{"id":2378,"date":"2011-11-21T21:00:15","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T05:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orcutt.net\/weblog\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2025-08-16T21:51:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T21:51:05","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About Chris"},"content":{"rendered":"

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CHRIS ORCUTT is a crit\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly acclaimed and best\u00adselling Amer\u00adi\u00adcan nov\u00adel\u00adist and fic\u00adtion writer with over 30 years\u2019 writ\u00ading expe\u00adri\u00adence. Besides nov\u00adels and short sto\u00adries, Chris has writ\u00adten jour\u00adnal\u00adism, scripts, plays, and speech\u00ades. <\/span><\/p>\n

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The Books
\n<\/b>Since 2015, Chris Orcutt been work\u00ading exclu\u00adsive\u00adly on his mag\u00adnum opus. <\/span>Boda\u00adcious\u00adly True & Total\u00adly Awe\u00adsome: The Leg\u00adendary Adven\u00adtures of Avery \u201cAce\u201d Craig<\/span><\/i> is a 9\u2011episode nov\u00adel about teens in the 1980s. It\u2019s <\/span>about<\/span><\/i> \u201980s teens, but <\/span>for<\/span><\/i> adults (in oth\u00ader words, it\u2019s decid\u00aded\u00adly <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> YA lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture), and he\u2019s applied this epic sto\u00adry\u00adtelling approach to the least exam\u00adined, most mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstood, most mar\u00adgin\u00adal\u00adized nar\u00adra\u00adtive space in Amer\u00adi\u00adcan lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture: the lives and inner worlds of teenagers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 9 episodes or books of <\/span>Boda\u00adcious\u00adly<\/span><\/i> tell the sto\u00adry of Avery and his high school friends against the vibrant back\u00addrop of the Rea\u00adgan era with sem\u00adi\u00adnal events includ\u00ading the return of Halley\u2019s Comet, the Chal\u00adlenger explo\u00adsion, the Cher\u00adnobyl acci\u00addent, the Reyk\u00adjavik con\u00adfer\u00adence, the \u201cGarbage Barge\u201d fias\u00adco, and Pres\u00adi\u00addent Reagan\u2019s Berlin Wall speech. Over the course of two years, Avery goes on adven\u00adtures across the Unit\u00aded States and to Europe; inter\u00adacts with a vari\u00adety of \u201980s celebri\u00adties and polit\u00adi\u00adcal lead\u00aders; nav\u00adi\u00adgates the per\u00adilous, tem\u00adpes\u00adtu\u00adous seas of sex and romance; learns the nature of true love; endures death, loss, and hard\u00adship; and trans\u00adforms from a teenage boy into a young man.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like oth\u00ader ground\u00adbreak\u00ading nov\u00adels, Orcutt\u2019s new work tran\u00adscends exist\u00ading labels. It\u2019s a com\u00ading-of-age sto\u00adry, a love sto\u00adry, his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal fic\u00adtion, and an odyssey, offer\u00ading read\u00aders a tru\u00adly <\/span>immer\u00adsive<\/span><\/i> expe\u00adri\u00adence: immer\u00adsion in the music, cul\u00adture, fash\u00adion, lin\u00adgo, cus\u00adtoms, and every\u00adday details of teenage life in the \u201980s. Tru\u00adly, what he\u2019s offer\u00ading read\u00aders is a time machine<\/i> back to this mag\u00adi\u00adcal era\u2014possibly the great\u00adest time ever to be a teenag\u00ader in Amer\u00adi\u00adca.<\/span><\/p>\n

