Distancing Champion Thrives in the Pandemic

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I have a T-shirt with a quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald on it. The quote reads, “You don’t write because you want to say something. You write because you have something to say.” This is the reason why I so seldom write blog entries: because I usually don’t have anything to say. Well, now that … Read more

Hard(ish) Times

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Back in March, I wrote a cheeky blog entry about how COVID-19 wouldn’t change my work as a writer a single bit. Turns out, I was wrong. Despite people having more free time on their hands, my and other writers’ book sales are down dramatically. Because schools and libraries are closed for the foreseeable future, … Read more

Backstory: The Story Behind The Perfect Triple Threat

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The idea for The Perfect Triple Threat, a collection of three Dakota Stevens mystery novellas, didn’t come to me all at once. Rather, the book grew out of tiny, interesting seedlings that got my attention and wouldn’t let it go. The first glimmers of the book appeared on my radar in the spring and summer … Read more

Backstory: The Story Behind A Truth Stranger Than Fiction

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WARNING: This entry contains spoilers about the novel A Truth Stranger Than Fiction. Continue reading at your own risk! Most of my mystery novels, and my fiction in general, start from a kernel of an idea, a factoid, an image. I see or hear something that piques my interest, but whatever it is I sense … Read more

Backstory: The Story Behind the Second Dakota Stevens mystery, The Rich Are Different — Part 2

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Last week, in Part 1 of the story behind The Rich Are Different, I described my experiences during 9/11 in Manhattan and the months following, and how they pushed me to quit my corporate job and focus on being a novelist full-time. Now, in Part 2, I’m going to describe the development of the novel that … Read more

Backstory: The Story Behind the Second Dakota Stevens mystery, The Rich Are Different — Part 1

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The novel that became The Rich Are Different was written during the winter of 2001–02, over a year before I even conceived of the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series. In order to give you a clear understanding of the backstory behind The Rich Are Different, I need to tell you about what I was doing on … Read more

Writing in Asian Restaurants

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I’m writing this blog entry in one of my favorite Asian restaurants: Momiji in Rhinebeck, NY. I’m not exactly sure why, but I’ve been writing in Asian restaurants for over 25 years. Maybe it’s that when Chinese or Japanese waitresses get talking in their native tongues, their voices take on a soothing quality, surrounding me … Read more

Backstory: The Story Behind the First Dakota Stevens Mystery, A Real Piece of Work

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A Real Piece of Work and the entire Dakota Stevens Mystery Series might never have happened were it not for a bad office chair. During the winter of 2002-03, I was laid up in bed with an extremely painful herniated disc in my lower back. In addition to writing every day and submitting my stories … Read more

FREE Giveaway! — A Sneak-Preview of the Prequel to The Dakota Stevens Mystery Series

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The story of how Dakota Stevens and Svetlana Krüsh met and became an investigative team is one that has haunted me for 15 years—ever since I opened a fresh notebook and began the “pre-production” that became the first novel in the series, A Real Piece of Work. I knew I wanted Dakota and Svetlana’s introduction … Read more

Do Less, Achieve More

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In recent weeks, there has been a lot of positive activity regarding my latest book, my memoir of the writing life, Perpetuating Trouble. But what makes this activity particularly pleasant for me is this: it came about more or less spontaneously, without my having to do much of anything. In fact, you could say that … Read more

WANTED: A 21st Century Author Promoter

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I love writing. I love sitting down with half a dozen fresh Blackwing 602 pencils, sharpening them to a razor edge and filling up pages of a notebook with the words of a new novel. I love sitting in front of my Royal Quiet Deluxe typewriter and banging out pages. I love typing those pages … Read more

The Writer with the Master Number Clears the Deck

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Two years ago, when I released the 3rd Dakota Stevens installment, I read one of those rare books that gave me a much-needed kick in the ass. Here is the quote from that book that had the greatest impact on me: “So many unfinished projects wait in drawers, in closets, and on hard drives. They … Read more

Out with the Old, In with the New

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A New Year demands new writing projects and a new workspace. And since I’m a writer who is deeply inspired or discouraged by his environment, I need a workspace that has a lot of inspirational quotes, pictures and objects around me when I work. Look closely and you can find all of my talismans and inspirational … Read more

A REAL PIECE OF WORK — NOW ONLY 99¢!

