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1,333 | Chris Orcutt on Why Authentic Writing Always Wins
Chris Orcutt is an award-winning novelist and professional writer with more than thirty years of experience and over a dozen meticulously crafted books to his name.
Born in Maine and based in New York’s Hudson Valley, he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in philosophy before launching his career as a journalist and educator. His acclaimed works—including the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series and One Hundred Miles from Manhattan—have earned praise from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews for their sharp prose, wit, and humanity.
For more than a decade, Orcutt devoted himself to his magnum opus, Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome—a nine-book saga capturing the raw, hilarious, and deeply human essence of 1980s American adolescence. Writing on typewriters, blasting ’80s anthems, and fueled by endless coffee, he built what critics have called a “literary time machine.”
Dubbed “Lord of the ’80s” and “The American Tolstoy,” Chris remains fiercely dedicated to his craft. He detests bad writing and pretension but loves old movies, Peanuts comics, Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, and cross-country skiing. He lives quietly in New York with his wife and Muse, Alexas, and their dog Dashiell Hammett.
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Chris Orcutt is a professional writer with over thirty years of experience and more than a dozen meticulously crafted novels to his name.
Born in Maine, he has spent most of his life in New York. He attended college in Boston, graduating summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a degree in philosophy. His professional writing career began at Taconic Newspapers (where he was honored by the New York Press Association), followed by freelance reporting for the Poughkeepsie Journal, New York’s oldest newspaper.
In his 20s and early 30s, while honing his craft as a fiction writer, Orcutt earned a living as a high school American Studies teacher, college writing instructor, and speechwriter. His earlier fiction—including the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series and One Hundred Miles from Manhattan—has earned praise from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews.
For over a decade, Orcutt immersed himself in ’80s teen culture and shunned the internet in monastic devotion to his magnum opus, Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome, a 9‑book episodic novel debuting in January 2026. Writing drafts on typewriters and vintage computers, blasting everything from A‑Ha to ZZ Top, and drinking enough coffee to fill a swimming pool (seriously), he set out to craft an authentic and fearless exploration of the suburban teenage experience in 1980s America. The result prompted one cultural historian to dub him “Lord of the ’80s” and another “The American Tolstoy.”
He loathes bad writing, stoplights, Grammarly, and pretentious people—but loves old movies, Peanuts comics, Jamai… Read More