In order to cre\u00adate this time machine for read\u00aders, for over a decade Orcutt wrote and lived in the 1980s as much as pos\u00adsi\u00adble. With vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly no con\u00adtact with the inter\u00adnet or cur\u00adrent events, Orcutt immersed him\u00adself in the music, TV shows, movies, and cul\u00adture from 1985\u201387. <\/span>Indeed, one 1980s cul\u00adtur\u00adal his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan has dubbed him \u201cLord of the \u201980s\u201d because of how deeply immersed in \u201980s cul\u00adture he was dur\u00ading the decade of writ\u00ading his mag\u00adnum opus, and the wide-rang\u00ading knowl\u00adedge he devel\u00adoped about 1980s music, TV, movies, fash\u00adion, and cul\u00adtur\u00adal and his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal events. <\/span>The result is that Orcutt has cre\u00adat\u00aded a new genre in Amer\u00adi\u00adcan literature\u2014what he\u2019s call\u00ading an \u201cepisod\u00adic nov\u00adel\u201d and \u201cteen epic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Regard\u00adless of whether it\u2019s a com\u00admer\u00adcial or crit\u00adi\u00adcal suc\u00adcess,\u201d Orcutt says, \u201cthe work is unde\u00adni\u00adably mon\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtal , and it required a unique com\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adtion of gifts to write, includ\u00ading facil\u00adi\u00adty with lan\u00adguage, yes, but also per\u00adsis\u00adtence, sta\u00admi\u00adna, self-dis\u00adci\u00adpline, and self-direc\u00adtion. I know that <\/span>Boda\u00adcious\u00adly<\/span><\/i> is my mag\u00adnum opus, and I know I was born to write it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo peo\u00adple who haven\u2019t embarked on some\u00adthing that the rest of the world con\u00adsid\u00aders impos\u00adsi\u00adble, what I\u2019m about to say is going to sound immod\u00adest or out\u00adright arro\u00adgant, but here it is: I con\u00adsid\u00ader the writ\u00ading of <\/span>Boda\u00adcious\u00adly<\/span><\/i>\u2014a 1.2\u2011million-word, 9\u2011episode novel\u2014to be a lit\u00ader\u00adary accom\u00adplish\u00adment on par with sum\u00admit\u00ading Mount Ever\u00adest,\u201d Orcutt says. \u201cHow\u00adev\u00ader, because I wrote, edit\u00aded, type\u00adset, proof\u00adread, and pol\u00adished every draft on my own, I con\u00adsid\u00ader what I\u2019ve done anal\u00ado\u00adgous to moun\u00adtaineer Rein\u00adhold Mess\u00adner<\/a>\u2019s climb\u00ading of Ever\u00adest in 1980\u2014when he did it solo, with\u00adout bot\u00adtled oxy\u00adgen, and with\u00adout a sup\u00adport team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Through\u00adout the decade of writ\u00ading Boda\u00adcious\u00adly<\/em>, three quotes on his office white\u00adboard have kept him moti\u00advat\u00aded:<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>It always seems impos\u00adsi\u00adble until it\u2019s done.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nel\u00adson Man\u00addela<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cYou can\u2019t train for some\u00adthing all your life and then have it fall short because you are hur\u00adry\u00ading to get it fin\u00adished<\/em>.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 John Stein\u00adbeck<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201c<\/em>There are just cer\u00adtain human beings able to put one foot in front of the oth\u00ader relent\u00adless\u00adly, psy\u00adcho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly able to do it, where\u00adas oth\u00ader peo\u00adple would fail.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 from the Mt. Ever\u00adest doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary Beyond the Edge<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Orcutt\u2019s ear\u00adli\u00ader fic\u00adtion, includ\u00ading Dako\u00adta Stevens Mys\u00adtery Series; One Hun\u00addred Miles from Man\u00adhat\u00adtan<\/i>; The Man, The Myth, The Leg\u00adend<\/i>; and Per\u00adpet\u00adu\u00adat\u00ading Trou\u00adble,<\/i> has received crit\u00adi\u00adcal acclaim from a vari\u00adety of pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal review\u00aders: Pub\u00adlish\u00aders Week\u00adly<\/em>, Mid\u00adwest Book Review<\/em>, and Kirkus Reviews<\/em>, among oth\u00aders.<\/p>\n

