Living Dangerously

2012... Deep Breath... Afghanistan

2012-01-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

My last post was January 4th.

No excuses.

I wanted it that way.

I needed a break. I wrote a quarter of a million words in the last six months and needed a break. So I sat back and watched great friend Brian Keene go to Sundance for his knock-em-dead movie Ghoul, my daughter prepare for a career in the Navy, and my wife pull our new house together. I let life stroll by for a few weeks. I read some books. I enjoyed my family. I poked away at a few new projects. I bought Skyrim and am two-handing my way through the monsters and mages who try and stand in my way. It's been a nice break. But I'm about to climb back on that super-charged, techni-colored creation machine and get cracking.

After all. I have a deadline this year that's much earlier than the rest of them

July 2012 I've been given an all-expenses paid trip to the grand resort called Afghanistan, where I'll wear the finest in body armor, carry the coolest personal weapons, and try and keep my head down for six months. Although I might be able to pen a few words when I'm there, I'm not going to plan on it.

So I gots to get my stuff done.

This is what I have planned so far--

BLOOD OCEAN hits the streets on Valentines Day. I'm going to begin a push for this, so I hope you all are ready to make a few phone calls.

SEAL TEAM 666 is turned in. I'm awaiting edits. Looks like we have an official cover. This book is going to be HUGE. Too bad it's going to be released when I'm in Afghanistan. Gonna make it a bitch for you to get one personalized.

GHOST HEART - YA Novel co-written with Yvonne Navarro. Cover by Vincent Chong. Published by Dark Regions. Hopefully ready by WHC.

THE LOUP GAROU KID - Third Book in Vampire Outlaw Trilogy. Published by Bad Moon Books. Hopefully ready by WHC.

Comic Books - I have several projects going. We're hoping to have BLIGHT ready for Phoenix ComicCon so we can shop it around. We're still looking for an inker/letterer, so apply within.

Animated Project - I'm contracted with Pulp Gamer to help conceive a special animated adult show. Still working on the scripts and back story for this. NFI.

Blight as drawn by Nick Diaz

Short Stories-

War Cthulhu story due in March.

C. Augest Dupin murder story due in September (which means July). This will be my first co-written story with Yvonne.

Psycho story due in March.

Novella due to Dark Regions in September (which means July)

Novella due to James Roy Daley ASAP.

Appearances -

BLOOD OCEAN book signings are being arranged as we speak. I was going to do them, but Abaddon said that they'd like to arrange them for me, through Simon and Schuster. More later.

Feb 4 Appearance - Sierra Vista Public Library
Mar 10 - 11 Tucson Festival of Books

Mar 29 - 31 World Horror Convention Salt Lake City

May 24 - 27 Phoenix Comiccon

Some of the authors scheduled for Phoenix Comicon

If there are any other requests, I'll consider them. But my Spring is tight. I have a trip planned with Yvonne for she and I to spend time together before I go. I hope to fit that in around her birthday.

That's all for now.

Fan Review of Multiplex Fandango

2012-01-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

Larry Meier is a fan of mine. He said he wanted people to know how good Multiplex Fandango is. Since he's just a regular Joe, and doesn't have a blog or anything, I offered to give him voice. Here is Larry's review:

Review of MULTIPLEX FANDANGO by Weston Ochse.

Deluxe Lettered edition

First off, get your computer fired up, and click on the following Link Good, now give yourself the best belated Christmas and/or New Years gift you will ever get and fork over $45.00 for the Signed, numbered edition, (or-if any remain, by all means splurge on the Deluxe lettered), of said title by the supremely talented, literary samurai that is Mr. Ochse.

Where to begin.Well, suffice it to say that this is a quality production from the get-go. From the stunning wraparound dust jacket by Vincent Chong, to the foil-embossed cover (created by Russ Dickerson), THIS book stands out. What really matters in any book of course, is the writing. Simply put: Weston Ochse can REALLY write. The sixteen stories in this volume run the gamut from rip-roaring, Sci-Fi infused, pulp horror, (see the stunning “Tarzan doesn’t live here anymore”), to the down home, Twainesque melancholy of “Catfish Gods”. If you manage to get through that particular story without reaching for some tissues, then I highly recommend a trip to the optometrist, as your tear ducts clearly are malfunctioning. Ochse has mastered the art of the short-story, and has consistently turned out taut, muscular, lean prose that cuts to the bone; leaving no fat or excess to waste. There are writers who excel at seemingly either characterization or plot, yet few are able to blend the two as successfully as Mr. Ochse. With his work you get lean, mean, beautifully written stories, all crafted with heart and soul. The literary equivalent of a magnificent Christmas present, all packaged and wrapped with care, style, and superb craftsmanship.

I’m not going to ruin the ride that Weston has waiting for you within those pages by detailing individual story synopses. That’s spoiling half the fun for you. Open this book up, and dive in. I found it best to read them in order as presented. Kind of like catching multiple back-to-back double features at the drive in…Or, more fittingly, at the Multiplex.

Weston Ochse is more than a writer to watch. He is a writer to be enjoyed, read, and re-read, right now. So, what are you waiting for? Get cracking on placing that order before the rest of us have to say “I told you so.” Just be prepared to be hooked firmly by his writing. You will soon be seeking out the rest of his catalog, and be eagerly waiting for his many upcoming works. As addictive as a box of Popcorn at said Multiplex, but infinitely more satisfying!!!

Larry Meier

Larry Meier was born and raised in Boston. He graduated from Boston College in 87. He owns the Little Cannoli Bakery/Pizzeria in Salem, OR. and works at Powells Books in Portland. He is a self-admitted book junkie with over 500 limited editions and counting. Reading, fishing, and more reading are his passions along with his wife Tina and daughter Allie. He hangs out in the Twitterverse under the handle @LarryMeier

Thanks very much to Larry. I found some reviews of the Little Cannoli online. Here's a pretty good one. If you're in the area please stop in, talk books, and have a Cannoli. I intend to. I also want to point out that Powells Books is a pre-eminent bookstore chain. If you are passing through Portland, you have got to stop and spend a few hours in the aisles. I just love them

Butterfly Winter Gets Nod From the English Countryside

2012-01-04T07:34:00.000-08:00

Matthew Fryer, of Sheffield, England, gave Butterfly Winter a nod as one of his Favorite Genre reads of 2011. "And although it’s only a short novella download, special mention also goes to “Butterfly Winter” by Weston Ochse, a breathtaking and beautifully written... tale of war and human nature that still haunts me months later.

