All About Me

I thought about writing this section in the third person to provide the illusion that someone else actually took the time to write a bio of me, giving the matter tens of minutes of research and an equally impressive amount of personal interviews with friends and family as well as 'privileged' access to yours truly.

 

But I really didn't think anyone would buy it.

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So, here we are. Just you and me.

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I was born and raised on Long Island. Outside of a 2½  year stint in northern Virginia, studying Theatre and Music at Shenandoah University, I've spent my life here. I’m the third of four brothers I feel privileged to be associated with. My beloved, sorely missed mom and dad were excellent parents, both setting fine examples of 'How to be a Kind, Decent Person', in their own unique ways. I’d like to think I’ve carried on that legacy in raising my daughter.

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My life has been a bit of a meandering journey. Though I love acting and music, as I got older, I came to a resolute conviction that though I had the potential to be a very good actor or musician, I could be an excellent writer. I spent several years attending colleges and writing groups, honing my storytelling skills and typing away on various personal projects. Though I took periodic stabs at trying to publish my work, I mostly kept busy working to improve my abilities.

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My moment of validation as a writer came when I was chosen as one of four winners in Stephen King's 'On Writing Contest,' which originated as an exercise in his outstanding memoir/writing guide of the same name. There were over 1000 submissions to this contest, judged by King himself, and though the only prize for the contest was having the story posted on King's website for several months, the inspirational value of getting a shot in the arm like that from an artist of King's skill and renown was immense. The message was that I was doing something right, that I had game as a writer and that I should keep trying. One of my favorite quotes, by author Richard Bach, is: "A professional is an amateur who didn't quit."

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A selection from my fantasy trilogy, ‘The Dulantrin Chronicles’ was chosen for review for a writing session at the ICON Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention, and a selection from my mainstream novel, ‘Still-Life With It-Girl’ was chosen for a spoken-word event at the Boulton Performing Arts Center in celebration of the Tricentennial of the town of Bay Shore, NY, where some of that novel is set.

 

Music remains an integral part of my life, as do books and film. I’m also passionate about spirituality, personal development, empowerment, and what’s going on in the world. In service to my various interests, I maintain a blog, ‘Orkin’s Law’.

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Currently, I work for St. George's University School of Medicine, for whom I compose specialized performance evaluations for graduating students and oversee a team that does the same, a task I feel privileged to perform.

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For the last several years, I have served as moderator for Mid-Island Writers, an online writing critique group.

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Writing Philosophy

 

For me, writing is a religion. There's something pure, clean, almost holy about the mystical way the words come into my head, the characters appear, the plot surfaces, as I tell the story. I love the wonder and mystery of the process, the way the characters take on lives of their own and change the story, the way I sometimes write myself into corners, only to have a way out magically appear in my mind after letting it simmer for a few days (a technique that often serves me well in other aspects of my life).

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I love using the language, creating the flow of narrative, the syncopation of dialogue. I view it as writing music, as surely as any composer. I see things very cinematically in my head and do my best to transfer that immediacy to the page.

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I believe a writer should tell themselves a story they'd like to hear under the assumption that their enthusiasm will be infectious. I think writing with the motivation of "my readers will love this" is an express ticket to mediocrity. Obviously, you have to temper subject matter with common sense and a certain degree of intuition regarding marketability (No matter how passionately a writer may feel about croutons, there's a pretty good chance the reading public will not be getting on board for a sprawling historical novel on the subject), but this does not preclude you from telling the story you want to tell without compromising your principles or selling your soul.

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As for my own stuff, I want it to be kind of an assault. I want it to grab you by the shoulders and shake you up a little (or maybe a lot). I want it to be passionate, be it through Cloud 9 romance, laugh-out-loud humor, cold-blooded murder, or delicious eroticism. I want to embrace the Human experience as best I can and share what I know, what I think, what I feel and what I dream.

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First and foremost, I want to entertain (which is not nearly as superficial a goal as one might think). All my lofty ambitions to change the world through my writing won't do me or anyone else the slightest bit of good if no one's reading the work. My responsibility as a storyteller is to captivate you, to deliver that moment of religion where you decide, "I'm in," whether you're reading one of my essays or a story of the fantastic. If you get something more profound out of it in the process, then I've done my job exceedingly well.

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