mystery

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

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

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

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

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

To All So-Called Authors: Stop Doing This; You Look Like Idiots

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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 Review interviews in which he gave cryptic answers to questions about writing craft, was selfish with his knowledge throughout his life and shared very little of it. But there’s something that … Read more