Mister Fryer reviewed Butterfly Winter back in August where he said:

'“Even in the end the children still dance.” I’m a sucker for a great opening line, and that one certainly delivers. But that’s not all. Despite its bland cover, this novelette from Crossroad Press presents a beautiful, precision story about humanity, war and the dangers of hubris.'

and

'With a breathtaking conclusion, “Butterfly Winter” is superb and I couldn’t find fault. This is a journey we really share with the characters, and well worth the 99c (about 60p) it costs from Smashwords here. Thought-provoking and elegiac, it’s an experience that lingers. Recommended.'

Nice to see an Englishman grok this end-of-the-world tale of a clutch of Americans, lost in the wilds of China.

Thanks Mr. Fryer

ST666 Finished and Gone

2012-01-02T17:37:00.000-08:00

Just a random picture of me

SEAL Team 666 is complete at 494 manuscript pages. I just pressed the send button to the editor at Thomas Dunne Books. This is such a satisfying feeling. ST666 is definitely, without a doubt, the best thing I've ever written. Yvonne, whose eyes are still bleeding from her edits, agrees. Now to sit back and breathe for a second.

As I sit and reflect about the novel Blood Ocean and SEAL Team 666 and all the short stories and comic scripts I've done that are going to be published soon, I realize that I've written 250,000 words of fiction in six months. Clearly this has been my most prolific period by far. That I was able to do it with trips to Europe, evacuations because of massive forest fires, moving from one house to another, and -- oh yeah -- a day job is just a freaking miracle.

I am exhausted.

But satisfied.

And soon, on to the next project.

And it goes out with a BANG!

2011-12-31T09:43:00.000-08:00

And it goes out with a BANG!
or
How to Make a Bad Review Good!

I got another Publishers Weekly Review today.

This is my third review from them.

They loved Scarecrow Gods.

They loved Multiplex Fandango.

To say that they love Blood Ocean would be stretching the meaning of the word past any credible elasticity. In fact, I think they hated it. Why do I think they hated it? Using critical thinking and my knowledge of the English language, comments such as 'tolerable prose,' 'shallow world-building,' and 'repellent' have led me to believe that they indeed hate it.

But the clincher was the closing line. The result is a throwback to horror's unpleasant past, from which most readers have long since moved on.

Ahhh.

Feel the hate.

Embrace it

But what does it mean?

Before we can answer that, here's the entire review, lifted from their site.

Blood Ocean

Weston Ochse. Abaddon, $9.99 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-907992-87-2

A plague has left the City on the Waves, a ragtag community of decaying ships in the Pacific, isolated and desperate. Kavika Kamilani sets out to find the killers of young drug-runner Akamu. This quest will cost Kavika his closest friends and family, shatter his world, and cast a terrible light on the secret power structures in command of his tiny community. Stoker winner Ochse writes tolerable prose sabotaged by shallow world-building. The novel begins promisingly enough but soon descends into displays of cliché and violence. A plot predictable to anyone familiar with Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron is married to antiquated social and sexual conventions; the fate of a transsexual character is particularly repellent, as is Ochse's decision to describe the Korean characters as cannibals. The result is a throwback to horror's unpleasant past, from which most readers have long since moved on. (Feb.)

Reviewed on: 01/02/2012

So again, what does this mean? In my opinion, it means that the reviewer didn't get it. Although this falls under the PW umbrella, everyone who works for them has their own personal tastes. Blood Ocean is a cross-genre book, embracing both horror and science fiction. Clearly the reviewer is a science fiction reader. Blood Ocean was probably handed to him or her and he sat back with a glass of Chianti thinking about what a fun time he'd have with a science fiction book-- after all, he compared the plot to Norman Spinrad instead of Ed Lee, Brian Keene or Jack Ketchum. By the second chapter he experiences the first of many horrendous physical occurrences that is standard fare in today's horror. And the badness increases. exponentially. A lot of bad shit happens to people in this book. It is, after all, called BLOOD OCEAN.

I hope I didn't put the poor reviewer into therapy.

Also, and I can't say this for sure, but I think it's true, this is the first Abaddon Book, maybe the first Afterblight book, to be reviewed by Publishers Weekly. In the world of Afterblight, Abaddon created an entire world that was built on the dystopian premise that things we've outgrown and overcome have come back to haunt us as we fall back into our base needs, desires and beliefs. In the world of the Afterblight, we homogenize ourselves out of fear of others. We look at those who are different and are afraid. We are scared of anyone who isn't us... and for good reason, in the world of the Afterblight, what is unfamiliar will kill you.

The reviewer claims I use cliche. Really? At the end of the world when everyone is trying to survive, they're going to turn on the others and keep to their own kind. Is this cliche? Or is it how we'd view the reality of it?

So, what should this jamoke do about the review? I'm certainly not going to hide it. Other than what I've done, I don't really feel a need to explain it. So instead, I'm going to use it as a marketing point.

How's this: "BLOOD OCEAN, a book so horrific and real that Publisher's Weekly found it repellent and unpleasant."

Or what about this: "BLOOD OCEAN, a throwback to everything you love about horror."

Or maybe this: "BLOOD OCEAN, a book so violent that Publishers Weekly became angry at the deaths of it's many characters."

I really think this was a problem with reviewer expectations. And it's hard, you know? I get it. Dystopian books are normally science fiction fare and not horror. The reviewer probably felt tricked. He or she actually things the horror reading and writing community has moved away from violence. Shhh. Don't tell Clive Barker or Ray Garton that. For god sakes, don't allow Ketchum or Lee to come anywhere close to this spicy tidbit of knowledge. They'd be devestated, as would we all.

It's clear that science fiction reviewers don't like blood, gore and violence. Take zombie novels for instance. Who do you think reviews them? Zombie books, which are almost entirely caused by science, are reviewed by horror reviewers. I mean really? Are these horror books? Or are they science fiction books?

See! This is what happens when you mess with genres.

Oh yeah. I haven't ever read Norman Spinrad, but I think I will now.

Also, there's something I'm going to watch for this coming year. Two of my friends have books coming out from major houses. Both of them are as equally dystopic and violent, if not more so, than Blood Ocean. One is a zombie novel that is sure to be reviewed by a horror reviewer. The other is just a nasty dystopian novel, sure to be reviewed by a science fiction reviewer. I'm curious to see how they fare.

And one last note on the idea that horror has an unpleasant past. Unless they're talking about the crazy cover art of the 1970s and 1980s, I'm not aware of any unpleasant past. In Brian Keene's Keynote Speech for AnthoCon 2011, he talked in depth about the history of horror. He takes us all the way back to 1796 and brings us forward through the first, second, third and fourth waves of horror. The New Weird. Then next generation. he talks about it all, and as a chronicle of the horror genre, there is none better than this speech.

