A Truth Stranger Than Fiction

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

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

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

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

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