(Eugene) Dakota Orlando

I write almost exclusively about empowered women and girls who strive to break glass ceilings. I had revised and placed many books on Amazon’s Vella platform, including 23 novels and 2 short story anthologies. (However, Amazon shut down the platform in February of 2025 and my works are being prepared for worldwide publication through IngramSparks.)

Writing seriously since 1998, I have penned nearly three-and-a-half million words. I specialize in fiction (mainly sci-fi/fantasy, historical, and contemporary). I write for age groups: one award-winning chapter book (RPLA Silver Medal), middle-grade, young/new adult, and novels for adults. I’ve also written a copious amount of poetry, some screenplays, and stage plays. (I started my writing journey with playwriting and studied under professional playwright T. Dianne Anderson while minoring in theater at the University of South Florida, Tampa campus.)

I’ve received six Writers Digest honorable mentions and ten Royal Palm Literary Awards (RPLA – 5 for first place). In 2009, I received the president’s award from the Florida Writers Association for assisting other member writers. I’m a lifetime member and a former board member of the FWA. Having attended dozens of writing conferences, I’ve also presented at four.

I’m well-versed in The Chicago Manual of Style.  I had lent my services to the Florida Writers Association’s “Editors Helping Writers” program while it existed. I also volunteer for the FWA’s RPLA annual writing contest as a judge and have done so since 2008. In 2024, I added Rubrics Coordinator to my RPLA duties overseeing other judge’s scoresheets.

I hold a master’s degree in computer science education and retired after 28 years of teaching the mentally handicapped and computer applications for at-risk high school students in Tampa, Florida.

My last wife died in 2011, which led me to the West. I met my current wife, Dodie Orlando, in Walla Walla, Washington. We married after moving to Reno, NV in 2013. Three months later, Dodie contracted stage-four gynecological cancer and beat it by July 2014. She’s been cancer-free since. Click on her link (name) to read about our cancer journey. We moved back to Walla Walla in 2022 to be closer to Dodie’s family, whose parents were in their 90s. Her mother recently passed away on June 2, 2023, and her step-father in late May 2024.

All books, Albacron or otherwise, will be published by:

IngramSpark®

How to Contact Me:

dakota [at] DakotaOrlando [dot] com (replace [at] with @ and [dot] with a period. Make sure there are no spaces. Example: ferdinand@thebull.com

Click HERE to return to the top.