The Late Bloomer at 56
At 1:38 a.m. today, I turned 56 years old. The thing is, I don’t feel fifty-six. Maybe this is because, for the past ten years,…
Another Draft Bites the Dust
A month ago, I finished the third draft of what I’m calling my “teen epic.” Between December 2023 and the end of April 2024, I…
One Decision that Changed My Life for the Better
Last weekend, I attended a surprise party for my younger sister’s 50th birthday. The party, hosted by her husband and best friend, was a great…
Aloneness
Lately, more than ever, I’ve been thinking about a quote by the late, great playwright Sam Shepard: “Aloneness is a condition of writing. You look…
F‑ck Fifty-one
This morning, to celebrate my birthday and the fact that I’m probably in the best shape of my life since I was 17, I went…
The Social Distancing Champion Thrives in the Pandemic
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.…
Come What May, the Writing Life Rolls Along
This morning I overheard my wife on a conference call with her coworkers at the college where she works. They were discussing how the college…
The Inspiration of New Places and New Spaces for a Novelist
For a novelist, sometimes a minuscule change in routine, place or living situation can produce a massive shift in perspective that opens the floodgates of…
The Post-Social Media Novelist
It’s only been a week since I “deactivated” my personal Facebook account and already I feel like a great weight has been lifted off my…
Backstory: The Story Behind The Perfect Triple Threat
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…
Chris Orcutt’s Favorite Short Stories
Two weeks ago, I wrote about the backstory of my short story collection The Man, The Myth, The Legend, explaining what was happening in my…
On the Virtues of Being Able to Write Anywhere
Compared to other novelists I know or have read about, I’m something of an anomaly: I’m a novelist who can write just about anywhere. While…
Backstory: The Story Behind the Second Dakota Stevens mystery, The Rich Are Different — Part 2
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…
Backstory: The Story Behind the Second Dakota Stevens mystery, The Rich Are Different — Part 1
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…
Backstory: The Story Behind the First Dakota Stevens Mystery, A Real Piece of Work
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…
FREE Giveaway! — A Sneak-Preview of the Prequel to The Dakota Stevens Mystery Series
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…
My Prodigiously Convoluted Yet Miraculously Productive Low-Tech Writing Process — Part 2 — With a Few Modest Writing Secrets
In the first installment of this piece, I described the first half of my writing process: Writing the first draft in longhand or on a…
My Prodigiously Convoluted Yet Miraculously Productive Low-Tech Writing Process — Part 1
I’m writing this blog entry on my latest piece of low-tech equipment, an Olivetti Lettera 32 typewriter. All told, I now have six typewriters: •…
Backstory: The Story Behind Perpetuating Trouble
The opening sentence of Perpetuating Trouble is absolutely true: “I was told to write this book by a pair of alien girls.” That incident with…
Do Less, Achieve More
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…
Being a Novelist Isn’t a Job, It’s a Lifestyle
Back in December, after having completed the first draft of a 550,000-word, 1,600-page novel, I took a nearly month-long vacation (my first in years). For…
Perpetuating Trouble: I’m Livin’ the Dream! Or Am I?
I’m pleased to announce the release of my personal memoir about the writing life, Perpetuating Trouble. I’ve been working on this book on and off since…
Procrastination as a Rarefied Art Form
A brief excerpt from my new humorous memoir, coming out this fall: I can’t speak for all blocked writers, but when I’m blocked, I seek…
WANTED: A 21st Century Author Promoter
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…
The Writer with the Master Number Clears the Deck
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…
Only Have Time for Essentials
“At 46 one must be a miser; only have time for essentials.” — Virginia Woolf, diary, 3/22/1928 I stumbled upon this quotation earlier this week.…
Why This 2016 Writer is Going to the Woods
When Henry David Thoreau went to the woods by Walden Pond in Concord, Mass. in 1845, he had his own, somewhat convoluted, reasons for doing…
Chris signing a copy of 100 MILES for a reader at the Junior League of Poughkeepsie Authors' Luncheon.
A Lovely Authors’ Luncheon with the Junior League of Poughkeepsie
Today I attended an Authors’ Luncheon hosted by the Junior League of Poughkeepsie. The luncheon was a benefit to raise money for a JLP–Dutchess Community…
Out with the Old, In with the New
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,…
Entering the movie, a movie I've waited two years to see.
