Sunday, November 30, 2008

About the Author



His favorite author is Anne Rice. His addiction is coconut. His obsessions are psychology, sociology, music, computers, cars, motorcycles, and boats. His motto is: "If you don't buy it, they can't sell it."

Floyd M. Orr has spent his career in the financial industry, but his passions are far more artistic and imaginative. He traveled all over the U.S. as an auditor in 1978-1990, logging nearly a million miles of driving. Already following a lifetime obsession with sports cars, this massive mileage inspired him to compose what was to become his first published book. Never planning to become a prolific author, he took fifteen years to complete Plastic Ozone Daydream. The book was inspired by the stories about both cars and motorcycles written by Peter Egan in Road & Track and Cycle World. The influences from Anne Rice and Jean Shepherd can be spotted in the fantasy and nostalgia of the author's stories. The space-cadet imagination could only have come from Kurt Vonnegut, his Cat's Cradle being the obvious favorite. The author's second book, Ker-Splash! is somewhat less of a fantasy and more of a how-to reference work than the first. The influences are more Tom Wolfe and Jean Shepherd, with a little Louis Rukeyser added to the mix. Ker-Splash! is an overview of the boating and watersports industry and hobby. The sophistication level demanded of the reader of Ker-Splash! is considerably less than that of Daydream's market niche. Ker-Splash! will introduce you to the water skiing hobby in a comprehensive manner, but Daydream will take you deeper into the sports car fantasy than you can imagine. The author has lived practically his entire life in Mississippi and Texas, providing his writing with a deep southern flavor.

This website is entitled Nonfiction in a Fictional Style. This is the only genre of writing I have ever been interested in entering. I have led an unusually remarkable life that has led me to the style and subject matter of my books. I don't think there is anything else on the market quite like them. On the surface, they are simultaneously frivolous and topical, but there is a much more serious truth hidden in their undercurrents. I am somewhat of a fan of the '70's TV version of M*A*S*H, in which the comedy overlies a serious subject. In my books you might discern the heart and humor of Hawkeye mixed with the cultured attitude of Charles Emerson Winchester III. I write about what I know. I want to teach, but not preach. I attempt in all my writing to say the most with the least number of words. When I select a book, I want steak, not salad dressing. When I release a composition, I want the reader to get the real deal, too. If I cannot stimulate the intellect far beyond the obvious words on the page, I have failed in my mission, and the reader better be well entertained to boot!

1 comment:

otto42 said...

I am sorry to have found your blog as you have decided to stop writing it.