Steven B. Orkin
Work
Susie ~ The Lost 95 ~ Spiritual Rationality ~ The Dulantrin Chronicles
Still-Life With It-Girl ~ The Power of 7 ~ Sample Story: Vicissitude
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Giant Bug Cinema: A Monster Kid's Guide
Giant Beast Cinema: A Monstrous Movie Guide
Cinema Bizarro: The Weird Kid's Movie Guide
As Author
Susie
Ken Chastain appears to live two lives. One life involves his wife Terry and daughter Kayla. The other involves the enchanting Susie, the perfect girl. What is Susie's secret and how does it pertain to Ken's mysterious double-life? Which life is real? What IS real?
This novella is available as an ebook on both Amazon and Smashwords.
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The Lost 95
Andrea Cottrell works alone in a tiny office, isolated from the world in more ways than one. As a result of a freak accident that nearly kills her, she embarks on a mystical, psychedelic journey through time, space, reality, metaphor, grief, and possibility. With the help of a philosophical rabbi, she searches for meaning, hope, truth, and the strength to move on.
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This novella is available as an ebook on both Amazon and Smashwords.
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Spiritual Rationality
This 'common-sense, empowerment manifesto' is a conversation between author and reader. It has a very accessible feel and a sense of humor but it is nevertheless a passionate call to arms about the dangers of extremism and the need to rediscover civil discourse, inclusivity, 'can-do' thinking, compassion, optimism, and gratitude. Anchored by 'Orkin's Laws' maxims that enhance the various topics, 'SR' endeavors to serve as a platform for readers to really think about their own views to either confirm they're correct, or evolve them into something new. Each chapter ends with questions for reflection.
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This project is in progress (approx 150 pages written).
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Here is a selection from Spiritual Rationality.
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On the world of Dulantrin, dark changes are coming.
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Things begin to fall apart when a heretic wizard and warrior named Destrik Godslayer embarks on a gambit to take over the Net, the very fabric of Reality. With the help of an ancient artifact, Destrik destroys one of the Truegods, caretakers of the Net, causing far more damage than he can imagine.
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As Destrik’s plague of Ehlu warriors sweep across the Clusterlands, decimating villages and colonies, stealing the inhabitants for transformation into more of their own, two generations of heroes race against time to stop him.
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Swept to the center of this maelstrom is the young elf, Vallayek, searching for the father he has never known. Trained in the arts of combat and magic, wielding a pair of magical crimson swords, Vallayek is the holder of an enigmatic destiny. Haunted by strange visions and peculiar slips of thought, seeing and saying things no one understands (not even him), Vall desperately tries to make sense of what is happening before being driven insane, as his father, the wizard Dahn-Taza Gentrikoman was before him.
Joining Vallayek on his quest are a diverse group of comrades: the son of an archmage, a half-breed giant, a legendary warrior and his mysterious wolf, a misfit Dwarven wizard, a Gnomish thief, a young martial artist with a touch of magic, an elegant sorceress, an ancient dragon, a female Elven champion, a half-mad jester.
Together, they journey to the Darklands, Destrik’s subterranean realm, for a final confrontation with the Net’s usurper and the secret of Vallayek's destiny.
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The Dulantrin Chronicles is a different kind of fantasy adventure. Whereas many fantasy stories exist in a Tolkeinesque Middle Ages, mine is set off to the side of our own time and place. The best work in any genre must walk the line between utilizing convention and breaking it, and I feel strongly that my story does just that! Though it employs conventions of the genre such as elves, dragons and magic, it also goes against the grain in its contemporary sensibility and self-deprecating humor. Though not a satire of the genre, it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
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The entire trilogy (consisting of 'An Improper Balance', 'Shades of Grey', and 'The Light of Day' is complete in draft. I am doing a final edit.
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Here are selections from The Dulantrin Chronicles Book I: An Improper Balance:
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- Dulantrin Sample 1 (opening)
- Dulantrin Sample 2 (from Chapter 14)
- Dulantrin Sample 3 (from Chapter 8)
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Still-Life With It-Girl
Still-Life With It-Girl is the story of Toni Lanston, a smart, sexy, fast-talking former TV sitcom star who is just breaking through to become a movie star. Obsessed over by the public and relentlessly hounded by the media, Toni reaches a breaking point after her parents release a tell-all book about her.
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On the verge of losing her mind and spiraling out of control, she desperately flees Los Angeles for her childhood home on Long Island in a last-ditch effort to escape the spotlight that’s killing her and bring some normalcy to her life. Ditching her entourage, Toni sets out to rediscover who she is and what she wants.
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Along the way, a whim of fate puts her in the hospital where she meets medical student Ravi Chandra, who doesn't seem to care about her celebrity. Though they are from vastly different worlds, they are nevertheless drawn to each other.
With the media hot on her trail, Toni embarks on an audacious mission to shake them loose, come to terms with her parents, get her guy, and be happy.
Complications ensue.
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Still-Life With It-Girl is a character-driven story that is part romance and part meditation on the nature of celebrity.
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This novel is complete in draft and undergoing edits.
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Here is a sample from Still-Life With It-Girl.
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Based on the classic children's storybook, 'The King With Six Friends' by Jay Williams, this is a novelized adaptation for young adults and is being written through special arrangement.
Zarion Cantelis, the young prince of Toriador, is forced to flee his home and run for his life after his father is murdered in a coup.
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Desperate to escape, he enters the mysterious Forest of Fiends, home to a race of magical beings who are blessed/cursed with the ability to magically change into forms such as axes, elephants, fire, and bees.
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Long considered to be little more than monsters, Zar discovers he has more in common with the 'Fiends' than he would have imagined and soon starts developing a unique fellowship in a courageous quest to win back his kingdom.
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This novel is in progress (approx. 120 pages written).
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Here is a selection from The Power of 7.
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Sample Story: Vicissitude
This is a revised and updated short story (2800 words) I entered into a contest sponsored by Stephen King several years ago based on his novel, 'Under the Dome'.
'Vicissitude' appears here in its entirety.
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As Editor
Giant Bug Cinema: A Monster Kid's Guide
Giant Beast Cinema: A Monstrous Movie Guide
Cinema Bizarro: The Weird Kid's Movie Guide
I am Co-Editor of these fun, informative, and fascinating collections of essays on Science Fiction / Horror movies from the spanning the 1930's through the 1960's, published by BearManor Media. I also contributed chapters to the first and third volumes. All three books are available through The BearManor website, Amazon, or most anywhere books are sold. Click the images to purchase them!
