Living Dangerously: Macmillan Films, SEAL Team 666 and the Hardest Working Editor in NYC

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Weston Ochse is a former intelligence officer and special operations soldier who has engaged enemy combatants, terrorists, narco smugglers, and human traffickers. His personal war stories include performing humanitarian operations over Bangladesh, being deployed to Afghanistan, and a near miss being cannibalized in Papua New Guinea. His fiction and non-fiction has been praised by USA Today, The Atlantic, The New York Post, The Financial Times of London, and Publishers Weekly. The American Library Association labeled him one of the Major Horror Authors of the 21st Century. His work has also won the Bram Stoker Award, been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and won multiple New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards. A writer of more than 26 books in multiple genres, his military supernatural series SEAL Team 666 has been optioned to be a movie starring Dwayne Johnson. His military sci fi series, which starts with Grunt Life, has been praised for its PTSD-positive depiction of soldiers at peace and at war. Weston likes to be called a chaotic good paladin and challenges anyone to disagree. After all, no one can really stand a goody two-shoes lawful good character. They can be so annoying. It's so much more fun to be chaotic, even when you're striving to save the world. You can argue with him about this and other things online at Living Dangerously or on Facebook at Badasswriter. All content of this blog is copywrited by Weston Ochse.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Macmillan Films, SEAL Team 666 and the Hardest Working Editor in NYC

I'm hitting the final third of SEAL Team 666. As I sit here in Washington D.C., writing a scene where our star is remembering when he was a possessed kid playing in the trash piles of Subic Bay, Phillipines, I'm trying not to fall asleep. I've already nodded out twice, despite Justice rocking through the headphones. So to stay awake sometimes, I check my email. I've long since had an ongoing google search for my name. So when it appears somewhere, I get notified. Here's what I got today-

Several projects are under wraps at nascent Macmillan Films: Seal Team 666 — to be written by Weston Ochse; Grimm City, co-created with Gareth Jefferson Jones and to be written by K.W. Jeter — a Philip K. Dick protégé; Single-Minded; and Cityscape, for starters. Under Macmillan /Holtzbrinck thrive some 50+ imprints. “I’ve met with the heads of some of the other imprints,” says Deneen. “Everybody’s interested.”

Turns out that my editor at Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Press, Brendan Deneen, was interviewed and highlighted in the online magazine Publishing Perspectives-- Brendan Deneen Takes Macmillan From Publisher to Producer

It's terrific and inspirational and tells the backroom story of editing and agenting. Everyone should read it.

I've known Brendan since we first met in 2004 at the World Horror Convention in Phoenix. He's come a long way in that short time. He's reached what some would consider a peak. But he's looking for higher hills to climb. It's going to be fun watching him climb. And at least for now I have a front row seat.

What I'm Listening to!

Listen to Justice. This is Bad Ass Music!

Now back to the novel. The kid is done with this scene. Now back to being a grown up U.S. Navy SEAL who's knocking down bad guys like he's in the middle of a life-size game of terrorist whack-a-mole.