But he does talk about the 1990s.

Some say horror died in the 90’s, but this is patently untrue. Horror as a marketing category to be stamped on the spine of a book certainly died, but the stories and books and readers were still there. From 1991 to 1995, the most prominent mass market horror publishers were Zebra Books and the Dell Abyss line. Zebra was your traditional mass-market pulp house, cranking out novels with garish covers. Dell-Abyss was a little different. Started with the mission statement of getting away from the traditional horror of King, Koontz, and Straub, Dell Abyss was to publish more cutting-edge horror, and for a while, they did. Then the whole thing came crashing down, leaving folks like Brian Hodge and Kathe Koja homeless. Meanwhile, over at Zebra, authors weren’t getting paid on time. Zebra collapsed, too, which left authors like Rick Hautala and Ronald Kelly scrambling. (Credit Brian Keene)

If this is the unpleasantness to which the reviewer was speaking, then yes. It was damned unpleasant. But this had nothing to do with violent prose. If that were the case then there would be no Girl Next Door or Night They Missed The Horror Show. This had to do with marketing strategies and production.

I've always been careful about writing violence in my fiction. Nancy Goats, a novella about a
young gay man who gets abducted by a group of mixed martial artists worried me the most. But when friend and fellow author Hal Bodner read it and emailed me how much he loved it, I knew I'd found the balance. I try and find this balance in all my work. I knew BLOOD OCEAN was going to be violent. Just look at the setting. It's Mad Max on water, for heck's sake. Freaking Violent. People die. Some revert to cannibalism. Other people try and do things that no man or woman should ever suffer.

Badness happens.

But I guess badness only happens in horror fiction.

So if you want violent, character-driven fiction, then BLOOD OCEAN is for you. For as long as horror reviewers like Paul Goat Allen read, review my fiction and put me on the list of 'extraordinary writers,' then I know I'm doing it right.

So here's my favorite blurb of the three: "BLOOD OCEAN, a throwback to everything you love about horror." Which is yours? Do you have a better one I can use?

Yeah. That should do it.

Have a Happy New Year's people.

Looks like it's going to be a damned good year!

Top Seven of Twenty Eleven

2011-12-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

Last year I did a Top 5. Everyone seems to be doing a Top 10. Looks like all I could come up with is a Top 7. It's been a busy year, what can I say. I mean, besides finishing two mass market novels this year, traveling abroad, evacuations from fires, moving homes, and all the other writing and conventions, I feel lucky to have a Top anything.

These aren't in any order. But they represent the best things I've read or seen this year.

The Talented Mr. Ripley. Not the movie, but the book. I have to admit I didn't watch the movie. For one, it had Matthew Modine, who sadly peaked in the movie Vision Quest. Even his role of Joker in Full Metal Jacket wasn't that great. That movie was saved by Vincent D'Onofrio and R. Lee Ermey, who essentially reprised his role from The Boys of Company C. (On a side note, the two best soundtracks from the 1980s are Top Gun and Vision Quest).

Out of this digression about Matty Modine's filmography comes the admission that I never read the book either. Since it was published in 1954 that's saying something. But I was due to travel to the East Coast one day and had just finished Reamde and wanted to try it. So I stole it of Yvonne's TBR pile and discovered a delightful claustrophobic take of a young psychopath. At times a confidential, at others a travelogue, and at others a love story (often it was self love), I was entranced by Patricia Highsmith's writing and her story. This is my first Ripley book. It won't be my last

Southern Gods. This first book by John Hornor Jacobs has been getting a lot of attention. And it should. Here's what I wrote on May 5th right after I finished it.

Occasionally you meet someone at a convention that you just hit it off with. I'm not only a new friend of John's, but a considerable fan. He gave me a copy of Southern Gods, which is due to come out from Night Shade in August. Let me say, I get handed lots of books. I try and read most of them. Some I comment on. Sometimes it feels like a chore, but I don't mind because I have an obligation to pay it back. Reading Southern Gods was no chore. It was a dark and dreamy delight. The plot rises from the mire of established Southern Gothic and Cthluhu fiction and is enlivened by the sort of characters only Elmore Leonard and Shirley Jackson could write. The narrative creeps on alligator feet through the swamps of Post WWII American South, where slavery is still fresh in the memory and Rock and Roll is being born. A detective noir cthulhu southern gothic mystery, Southern Gods held me fast until the end, leaving me wanting more, but satisfied that I had witnessed enough brilliantly rendered brutality and compassion for one sitting.

It's a no shit brilliant book. Looking forward to sitting back and watching Mr. Jacob's star rise. The boys over at Night Shade Books really know their talent, that's for sure.

The Devil's Alphabet. Switchcreek Tennessee. It would be your ordinary redneck backwoods, something I know quite a bit about, except for the fact that Transcription Divergence Syndrome attacked the town and changed the inhabitants. Some were killed, some remained human, the rest were changed into Alphas, Betas and Charlies. This is not a horror book. This is not a science fiction novel. And this is not a literary fiction novel. Except it is... all of them, at the same time. This is my kind of work. Thoughtful, original, human, although this feels like a piece of a much larger work, I was very satisfied with this second novel by Daryl Gregory.

This Wicked World. I was doing a book signing at The Poisoned Pen and talking with the staff. They recommended this book to me. I grabbed it and could not have been happier. Next thing you know, I had it home and had opened it, only to discover that it was present tense. Let me say right now that I very rarely ever read a present tense book, but this sucker snatched me in and wouldn't let go. The tense provided an impetus that propelled me along at a brisk pace, so fast, that I couldn't get off the ride. The plot about self realization and redemption was perfect, a was the gritty, nipple-twisting majesty of the prose. Since then, I've been in contact with Richard. He's doing more work and has some things about to hit. I can't wait. Until then, please check this book out and his short fiction collection Dead Boys.

REAMDE. Wow! Just Wow! Thank you Neal Stephenson. Just a damn excellent book. Reamde is not a genre book. It is not a literary fiction book. Yet it is all of those in one, much like The Devil's Alphabet. While there is no supernatural or science fiction elements in the book, popular culture, technology, politics, the fears of the world, and the underlying sensibilities of its peoples are the superstructure for a narrative that is filled with hope, regret, naivete, hatred, and the all-consuming, electronic force of capitalistic nature called the Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) . Ef me to hell! This was just awesome.