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Today I decided to price A Real Piece of Work, the 1st novel in my critically acclaimed Dakota Stevens Mystery Series, at just 99¢. This price will remain in effect for the foreseeable future. I’m hoping that avid mystery readers, reluctant to pay full price for the first novel in a series, will find the … Read more

Orcutt Books Holiday Sale!

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Since October, I’ve been back at work on a few new projects, including new Dakota Stevens adventures, and to celebrate how well the writing has been going, I’m putting all of my books on sale. From December 20 through January 3 (on most platforms), all of my books are on sale at the bargain price of … Read more

“Almost Nailed It!” – My Appearance on Coast to Coast AM

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It was long. At 2 hours on the phone, it was by far the longest interview I’ve ever done. But it was worth it. To do the interview, I had to stay up way past my usual 10 p.m. (Eastern) bedtime, and I had to pound down half a gallon of coffee beforehand, but it was … Read more

A Helium-3 and Oil Timeline: Is There a Conspiracy Between the U.S. Government and the Fossil Fuels Industry?

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While doing research for my book A Truth Stranger Than Fiction, I found a lot of material on helium-3 and oil, some of which suggested the existence of a conspiracy between the U.S. government and the fossil fuels industry to suppress development of helium-3 and moon mining so that the resources in the Bakken Formation … Read more

Dakota & Svetlana ARE Going to be a TV Series

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I HAVE DECIDED that the adventures of Dakota & Svetlana are going to be a television series.     As I helped a friend with his screenplay today, something occurred to me: Ever since I wrote the first Dakota Stevens mystery, A Real Piece of Work, I’ve always imagined Dakota and Svetlana as a TV … Read more

Why I’m Selling My Books Everywhere Now, Instead of Just on Amazon

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Between January 2012 and this month (over 3 years), I sold my novels on Amazon exclusively. I did this under their KDP “Select” (Kindle Direct Publishing Select) program because I was convinced of the rumors: that if your books were in Select (making them ineligible to be sold on any other platforms), they would get … Read more

Paying Attention as a Fiction Writer

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I have been writing fiction since I was 13 years old, when I first read Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger and was swept away not only by the story, but also by Fleming’s eloquence. This marks the thirty-second year that I’ve been writing (not necessarily publishing) fiction, and one of the things about writing that has never ceased … Read more

Helium-3, Alternative Energy & The China Problem

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Recently I was interviewed by Alternative Energy eMagazine about an issue that plays a part in my most recent mystery novel, A Truth Stranger Than Fiction. The interview follows below, or you can read it on AltEnergyMag.com here.   What is helium-3? What I’m about to talk about might seem far-fetched. It might seem impossible. … Read more

A California Drive-Time Interview with Phil Cowan

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I just enjoyed a terrific 15-minute interview with radio talk show host Phil Cowan of KTKZ AM 1380, Sacramento, California. Before the live interview, I was under the impression that we would only be discussing alternative energy—one of the topics at the heart of my most recent Dakota Stevens mystery novel, A Truth Stranger Than Fiction. … Read more

A Brief Q&A About the New Dakota Mystery

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Is any of A Truth Stranger Than Fiction based in reality? Absolutely. Without giving any spoilers, I can tell you that the heart of the mystery in A Truth Stranger Than Fiction involves a highly controversial current issue—an issue that is inextricably intertwined with the Earth’s future. The novel also deals with corporate profiteering, corporate-government … Read more

Write to Support Your Writing: A Guest Spot on The Author Biz

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Whether you’re an aspiring author or a working journeyman writer, Steve Campbell’s podcast The Author Biz is worth your time and attention. And I’m not saying this just because he recently had me as a guest on his show—a show during which I talked about my experiences with the different kinds of writing I’ve done to … Read more

Why I Write a PI Series

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I wasn’t going to write the latest Dakota Stevens mystery. Back in June of last year, at a reading I gave from my then-new pastoral novel One Hundred Miles from Manhattan, an audience member asked me whether I would be writing another Dakota Stevens novel. I had written the first draft of what became A Truth … Read more

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas

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’Twas the night before the night before Christmas, And all through this writer’s head, Not a bad thought was stirring, not even dread. The writer was thankful, most of all for Alexas, And his many readers and fans, from London to Texas. Thankful, too, for advance readers Hillary and Tony, Upon whom he could always … Read more

A Truth Stranger Than Fiction — Book Trailer

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For the 3rd novel in my Dakota Stevens Mystery Series, I decided I wanted to juice up the book promotion. So, in addition to hiring a publicity company to drive the book launch after January 1, I made a little book trailer.