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The Bio
\n<\/b>Born in the State of Maine, Orcutt lived the major\u00adi\u00adty of his child\u00adhood and ear\u00adly adult\u00adhood in Dutchess Coun\u00adty, New York. He attend\u00aded col\u00adlege in Boston, Mass\u00ada\u00adchu\u00adsetts, grad\u00adu\u00adat\u00ading <\/span>sum\u00adma cum laude<\/span><\/i>, Phi Beta Kap\u00adpa with a degree in phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy. Orcutt\u2019s first job after col\u00adlege was for the now-defunct Tacon\u00adic News\u00adpa\u00adpers (includ\u00ading <\/span>The Mill\u00adbrook Round Table<\/span><\/i>, where he was award\u00aded by the New York Press Asso\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion), and lat\u00ader on writ\u00ading as a free\u00adlance reporter for <\/span>The Pough\u00adkeep\u00adsie Jour\u00adnal <\/span><\/i>(New York\u2019s old\u00adest news\u00adpa\u00adper) and as a free\u00adlancer for mag\u00ada\u00adzines. Through his 20s into his ear\u00adly 30s, after jour\u00adnal\u00adism and before becom\u00ading a full-time nov\u00adel\u00adist, Orcutt earned his liv\u00ading as a high school Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Stud\u00adies teacher, cor\u00adpo\u00adrate com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtions exec\u00adu\u00adtive, col\u00adlege writ\u00ading instruc\u00adtor, and speech\u00adwriter.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Process
\n<\/b>Through\u00adout his career, Orcutt has writ\u00adten with one guid\u00ading prin\u00adci\u00adple: \u201cI write books that I would want to read,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I\u2019m read\u00ading a nov\u00adel, I\u2019m always look\u00ading for surprises\u2014the plot twist, the beau\u00adti\u00adful scene, the quirky char\u00adac\u00adter, the mem\u00ado\u00adrable line of dia\u00adlogue, or the gor\u00adgeous, pic\u00adturesque sen\u00adtence. So those are the things I want to give to my read\u00aders.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Like a samu\u00adrai sword-mak\u00ader who forges, folds, and ham\u00admers a length of steel until it becomes both a per\u00adfect weapon and a piece of art, Chris Orcutt invests thou\u00adsands of hours in every one of his novels\u2014writing, research\u00ading, rewrit\u00ading, and editing\u2014to make them the very best they can be.<\/span><\/p>\n

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An old-school nov\u00adel\u00adist who writes his first drafts with a Palomi\u00adno Black\u00adwing 602 pen\u00adcil or one of his many vin\u00adtage type\u00adwrit\u00aders, Orcutt believes in hard work over tal\u00adent, sub\u00adstance over hype\u2014rising every day at 4 or 5 a.m., mak\u00ading cof\u00adfee, and press\u00ading on with his lat\u00adest work in progress. If you are a young or aspir\u00ading writer, you have come to the right place. Based on his wide-rang\u00ading writ\u00ading expe\u00adri\u00adence, Orcutt has writ\u00adten a num\u00adber of pieces on his blog about the writ\u00ading process\u2014including hints, tips, and instruc\u00adtion. These blog entries have been curat\u00aded on his Thoughts on Writ\u00ading<\/a> page.<\/span><\/p>\n

Orcutt\u2019s favorite writ\u00aders (in alpha\u00adbet\u00adi\u00adcal order) are Jane Austen, Bill Bryson, Ray\u00admond Carv\u00ader, Ray\u00admond Chan\u00addler, John Cheev\u00ader, Anton Chekhov, F. Scott Fitzger\u00adald, Ian Flem\u00ading, Charles Fra\u00adzier, Ernest Hem\u00ading\u00adway, Hen\u00adrik Ibsen, John Irv\u00ading, David Mamet, Vladimir Nabokov, Robert B. Park\u00ader, William Shake\u00adspeare, John Stein\u00adbeck, Leo Tol\u00adstoy, and E.B. White. His goal as a writer is lofty, but one that keeps him moti\u00advat\u00aded:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Author\u201cThere are lots of good writ\u00aders out there, but I hold myself and my work to a high\u00ader stan\u00addard. I want to become a great writer. I want to sum\u00admit Mount Ever\u00adest as a writer and stand up there with Tol\u00adstoy, Chekhov, Nabokov, Hem\u00ading\u00adway, and Fitzger\u00adald. And I\u2019m going to make it up there, or, like George Mal\u00adlo\u00adry on Ever\u00adest, die try\u00ading.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For more on Orcutt, check out this exten\u00adsive inter\u00adview with WorldClassPerformer.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Pho\u00adtos
\n<\/b>Here are some pho\u00adtos tak\u00aden dur\u00ading the decade Orcutt was writ\u00ading Boda\u00adcious\u00adly<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u2014<\/p>\n