Earlier comment on Goodreads while reading --"I can't stop reading this book. It's really that good. Reamde is what books are supposed to be. I wanted to play Xbox and work on my novel today, but I'm not doing any of that. Reamde has me so engrossed I want to see what happens next... like now!"

American Horror Story and Game of Thrones. These shows reinvigorated my belief that television can produce shows that are art. There's been so much said in the 'verse about these shows. Just know that I am a fellow fan and will stand side by side with the rest of you against the barbarians who will eventually try and shut them down for a reality television show about a trucker, a hooker and a bible thumper.

Introducting BLIGHT - The Comic Book

2011-12-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

This is where I announce I'm working on my own comic book with an artist. Our goal is to have the first issue complete by phoenix comicon. Still looking for a letterer/colorist, but we're just starting out. Without further ado, I'd like to introduct you to BLIGHT.

Here's my pitch:

BLIGHT

Format: Four-Issue Mini-Series

Snapshot of part of page 2

High Concept: A slipstream, steampunk horror tale of a netherplace along the Mexican Border, combining the best elements of Locke & Key and Preacher.

Plot: You did't really think I was going to give this away, did you?

Hook: Both non-superhero comics and horror comics are experiencing resurgence in popularity. Steampunk is soaring to the top of the genre mountain. Blight combines these aspects, while paying close attention to what readers love. Adopting some of the profane philosophy and violence of Preacher, along with the mystery and soulful searching of Joe Hill’s Locke family, Blight is destined to explode as a perfect comic for fans of horror, dark fantasy, steampunk and slipstream comics. The four-issue arc is ideal for collecting into trade paperback.

I've partnered with artist Nick Diaz. I met him at TusCon 38 Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Convention in Tucson. We talked, we showed each other our work, and decided to work together. Here's some of his art that convinced me he was right for this project.

Nick Diaz from Incorruptible 2

So here's how we're going to try and pull this off. We're going to create this page by page. We have a website where we are going to unveil this. In fact, once we get some pages in the bank, we'll begin posting them regularly so you can read the fabulous story of BLIGHT.

Here's the webpage -http://blightcomicbook.blogspot.com/.

Please do us a favor. Bookmark this and return weekly. Share this page with someone. If you are into comics, share it with your other comic friends or on message boards. Nick and I are scraping along the side of a Mount Everest-sized piece of hope and need the occasional hand up.

Enough of be gabbing. Go take a look at BLIGHT and meet Wysteria, the badass peglegged girl.

eBook Monday

2011-12-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

Wow. I just realized I have a lot of eBooks out there. My good friend Hal Bodner just got a reader and he asked me what I had out. I had to look them up and POW!

Scarecrow Gods
Butterfly Winter
Nancy Goats
Velvet Dogma
Empire of Salt
Scary Rednecks and Other Inbred Horrors
Appalachian Galapagos

Made me realize that although I have it marked as a link on my webpage, maybe everyone doesn't know that I've created a book store (I'm not selling the books, I'm just pointing you to the places you can buy them. Additionally, I've provided links to online book retailers out of pure convenience. I have a lot of favorite brick and mortar bookstores, but these have worked with me and regularly carry copies of my work. I encourage you to try them first. They do ship books as well. Mysterious Galaxy, Book Soup, and The Poisoned Pen.)

So what follows is a capture of my work in progress of my"book store." My intent is to have a quick set of links as well has having a dedicated page. I still have a ways to go.

So. Comments? Critiques? Secret recipes? Want me to sign your eBook? You know that I can do that, right? I am a member of Kindlegraph, so if you want your eBooks signed and inscribed, then we can do that too.

NOVELS

Published by Crossroads Press

info|Kindle|Nook|All Others

Published by Abaddon Books

info|Amazon.uk|Amazon.us|Barnes&Nobles

Published by St. Martin's Press

info|Amazon.uk|Amazon.us|Barnes&Nobles

Toastmastering 101

2011-12-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

Toastmastering. That's a word, right?

I've toastmastered twice now. Both times as a stand in for the esteemed Ed Bryant. The first time was a few years ago. I got 24 hours notice and was asked to introduce John Ringo. As it turned out we had a lot in common. We both served in the Army. His hometown of East Ridge, Tennessee, bumped up against my hometown of Chattanooga. We like the color mauve and long walks on the beach too. It was pretty cool, although I was pretty nervous.

Then last month, 22 hours before opening ceremonies of TusCon 38, I was asked yet again the toastmaster. On this occasion it was to be for Patricia Briggs. She's pretty famous, although I hadn't read any of her work. And the convention committee wanted me to be funny and professional and spontaneous and entertaining, with me not knowing hardly anything about her.After all, they gave me 22 hours, right?

So I did what anyone would do. I created a musical bumper and read her a love poem. It went ~~something~~ exactly like this.

Play Bumper first ---

Then read poem as if you are a complete and adoring idiot.

Ode to Patricia—

Oh Patricia, Oh dear Patricia,

I think of you in the night.
When it’s dark.
And it’s night.
In the black dark.

I dream about being a monster in one of your books.

They are hot.
And have sex.

Oh Patricia.
Oh dear Patricia.
Make me a monster.
In the Night.
In the Dark.

In the black dark of your awesome nasty monster sex books.

It brought the house down. There was a lot more after this, but I'll demure to other folks. Needless to say it was a success. I was a lot less nervous this time. Everyone was gracious. I might have goofed a little, but hey. I'm still a beginner. Not at all as good as Ed Bryant or Jeff Strand.

Thanks to the TusCon Convention committee for having faith in me. You know I'll be there for you again if you need me.

From Left to Right: Marsheilla Rockwell, me, Gini Koch and Patricia Briggs

(Note that the music sample was from the Black Eyed Peas - Pump - and is sampled by Fair Use. If you like the song, I recommend going to your favorite music store and buying it.)

Quick Hits - Thanks, Comics, Scarecrows, Pali Boys, NPR

2011-12-03T17:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Mark McLemore from National Public Radio for returning my pen I left at the studio and sending me a disc of my Halloween reading. For those who didn't hear it, there's a link here. Not only do I read an original story, but I also perform a tongue-in-cheek man-on-the-street what if zombies were real. Loads of fun.

Going to have a big Blood Ocean announcement next week. Going to announce the special Pali Boys Club.

Scarecrow Gods is available in eBook for the first time.

Multiplex Fandango is selling out. Bad Moon Books has 3 of the 26 copies of the lettered edition for sale. As Mark West said on Facebook, these are as rare as rocking horse poo.