My thanks go out to Jill Cassidy—the talented voiceover artist who narrates the trailer—as well as all of the talented and generous photographers whose images I was able to use for free under a Creative Commons license. Following are the complete trailer credits:

 

Writer, Editor, Director: Chris Orcutt

Executive Producer: Alexas Orcutt

Narrator: Jill Cassidy
http://voice123.com/jilliancassidy

Theme Music: “La búsqueda de Ianna” by Epic Soul Factory
http://goo.gl/WJREBM

Sound Consultant: Tony Scotto

Book Cover: Lisa DeSpain

Original Dakota Stevens Cover Design: Elisabeth Pinio

 

PHOTOGRAPHS USED IN TRAILER:

* The following are listed in order of their appearance in the trailer. All photos were used under a Creative Commons license that allowed for commercial reuse and modification. Unless otherwise specified, all photos were color originally and were cropped for the trailer. Thanks go out to these talented photographers for making their works available under Creative Commons.

Remko van Dokkum, “MacBook Pro Backlit Keyboard”
http://goo.gl/E5s4zR

David Iliff, “New York Midtown Skyline at Night”
http://goo.gl/n7FMVq

Ken, “Guns & Ammo 1”
http://goo.gl/L8glx5

Kumweni, “Fifth Avenue, New York”
http://goo.gl/1N9res

Milosz1, “Microscope”
http://goo.gl/JUe4Aq

Aleksandr Doodko, “Cool Businessman Standing on Dark Gradient Background”

Adrian Askew, “Reflected Chess Pieces”
http://goo.gl/3UGXem

Gabriel Saldana, “Img_0055 (Runway Legs)”
http://goo.gl/521ySP

Cliffano Subagio, “Brooklyn Bridge Traffic Leaving Manhattan”
http://goo.gl/f7qvQd

Glenn Beltz, “New York Penn Station”
* Already B&W
http://goo.gl/lO9laH

HELVETICA, “The Waves of Maine”
http://goo.gl/U4PV9y

Katharine Shields, “Scenic Camden, ME”
http://goo.gl/HheeBV

Kim Carpenter, “At Schoodic Point, Maine 8607”
http://goo.gl/3qbV19

Colin, “Circuit de la Sarthe 2009_3”
* Car driving away at night
http://goo.gl/R3Zbjv

Angela N., “Upper East Side”
http://goo.gl/18HOOh

Dov Harrington, “11-24-09 (Madison Square Park)”
http://goo.gl/tPLBvd

David Simmonds, “Time in a Bottle (Woman Silhouette)”
* Originally B&W
http://goo.gl/i2heKN

Timothy Tsui, “A Special M4 Carbine for a Specialist”
http://goo.gl/A2StTR

Carol M. Highsmith, “Washington, D.C. – 2007 Aerial View”
http://goo.gl/OrMPSM

Andy Rusch, “Challenger 300 – N306MF”
http://goo.gl/e5Gmbn

Tim Evanston, “Long Long Road – North Dakota”
http://goo.gl/AY1Inx

Nic McPhee, “Sunset at the Buffalo Ridge Wind Farm”
http://goo.gl/8VL5f9

NASA Goddard, “Satellite View of the Americas”
http://goo.gl/yveW0x

Mike Lewinsky, “Autumn Moon No. 1”
http://goo.gl/C79P8R

Jason Scott, “Headshot of Chris Orcutt”
http://goo.gl/d7XD6w

The Next Dakota Stevens Mystery is Done

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IT’S DONE. After 90,000 words, 6 drafts, endless polishing, and countless tweaks, spell-checks and fact-checks, the next Dakota Stevens mystery, A Truth Stranger Than Fiction, is finished. The novel will be available for pre-order by December 22, and will be released on January 1 or 2. The reason for the January release is so I … Read more

Me and My Montblanc

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This is the very short story of a man and his pen. Around 1988, when I went to college to study philosophy, my forward-thinking uncle, Deal Waters, and my aunt, Laverne, knew that I wanted to become a writer and bought me a beautiful pen to encourage me. The pen was (and still is) a Montblanc … Read more

