The name and the gravity behind it.

Esoteric Orange

Esoteric Orange is my “artist blog,” reviving a site I used from about 2015 to about 2022. The name is based on my last name and my diverse interests, experiences, and unusual perspectives on many things. I’m a novelist at heart, with roots in The Twilight Zone, The Civil Rights movement, the not-a-war in Vietnam, and all the wars of the United States ever since.

From would-be pilot to working journalist.

Early life

Born ten years after the first nuclear bomb, I grew up to be a fighter pilot and did learn to fly small planes in my teens, but in 1972 decided to become a journalist and tell the world the truth about what was going on. In college, I became affiliated with musicians, writers, sculptors, ceramacists, cartoonists, poets, and singers, continuing many of those relationships over the decades since.

A life of novels, in the company of giants.

Writing & influences

In 1975, I started writing novels under the influences of Rod Serling, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegutt, Jr., Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Tom Robbins. Along the way, martial arts including aikido, judo, karate, Japanese sword, Chinese sword, taiji quan, xing yi quan, and baguazhang, have helped me move through difficult times and given me unusual perspectives on the world and the people who live here.

Masters, monks, and the meaning of orange.

Masters & esotericism

This life has brought me to associate with many great masters of many important things over my life, to the point of a certain esotericism. The web designer who built the original Esoteric Orange site also noted that Orange has deep significance in Asia as a color of love, warmth, happiness… and a certain intensity. Buddhist monks wear orange robes.

Why this site exists, now.

Reviving the conversation

On this revived site, I’ll continue with those themes but with more focus on my core interests in writing and martial arts, introducing my books and other major projects as they emerge. If you engaged with the old site, I hope you’ll enjoy this one even more. The world situation has changed drastically since I last posted a blog and some of those old topics, such as energy and self care, will only become more important in the coming years. I hope we can share some things here and build some community for the future.

— David Orange, Jr.