I posted pictures from TusCon 38 to my Picasa page today. Nice shots of Yvonne Navarro and her art, Patricia Briggs, Gini Koch, Marsheilla Rockwell, Jordan Summers, Dennis McKiernan and more. Here's the link.

I owe the universe a blog about the convention. I was a last minute replacement for Ed Bryant as toastmaster. Without giving too much away, I read a love poem to Patricia Briggs that brought down the house.

I'm also going to be announcing two comic book deals. One I'm working on myself called BLIGHT with artist Nick Diaz. The other I'm co-writing with William F. Nolan. More on that later too.

And last but not least, I'm finishing SEAL Team 666. Should be done by next week. Boy will my editor be happy.

Moving -- Gah!

2011-12-03T08:13:00.000-08:00

I've lived in 14 states and four countries.

I've lived in roughly 35 homes, apartments, barracks, etc.

I've lived in a one room house on the Great Plains. I've lived in a spacious apartment overlooking L.A. Harbor. I spent 13 months in a Quonset Hut 37 kilometers from North Korea. I spent 17 days the guest of the Laymon Family as I looked for other digs. I lived with 59 of my newest and closest friends in a resort located in Columbia, South Carolina, we affectionately call Basic Training at Fort Jackson. I lived in a trailer in Sioux Falls, an apartment in Youngstown, a townhouse in Colorado Springs, ghetto housing on Fort Bragg, a rental home in the crack part of town near Fort Huachuca, and the Ambassadorial Residence in Papua New Guinea.

Working on SEAL Team 666 in Dining Room

I've seen it all. I've lived it all. In fact, I've now moved enough that I know what I need.

I need enough space to live, but not too much space to clean.

I need a two-butt kitchen.

I need a yard big enough to enjoy but small enough that I only have to spend a few minutes upkeep.

I need a place to write. I've only had two offices before. When I first started writing up to 2004 I used dining room tables. In fact, I'm using one now. My first office was a nice space I had for only a few months before we moved. My last office was a long windowless space in the basement. It was a man cave. And it was awesome. For a while. What I missed was seeing other living beings and light. Now my office is in a loft space that is bright and spacious and has six windows.Once I unpack the boxes and get some shutters for the south-facing windows, I can actually use it.Until then, I have this table.

You know, I envy those who have never moved. Stability. Never having to pack and unpack boxes. There's something to be said for that. Of course, there's the other side too. They never experience the thrill of a new place. The joy of hanging a picture in a new perfect spot. The satisfaction of finishing a room.

My New Office

So I'm here now in my new house. I probably won't be in it forever, but I hope it's a long time before we move. Yvonne and I searched for this sort of layout for several years before we were satisfied. We're hard people to please, mainly because we feel that there's enough out there that we shouldn't have to settle.

Yeah. This is a rockin' house.

It's bad ass.

Most of all I'm just happy that we aren't moving anymore.

BLOOD OCEAN Press Release

2011-11-26T06:39:00.000-08:00

Ripped from the Publishers site here

TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2011

On the high seas, if you don’t live large… you just sink

The Afterblight Chronicles:
Blood Ocean
by Weston Ochse

Released on 16th February in the UK and 14th February in US & Canada

£7.99 (UK) ISBN 978-1-907992-87-2
$9.99 (US & CAN) ISBN 978-1-907992-87-2

Will also be available as an ebook

In a world reduced to ruin by all-consuming plague, one young boy embarks on a mission of revenge after one of his friends is found dead … harvested for his blood!

Kavika Kamalani is a Pali Boy on Nomi No Toshi, the floating city. The post-plague heir to an ancient Hawai’ian warrior tradition that believes in overcoming death by embracing one’s fears and living large, Kavika’s life is turned upside down when one of his friends dies – and he sets out to find the killer.

When he is kidnapped and subjected to a terrifying transformation, Kavika must embrace the ultimate fear – death itself. It is the only way if he, his loved ones, and the Pali Boys are to survive.

This stand-alone title is the latest pulse-pounding story of post-apocalyptic survival in The Afterblight Chronicles series from Weston Ochse – a writer who pulls no punches.

“Weston Ochse is an artist whose craft, stories and voice are so distinct and mesmerising that you can’t help but be enthralled.” – Dani Kollin, Prometheus Award-winning author of The Unincorporated Man

About the Series
The Afterblight Chronicles is a post-apocalyptic series in which a devastating epidemic has ravaged the world. In the Afterblight, pockets of humans attempt to continue civilization amidst the mounting chaos of the collapsed infrastructure . Mobs run rampant while cults and warlords fight for authority over the survivors of the global plague.

One of the three series with which Abaddon Books launched in 2006,The Afterblight Chronicles is a collection of stand-alone novels that has showcased the talents of a number of brilliant, up-and-coming authors, including Scott Andrews, Paul Kane, Jasper Bark and Rebecca Levene. Blood Ocean is the eleventh Afterblight Chronicles title.

About the Author
Weston Ochse is the Bram Stoker award-winning author of various short stories and novels, including the critically-acclaimed Scarecrow Gods and Tomes of the Dead novel, Empire of Salt.

He is much in demand as a speaker at genre conventions and has been chosen as guest of honour on numerous occasions. Weston lives in Southern Arizona with his wife Yvonne and their menagerie of animals.

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

2011-11-17T15:11:00.000-08:00

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.

Horror and Science Fiction in Tucson, Arizona

2011-11-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

Where are you going to be this weekend? Are you going to be in the East Coast. Has it snowed there? Have you had to de-ice the car? Do you know what slush means?

If you lived in Arizona you could have 70-80 degree weather right now. You could walk outside dressed in a T-shirt. You could swim in the pool.

You could also spend a weekend at the Best Little Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror Convention in Arizona-- TUSCON! This weekend is TusCon 38. Previous GoHs include Theodore Sturgeon, Vernor Vinge, Robert Bloch, Karl Edward Wagner, Diana Gabaldon, John Ringo, Laurell K. Hamilton, Weston Ochse, Stephen R. Donaldson, Tim Powers, Jim Butcher and Shannon K. Butcher, to name just a few. Begun in 1974, TusCon has a rich history of supporting the interests of fans, authors, artists, librarians, booksellers and gamers in Tucson, and throughout the Southwest.

I'll be on several panels, reading from MULTIPLEX FANDANGO, as well as just hanging out. Come out and see us and have a great time.

Click for information about the convention

Hope to see you there!

I'm up on NPR for a Halloween Special - Boo!