When Your Fetal Book Starts to Kick

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Since mid-June, I’ve been earnestly at work on the third Dakota Stevens mystery novel, but it wasn’t until last week that I felt the fetus that is the new book begin to kick. I’ve heard mothers, some of them friends of mine, describe the thrill of feeling the gestating baby kick for the first time. Many … Read more

A Successful Interview with Pam Stack on Authors on the Air

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This evening, I did my first-ever LIVE radio interview, and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. Host Pam Stack asked me some thought-provoking questions and gave me the opportunity to give detailed answers. There was also a wonderful, unexpected call-in—my friend and colleague Hillary Leftwich, who praised my new novel, One Hundred Miles … Read more

A Written Interview with Authors in the Spotlight with Lucie Dunn

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In my blog post yesterday, I mentioned my upcoming internet radio interview with Pam Stack, host of Authors on the Air, on Wed., April 30 at 8:00 p.m. Well, as a corollary to that interview, Pam’s co-host, Lucie Dunn, does a written interview with authors appearing on Pam’s show and publishes them to her Authors … Read more

My Upcoming Interview with Authors on the Air Host Pam Stack

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On Wednesday, April 30 at 8:00 p.m. EST, I’m being interviewed LIVE on Authors on the Air with host Pam Stack. Besides my new novel, One Hundred Miles from Manhattan, we’ll be discussing my other fiction, the craft of writing, and anything else she decides to ask me. (I’m sure there will be surprises.) Some of … Read more

My Radio Interview on “Murders, Mysteries and Mayhem”

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Today my interview on the Murders, Mysteries and Mayhem program (part of the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network) aired, and it was a terrific success. The show is hosted by the friendly, knowledgeable and engaging Stephen Campbell, and as I mentioned a few days ago, I was taken aback by how well-prepared he … Read more

Chris Orcutt & Dakota Stevens Hit the Airwaves

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Today, I’m in my first-ever radio interview. I haven’t heard the completed, edited version yet, so you can bet I’m going to tune in to hear how I did. If you’re interested in hearing about the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series, my fiction, and writing in general, tune in today (Thursday, Dec. 19) at 6:30 pm … Read more

The Adventure of the Sherlock Holmes Aficionado

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Thanks to the thousands of readers of my Dakota Stevens mysteries, in the past 18 months I’ve been able to fulfill two lifelong dreams. The first was going to Paris, spending two solid weeks exploring every inch of that gorgeous city, and walking in the footsteps of my literary idols—including Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Joyce, Flaubert and … Read more

Orcutt Books Back on KDP Select

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This is just a quick entry to let readers know that my books—The Man, The Myth, The Legend; The Rich Are Different; and A Real Piece of Work—are back on the Amazon Kindle platform exclusively. For Amazon Prime members, this means that you can “borrow” any of my books for free. (And I get paid for the … Read more

Two Ideas to Get You Through (The 1st Draft)

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If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you already know that I began writing the third installment in the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series last Monday, and that I’ve written about 18,000 words so far. What you don’t know, because I haven’t spoken about it at all, is what a bitch this first draft has … Read more

Dakota Novels Get 5 Stars from IndieReader

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IndieReader, the popular and informative web-zine about self-published books, reviewed A Real Piece of Work back in February and gave the novel 5 stars. So when I published The Rich Are Different over the summer, I submitted the novel to them for a possible review. They were swamped at the time, but I followed up with them … Read more

Dakota Stevens #3: Starting from Scratch

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While writing the first two books in the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series—A Real Piece of Work and The Rich Are Different—I kept notebooks of other plot ideas, titles, scenes, characters and anything else that occurred to me for future installments. As a result of these notebooks, I had begun two more Dakota novels and created outlines … Read more

Publishing Your Ebook: Don’t Go It Alone

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A year ago, when I published A Real Piece of Work, I did it the hard way. I formatted and converted the book myself. Although I have some web design experience and am relatively comfortable with HTML and XML, and although the final product turned out great, it took me a solid month of 16-hour days … Read more

Thanks for the Incredible Year

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A little more than a year ago, I published A Real Piece of Work for the Kindle, not for a second anticipating the terrific success the book would have. In fact, when I published it, my only hope was to sell 1,000 copies, at which time I would release the second novel, The Rich Are Different. I thought it … Read more

Gratitude

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As a writer, it’s easy to fall into the habit of focusing on what’s missing, on the goals you fail to accomplish, and to take for granted the victories you do have. In my own case, I’m in the middle of a major victory. My characters of Dakota and Svetlana are making it possible for … Read more