The Awesomeness that is Bond Day
For about the past 30 years—or ever since I got my driver’s license—my best friend Jason Scott and I have attended the opening of the…
The Novelist Heals
Forget any romantic images you might have of novel-writing: that it’s nothing but staring out big picture windows at the sea and autographing copies of…
Write to Support Your Writing: A Guest Spot on The Author Biz
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…
When Your Fetal Book Starts to Kick
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…
To All So-Called Authors: Stop Doing This; You Look Like Idiots
Maybe I shouldn’t be giving away my writing secrets. Maybe I should be like Ernest Hemingway, who, with the exception of a couple of Paris…
Thank You, Anne Bernay, Wherever You Are—A Writing Romance
“Chris, whatever you do, just keep writing.” —Anne Bernay, 5/1994 Twenty years ago this month, I had no idea what I was doing with my life. I…
A Successful Interview with Pam Stack on Authors on the Air
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…
My Upcoming Interview with Authors on the Air Host Pam Stack
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…
A Short Documentary on Why I Write in Pencil
Back in February, my documentary filmmaker friend Jason Scott created a short documentary about me any my use of pencils for writing first drafts. The…
One Writer’s “Vacation” in a Psychiatric Hospital
Last Monday, March 17, I said that I was going on a little “vacation” because I had exhausted myself while finishing the novel. The novel…
Long Walk Brings Writing Epiphany
Today, for the first time in weeks, I took a walk. A long walk. I put on my coat and my Boston Red Sox cap,…
My Radio Interview on “Murders, Mysteries and Mayhem”
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…
Chris Orcutt & Dakota Stevens Hit the Airwaves
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…
The Adventure of the Sherlock Holmes Aficionado
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…
Everything That’s Wrong With Ebooks
So I was browsing Kindle books on Amazon earlier today and came upon one that thoroughly pissed me off. Truly, this book represents everything that’s…
My Second Office
Writing full-time is a lonely enterprise. Especially in the winter, and especially if you live in the boondocks, have only one car, and the closest semblance…
Gratitude
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…
Interview with UK Author Sensation Rachel Abbott
Earlier this summer, fellow author and friend Rachel Abbott graciously interviewed me for her blog (you can read that interview here, by the way), and…
My Writing Secret Weapon
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,…
Hemingway Had the Pilar, I Have Golf
Every morning while living in Key West and Cuba, Ernest Hemingway rose early to write, and every afternoon he went out cruising and fishing on…
The Indie Author’s Guide to the Universe: An Interview with Jeff Bennington
Greetings, readers. Today, for the first time in the history of my blog, I’m making somebody else the focus. Today I’m going back to my…
Chris Orcutt’s Barbaric Yawp
“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…
Farewell, Millbrook Round Table
Walking into the diner yesterday, I glanced at the honor box containing our village newspaper, The Millbrook Round Table, and was shocked to read the…
Burning Your Ships
A while back, I got in an online argument with another writer. He was proffering financial advice to writers, in effect saying this: “I made…
Index Cards Are Sexy
I’d like to share some thoughts about index cards. My new writing, with the exception of blog entries of course, is happening on index cards. The…
Abraham Lincoln, Writer
He didn’t go to a fancy Eastern college. In fact, Abraham Lincoln had virtually no formal education at all. However, his study of the Bible…
My Favorite Books: Nabokov’s LOLITA
Whenever I’m in the middle of rereading it, the novel Lolita casts such a spell on me that I often forget I have it on…
My Favorite Books: Hemingway’s A MOVEABLE FEAST
You know a book is a favorite of yours when you have multiple copies of it, and you find some of those copies in the…
Shut Up, Hemingway
“Writing is rewriting.” — Ernest Hemingway Yeah, yeah, I know the story about the last chapter of Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms—that he…
Harlan Ellison’s Wonderful Rant
We live in a time of word saturation. Written content of all kinds—blogs, stories, articles, essays, this blog—is freely available for downloading, printing, emailing to…
Love Makes Me Write, Not Self-Discipline
I never get sick. I mean never. The last time I was sick was three years ago with a cold, and just before that, a…
The Only Thing You Can Control
Toiling away on index cards has a way of putting things in perspective. Whether you’re hunched over a cubicle deep in your local library, or…
The Masters of Narrative Drive
Over the past year, I’ve become obsessed with the writers of paperback noir/crime/sleaze novels from the late 40s through the 60s. Having now read at…
His Pen Was Quick
On July 17, Mickey Spillane, creator of the infamous Mike Hammer PI series, died. He was 88, and by all accounts he lived a pretty cool life.
In addition to writing several bestselling novels that readers adored, Spillane played a mystery writer on the 70s TV show Columbo, appeared in several commercials for Miller Lite beer, and married a hot second wife, Sherri Manilou, who posed for the cover of his novel The Erection Set.