2011-10-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

I'm up on NPR for a Halloween Special. Although they have regular broadcast times, here is a permanent link. Of the 28 minutes, about 8 of them are mine. Not too bad. In addition to my essay and interview, there's a segment on Zombies in Arizona (about 3:30 mark) - a tongue in cheek man on the street parody. Just great! Please post his and pass it on and let me know how you like it.

http://radio.azpm.org/azspotlight/podcasts/2011/10/27/2127-the-haunted-halloween-show-2011/

If you scroll down the link, it looks like the host of Arizona Spotlight, Mark McLemore, parsed the links so that each separate section is available.

For my zombie interview.

For my Halloween story.

But it is worth it to listen to the rest. Jane Eppinga is a folklorist and historian and has some great tales about what's spooky in Arizona.

For those who listened and wanted more information about Multiplex Fandango-- Multiplex Fandango is subtitled "A Weston Ochse Reader" for good reason. This collection contains a comprehensive representation of short fiction and novellas by the Bram Stoker award winner and Pushcart Prize nominee, including his recent powerful Stoker finalist short story, "The Crossing Of Aldo Rey" and his brilliant Stoker finalist novella, Redemption Roadshow, as well as acclaimed favorites, "Catfish Gods" and "Big Rock Candy Mountain." Also included in this omnibus volume of sixteen short stories and novellas are six original new works of short fiction written especially for this collection including such future classics as "Tarzan Doesn't Live Here Anymore," "Low Men Weeping," and the stunning, "City Of Joy."

“Multiplex Fandango. What we’re seeing here is quite possibly the most comfortable, relaxed, and expert takeover that the horror genre has ever seen. With Multiplex Fandango, Weston Ochse has created an incredible collection, and has given the reader one of the smoothest, most satisfying reads they could ever come across. To drive the point home, Joe Landsdale says in the intro that "This is a book that could almost have been written for me.", but I disagree - this book was written for anyone looking for imaginative, intelligent, and thoroughly awe-inspiring, but strangely uplifting scares that force the reader to think more than react." - Paperback Horror

"This is a book that could almost have been written for me."
- Eight-Time Bram Stoker Award Winner Joe R. Lansdale on Multiplex Fandango

"Multiplex Fandango is a smooth mix of the old school pulp horror vibe and new storytelling, elegantly crafted for the modern reader.” - Rain Graves, Bram Stoker Award winner for The Gossamer Eye

“Weston Ochse is to horror what Bradbury is to science fiction -- an artist whose craft, stories and voice are so distinct and mesmerizing that you can't help but be enthralled. Multiplex Fandango is yet another in a long line of exclamation points that reminds us of that fact.” - Dani Kollin, Prometheus Award-winning author of The Unincorporated Man

"The truth of the matter is that for all the drive-in movie references, what Weston Ochse has really created in Multiplex Fandango is a travelogue. Acting as narrator and guide, Weston takes you on a trip to places familiar and obscure—New Orleans, the Sonoran desert, Mexico’s Pacific coast, and the dark, impenetrable reaches of the soul. He shows off sights that chill the blood, and as with any good trip, the things seen and experienced along the way will stay with you for a lifetime." - Jeff Mariotte, Novelist and Comic Book Author

Velvet Dogma Wins for Cover Art!

2011-10-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

The internet has a lot of advice. If one were to stack all the pages of data on top of each other, it would be a modern Tower of Binary Babble and probably reach the moon, which is made of nacho cheese btw. When I decided to create a cover for my original un-published novel, Velvet Dogma, there were a few sites that I trusted more than others. After all, eBook covers are not created equally. Some are better than others. One such site is called The Book Designer. Joel Friedlander, who runs the site, has a lot of good advice. Since I'm not a publisher and I'm definitely not an artist I decided to use some of that advice. The result is this cover--

The most important thing on book covers to me is the art. It has to be catchy. It has to stop someone in their tracks and make them want to pick the book up, or in this case, click the link. I figure with all the eBooks out there that's more than half the battle. I could have made my own image, but again, I am not an artist. So I went out to find one.

I'd always loved Matt Hults' book Husk. The imagery is captivating. So I asked him who did the art work and he told me, Danielle Tunstall.

So I googled her. As it turns out, Danielle isn't a one shot wonder. She has hundreds of pieces that she created using real models, photography and digital manipulation. The image on my cover is based on an action shot from the model Collette Von Tora, known far and wide for her alternative modeling. She loves Velvet Dogma, btw.

After a few email conversations with Danielle, she and I came to terms. Use of her art for the cover wasn't free, nor did I expect it to be. In fact, it cost enough dough to be painful. But then her creativity should be rewarded as much as mine should be. A lot of hard work went into the creation of the image for Velvet Dogma. There's an old adage about the relative value of something being what you paid for it. If it was free, then it's value would be zero, and I wanted Velvet Dogma to be worth a lot more than zero.

The Vivacious Collette Von Tora

Of course once I got the artwork, then I had to create the cover. One thing I didn't want to do was ruin the effect of the image with a lot of text. I'd read about the use of negative space and tried to apply it. BTW, a very successful friend of mine, Joe Konrath, advised in one of his blogs that one of the biggest mistakes people make is not paying for good art. I didn't want to be one of those folks.

After a few hours on Photoshop, I came up with what was eventually going to be the cover. I sent it to Crossroads Press, the publisher, and they subsequently published the book. Velvet Dogma has received many popular and critical reviews for the content and now it's won an award for Cover Design from none other than Joel Friedlander's site The Book Designer. Hooray for Velvet Dogma, Danielle Tunstall and Collette Von Tora!

Here's what Joel said about the cover-

Velvet Dogma by Weston Ochse, Design by Weston Ochse, Art by Danielle Tunstall. A great way to use the cover space without having to look like a print book. There are so many things going right here, from the ultra-cool art to the designer’s deployment of negative space, to the interesting use of a traditional font for this sci-fi cover. Rad.

Glad to see that I stumbled onto the right way to do things my first time out. I guess it pays off following other people's advice. If you get a chance, drop by Daniell Tunstall's and Collette Von Tora's sites and pay them a compliment. And of course, pick up a copy of Velvet Dogma. It's a kick ass book.

Rue Morgue Magazine is Awesome

2011-10-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

I've been a fan of Rue Morgue Magazine since they did a spread on by bud Brian Keene in 2002. He wasn't the huge star he is now, he was just Brian and they gave him the royal treatment. Since then they've occasionally turned their Canadian eyes in my direction. I especially like the full page spread they did on me and my buds Mike Oliveri and John Urbancik when we were doing Muy Mal. I think it was the Godzilla issue. Just awesome.

