The completed third draft of the 4,000-page, 10-book (1.3 million-word) teen epic.
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…
The Nuclear Submarine U.S.S. Bodacious Resurfaces After Six Months of “Deep and Silent”
About five months ago, I bought a countdown clock that sits directly below my computer monitor, and for 157 days it’s been ticking down. It’s…
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…
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…
Backstory: The Story Behind A Truth Stranger Than Fiction
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…
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…
Backstory: The Story Behind Chris Orcutt’s The Man, The Myth, The Legend
Between 2010 and 2011, I wrote over thirty short stories, many of which appeared in The Man, The Myth, The Legend or as chapters of…
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…
Writing in Asian Restaurants
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…
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…
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…
The Role of Scaffolding in Writing a Long Novel
I’m currently 250,000 words into a novel that looks like it will go to 300,000 words. It could go as long as one of my…
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…
Print book cover for THE RONALD AND OTHER PLAYS.
The Ronald And Other Plays: A Political Satire of How Trump Won the Presidency
Today I’m pleased to announce the release of The Ronald And Other Plays, a collection that includes five short plays and my first full-length play, The Ronald….
New Year, New Work
Back in December I released the latest installment in the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series, The Perfect Triple Threat. I spent most of December and part of…
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…
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…
“Almost Nailed It!” – My Appearance on Coast to Coast AM
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…
Photo by DAVID ILIFF
Dakota & Svetlana ARE Going to be a TV Series
I HAVE DECIDED that the adventures of Dakota & Svetlana are going to be a television series. As I helped a friend with…
Paying Attention as a Fiction Writer
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…
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…
“Parisian Women on Bicycles” & “The Young Woman in the Café”
Two years ago today, I was in Paris. I was there for two weeks, and I loved it. Loved it so much that when I…
Kirkus Reviews Gives 100 Miles a Rave
More than anything, we writers want readers—particularly discerning readers and critics—to get our work. We want readers to see the parallels to other literature and to…
Me and My Montblanc
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,…
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…
Success at the Millbrook Literary Festival
I can officially say that this past Saturday’s Millbrook Literary Festival was an unmitigated success. I was concerned about my reading, but it went fine,…
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…
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…
One Hundred Miles from Manhattan—A Modern Novel by Chris Orcutt
Recently I completed work on a book that began as a collection of stories, and which ended up being what I term a “modern 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…
One of the Best Indie Books of 2013—THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND
IndieReader, the trusted and informative web-zine about all things indie publishing, has included my book of short stories, The Man, The Myth, The Legend, on their…
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…
"Rejection": A collage by Chris Blanc.
Crossing the Rubicon: Replying to a Rejection from a Literary Journal
Today I did the unthinkable. In the literary world, what I did is tantamount to crossing the Rubicon. It’s something that, in 20 years of…
Storytime: Chris Orcutt Reads “The Magnificent Murphy,” His Homage to The Great Gatsby
Recently I did a radio interview with Stephen Campbell, the terrific host of “Murders, Mysteries and Mayhem” on the Authors on the Air Global Radio…
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…
Two Ideas to Get You Through (The 1st Draft)
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…
Dakota Stevens #3: Starting from Scratch
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…
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,…
The Rich Are Different is Now Available
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…
Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough
If I were merely interested in selling copies of the second Dakota & Svetlana adventure, The Rich Are Different, I would probably release the novel…
A Shattered Paradigm
I have read hundreds of books on writing. Conservatively figuring an average of 15 per year, over 24 years that makes 360 books on the…
An Open Thank You Letter to Readers
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…
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…
1,000 Mysteries and the Ideal Reader
A common piece of advice given to writers is to envision your ideal reader and write your book to that person. And although I didn’t…
Why I’m Publishing My P.I. Series on Kindle
The short answer is this: A writer writes to be read, and the two P.I. novels I wrote that were sitting on my hard drive…
The Dilemma of the 21st Century Writer
I had big plans for this blog entry. BIG plans. When I originally envisaged this piece, it was going to be a 5,000-word polemic on…
Former home of The Millbrook Round Table, on the corner of Merritt Avenue and Front Street in Millbrook, NY.
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…
The Pencil Twitter
Quite a while ago, my good friend Jason started a Twitter feed about his cat, Sockington. The feed has not only become extremely popular, with over…
Preparing for Success: An Addendum
Today I opened my email and found a lovely note from a fellow writer, La Belette Rouge. She wrote to tell me that a blog…
What the Hell Kind of Nest am I Building Here?
“All I know is that at a very early stage of the novel’s development I get this urge to garner bits of straw and…
Surprise Causes Writer to Choke on Big Mac
The first time I read John Irving’s The World According to Garp, I choked on a Big Mac. It was a cold March day 15…
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…
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…
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.