My Writing Secret Weapon

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For as long as I’ve been writing—over 20 years professionally now—I’ve collected articles on writing, handwritten snatches from books on writing, examples from great authors, as well as my own tips, tricks and hard-won wisdom on the art, and I’ve kept it all in a series of composition notebooks titled “Notes on Writing.” These notebooks … Read more

Engaging Novels About a Detective

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The other day, after publishing the second novel in the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series—The Rich Are Different—I pulled a giant plastic crate labeled “Dakota Stevens Stuff” out of the closet. This crate contains notebooks, early drafts, and reams of research for the first book in the series, A Real Piece of Work. As I started to … Read more

The Rich Are Different is Now Available

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The second book in the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series by Chris Orcutt, The Rich Are Different, is now available for Kindle on Amazon. In February, I started re-editing the novel, and five strenuous months later, it’s finally ready. In the last month alone, I went through the manuscript half a dozen times. I wanted it to … Read more

Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough

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If I were merely interested in selling copies of the second Dakota & Svetlana adventure, The Rich Are Different, I would probably release the novel now. According to reviews of the first book, there is certainly a demand for the second. And by the standards of most readers, not to mention many other writers in … Read more

Please Bear With Me During Remodeling

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Because of a recent pharmaceutical spam attack on some of my websites, I am in the midst of moving this blog and DakotaStevens.com to another hosting provider. These sites will look bad for some time. I ask for your patience. It will take me a month or more to rebuild both DakotaStevens.com and Chris Orcutt, … Read more

Rewriting The Rich Are Different

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While in the post office the other day, a couple of postal workers who bought A Real Piece of Work complimented me on the writing. “It reads so smoothly,” one of them said. “It seems like it’s effortless for you,” said another. Then they asked what I was up to now. I told them, “Reworking … Read more

Next in the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series…

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Back in late November 2011 when I released A Real Piece of Work, I promised to release book #2 in the series, The Rich Are Different, once book #1 sold 1,000 copies. When I wrote that, I was convinced it would take me at least 10 months to sell that many copies (an average of … Read more

The Free Ebook Experiment — Part 2 —Conclusion

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Last week I said I would report on the results of my 2 “free days” on Amazon’s KDP Select: the total number of free downloads, as well as the number of sales of A Real Piece of Work in the days afterwards. So, without further ado, here are the numbers: Free Downloads (approx.): Day 1 = … Read more

Writing vs. Self-Promotion

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The big problem facing writers today is finding a balance between writing and self-promotion. I’m currently doing a free promotion of my Kindle mystery novel, A Real Piece of Work, and I’ve discovered that it’s easy for tweeting, posting to Facebook, and blogging and the like to take over your life. Meanwhile, in my own … Read more

The Free Ebook Experiment — Part 1

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According to the new, social-networking philosophy of book promotion, one of the most effective ways of building your audience is to give away copies of your book. Of course the old-school part of me—the part of me that has been paid for my writing ever since I was a cub reporter—bristles at this. I don’t … Read more

It's All About the Reader

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ONCE UPON A TIME there was a mystery novel, a mystery novel that only one agent and zero editors believed in. This mystery novel was read by editors at top publishing houses including Dutton, Harper, St. Martin’s Press, Harcourt, Tor and Poisoned Pen. It was even read by a major movie studio. Yet none of … Read more

An Open Thank You Letter to Readers

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This one is for you readers. For those of you who took a risk on a relatively unknown quantity (me) by plunking down cash for my PI/mystery novel, A Real Piece of Work. For reading it, and for expressing your love of the book to everyone you know. Your words of praise for the novel … Read more

Chris Orcutt's Barbaric Yawp

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“I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”—Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass THE OTHER DAY, I wrote that I was going to “take it easy” when it came to self-promotion, but you know what? Screw that. I don’t want to take it easy. I don’t want to be modest, humble, or self-deprecating. I’ve done … Read more

You Don’t Need a Kindle to Read A Real Piece of Work

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Friends, Romans, Countrymen: I’ve received dozens of messages from would-be book-buyers who say, “I’d love to read A Real Piece of Work, but I don’t have a Kindle.” NOTE: You don’t need a Kindle to read my novel. With the FREE Kindle Reader app, you can read it on your iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Droid, Windows … Read more