Our page in Rue Morgue -- Nice!!!

Empire of Salt came out last year as you all know because each and every one of you have read it (nod your heads in unison please-- thanks). I'd heard that they reviewed it, but two different people told me it was a bad review. I was thinking to myself, a bad review? What? Couldn't happen. I asked one of them to get me a copy. When the issue came out, I was traveling and wasn't able to get to the store in time to get it... although it never occurred to me to actually contact the magazine for a copy.

I finally got a copy of the review which came out June 2010 in the mail today. Monica Kuebler, the editor of this might periodic tome, sent me a copy. I opened it today and read it with more than a little trepidation. Then I read it again. Then once more. There wasn't a single thing wrong with the review. It was an awesome review. Are you kidding me? I like how they said I am 'upping the bar with his tale of undead antagonism" and "challenging other authors to follow suit and keep the subgenre of roaming revenants going strong.

It was just an awesome review. Since the book is out of print in the U.S. (I think it's still available in Canada and U.K.) and the review is more than a year old, I'm going to reproduce it here. If someone asks me to take it down, I'll do so in a hurry though.

Thanks to Rue Morgue. I'm sorry I didn't thank you sooner and more profusely. I know my publisher's going to be thrilled about this. What a wonderful review. You guys are my favorite Canadian magazine!

Blood Ocean - Ready for Prime Time

2011-10-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

Blood Ocean. Today I get to do something brilliant. I get to move the folder for my novel for Blood Ocean from the Books-Working folder to the Books-Finished folder, where it joins 16 other books.

Abaddon's edits made it a better novel. The sentences are tough and furious. They punch and jab. This is my most action oriented novel. But with that said, I didn't lose any of the characterizations I'm normally known for. You are going to love the transvestite Filipina heroine, the Hawaiian warrior kids, the drunken Russian sub captain and the wizened sky winker named Tim Lebbon, but who goes by Leb.

This is a good one. I can't wait for you to read it.

Here's Abaddon's page for the book.

Now we're just waiting for Prime Time.

National Public Radio Interview - Weston Ochse

2011-10-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was pretty exciting. Mark McLemore interviewed me for the local NPR affiliate. We actually spent two hours together. Not only did I talk about writing, SEAL Team 666, Blood Ocean, Empire of Salt and Multiplex Fandango, but we also talked about our shared passion for horror. He'd recently seen the movie The Sentinel for the first time, recently, and we talked a lot about that. Wow. What a terrifying movie.

We also did some fake man on the street recordings, but I won't give that away until I'm sure it made it into the broadcast. Additionally I read a 1000 word essay about a Halloween when I was seven years old.

The broadcast is scheduled for 27 and 28 Oct. Not sure what time yet, but my work and interview should be a good portion of it. When I have times, I'll make sure I post them along with links for those of you who don't live in the general vicinity. That way you'll be able to listen online if you want.

Here are some photos, courtesy of Yvonne Navarro:

Being interviewed by NPR

Shout Out -- Scott Bradley

2011-10-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

This blog isn't all about me. I mean it is, but even I need a break from myself. Sometimes I like to talk about folks I like. Sometimes I just like to explain why some people are cool.

Take Scott Bradley for instance. I first met Scott at the Stoker Weekend in Burbank in June 2009. A bunch of us were lounging on some outdoor furniture-- Larry Roberts, Cody Goodfellow, John Skipp, others -- and Scott was there as well. I was at the Stoker Weekend because of my novella Redemption Roadshow, published by Burning Effigy. It was one of four long fiction finalists for the Bram Stoker Award. Scott was there for the non-fiction category, The Book of Lists, which he contributed to and edited along with Del Howison and Amy Wallace. We must have sat around drinking and talking and just having a solid evening. I remember how intrigued I was about his pending trip with his father to Vietnam.

He promised that he'd send me a postcard. And if you look at this, you can see he did. I have to admit, I added something to it. You probably can't figure out what it is. But the overwhelming feeling of someone taking the time when they are overseas having what is probably one of the best trips of their lives to send you a postcard-- well, in this case it was like a 7,000 mile handshake and inclusion into something special between him and his father.

Scott and I converse on FB all the time. Last year during my Poisoned Soup Book Tour, where I appeared at Book Soup in L.A. and The Poisoned Pen in Phoenix the same weekend, I was supposed to hook up with him, but it wasn't to be. But because Scott couldn't come, I was able to meet Pete Giglio instead, who I'm also very pleased to know.

So this year, out of the blue, I get another postcard, this one from Thailand.

Now that's just badass. I miss Thailand. I've been there six times and wish I was there again.

So where can you find Scott, besides googling him or facebook friending him? You can find a fairly amazing and insightful article of his in Vince Liaguno's Butcher Knives and Body Counts fiction book. Scott's contribution is an essay about The Hitcher titled 'There's Something Going on Between the Two of You.' I have the book because I'm looking at it for a possible award and Scott's essay is one of the finest they have. There's something about the way Scott approaches things that is different from most people.

He's also working on a novel with Pete Giglio for John Skipp's Ravenous Shadows. Can't wait for that to come out.

Most of all, just send good thoughts his way. He deserves it.

Here's Scott. I like this picture because it could have
been taken on the Left Bank in Paris had we been part
of the Lost Generation.

Blood Ocean and Demons

2011-10-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

Many of you probably know that I finished my first round of edits for my Abaddon Books novel, Blood Ocean, at the beginning of September. Although I didn't have enough time to send them out to my Beta Readers before I sent the novel to my editor, I did send them nonetheless, hoping for comments and corrections I could add in the final round of edits. But that was it. Since then, it has been a black hole of comments, the gravitational pull so severe, it had begun ripping free ideas that my novel was a crapfest where nothing happened that anyone cared about. But then, one of my Betas, Paul Legerski, who I first met when I lived in L.A., Twittered the following comment to me--

"Combine parts Tarzan, Three Musketeers, Peter Pan, add a splash of Hawaiian Horror, a splash of Far Eastern Martial Arts, a dollop of 1970s flair, a skewer of WWII Nazis, shake well, and serve-- call it BLOOD OCEAN and drink deeply. Brilliant! This is gonna be huge!"

Yeah. Paul saved me from myself and that vigorous and vicious monster, self-doubt. Now to hear back from my editor. I expect it any day now. If it's true to form, the manuscript will bleed red from track changes. But that's okay. It's never as many edits as I think and ultimately not as many as it needs.

Do me a favor. I've already had several people email me that they pre-ordered it. Not sure if they charge you now or later. What I would like you to do is add it to your wishlist either on Amazon or Barnes and Nobles. Even better would be to contact your favorite bookstore and ask them to put you on a waiting list for the book. I recommend Mysterious Galaxy for one of the best brick and mortar stores on the planet. Although they have stores in San Diego and Redondo Beach, they do heavy business online as well. You can contact them there. Tell them you'd like to be on the 'Reserve List' for Blood Ocean.

On Thursday, I received the John Skipp-edited anthology DEMONS in the mail. It's a big, hardback-sized, paperback book at 631 pages. I am so happy to be in it. Frankly, it was touch and go. Skipp loved my story, but there was some concern that the publisher Black Dog and Leventhal might find the subject matter a little too disturbing.

But after Dinah Dunn at Black Dog read the story, it was a done deal. In fact, I was at the World Horror Convention when I got the text from John telling me I was in. PSYCHED!

So I was so excited when I got the book in the mail that I immediately set about creating this video. You'll note it starts with Take 57. Let's just say I had trouble starting it. Then about halfway through, my wife walks in the front door, coming home from work. Jeese. What a soup sandwich. Still, I left this up and posted it to Facebook because I need to be true to my fans and friends and you need to be able to laugh at me from time to time.

I hope you enjoy it. I also hope that when you pick up a copy of DEMONS that you turn to my story first and learn the glory of a forest filled with demonic still-born babies and a hero you don't want to root for.

Exclusive Interview with Dark Regions Press

2011-10-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

From Dark Regions Press Newsletter today:

Publishing this on my blog for all of you who don't get the newsletter. It includes a free sample story from my brand new collection - MULTIPLEX FANDANGO

Chris Morey: Firstoff, can you tell us a little about Multiplex Fandango? Is there a theme to thebook or are the stories independent of one another?

Weston Ochse: Fandangomeans many things.

It's a dance for sure. Most often using triple meter, itcranks along. Much of the Flamenco music is a Fandango.

Fandango also means 'afoolish or useless act.' But of course the foolishness of such an act is alwaysin the eye of the beholder. Rarely do those doing something like a fandangothink it's foolish or useless. But to me, above all, fandango is a journey.

Kevin Reynolds, who went on to direct such movies as The Beast, Rapa Nui, RobinHood Prince of Thieves, Dances with Wolves and The Count of Monte Cristo, madehis directorial debut in 1985 with FANDANGO. Starring a young Kevin Costner andJudd Nelson, it's the story of fiveTexas collegestudents in 1971who go off on one last journey before they part their separateways, many of them going toVietnam. It's a coming of age movie about how we growup and change. Quintin Tarantino, one ofmy cinematic idols said of the movie, "Fandango is one of the bestdirectorial debuts in the history of cinema. I saw Fandango five timesat the movie theater and it only played for a fucking week, all right."

Multiplex is just what it is - it's a mega theater withmultiple screens. When you put the pairof words together, you get a place with multiple screens delivering a fandangoon each one. My writing has always been called cinematic. That was never myintention, but probably a result of being a child of pop-culture. The results of that cinematic quality in thisshort story collection are word pictures that will take you places.

CM: You dedicate the book in part to RayBradbury and Joe Lansdale. Can you tell us how they have influenced you?

Weston Ochse: Besidesthe fact that they are two of the best short story writers in the last 50years?

Ray Bradbury's The Sound of Summer Running, which became thenovel Dandelion Wine was the mostinfluential story I ever read. It changed the way I looked at literature. Inthat story alone I discovered literature's transformative nature and am stunnedevery time I read it. Then of course there's Dandelion Wine's dark brother, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Bothset in the same fictional town, Something Wickeddeals with the dark in the same ways Dandeliondealt with the light.

Joe Lansdale is aliterary barracuda. He's a razor-sharp tumbleweed that rolls right over yourexpectations. All you have to do is read TheNight They Left the Picture Show to learn that. Joe's ability to entertainwith both humor and violence, while simultaneously dealing with complex socialissues is the model story for me. In my forwardto the anthology I wrote-- JoeLansdale is a literary samurai. His dojo is the page. His two-fisted katanaswings completely eviscerated my sense of what should be when I read "NightThey Missed the Horror Show" and "On the Far Side of theCadillacDesertwith Dead Folks." We have a lot in common. Our southern heritage. Our love ofmartial arts. Our sly look at the world. I'm double honored and humbled that hewrote the introduction to Multiplex Fandango.

CM: Multiplex Fandango contains yourBram Stoker award finalist short story "The Crossing of Aldo Rey" andyour Bram Stoker award finalist novella "Redemption Roadshow." Whatdo you think of the awards process?

Weston Ochse: Awards mean many things to different people.I appreciate them and am humbled when nominated or when I receive them. A literary award is recognition by your peersthat for one brief moment you captured magic with your pen. I won the BramStoker Award for Superior Achievement in First Novel right out of the gates.That award, which sits on my office shelf, definitely meant a lot to me. When Iwas writing my first novel I was filled with self doubt. It took me two yearsto write it and I was terribly unsure if it would even be readable. The awardwas a world-sized sigh of relief. Since then I've been nominated for thePushcart Prize for Short Fiction, as well as the two awards you mentioned inyour question. Although they didn't win, they were considered among the fourbest literary works of their type for that year. That alone is an honor that Iterrifically appreciate.

CM: Why do you write horror and weird fiction? What draws you to thegenre?

Weston Ochse: I never planned on being a horror author. Ijust ended up that way. In fact, when I started writing I just wanted to be awriter. Frankly, regardless of what I write, that's who I am. That the endresult is categorized as horror, or dark fantasy, or weird fiction, well,that's someone else's categorization. Interestly enough, I'm not very well readin the horror genre. I'm not a horror snob, it's just that because of my Masterof Fine Arts Degree (or perhaps my degree is a result of that), I'm interestedin all sorts of literature, to include what is called literary fiction. I've gonearound and around with some friends on this subject when they make fun of mefor not knowing this author or that book. What I think I bring to the genre isa fresh voice, fresh blood and a fresh take on horror.

CM: For those who don't know already, how would you describe your writing style?

Weston Ochse: I don't know if I can accurately dothat. Really, that's for other folks todo. That's like asking Megan Fox how she looks so sexy or a girl how come shekisses so well. As far as my writing style, there are a lot of nice folks whohave written reviews about it. Read Horror recently reviewed a novella of minethusly--'The twists and turns of the plotare handled adeptly and the characterization is superbly nuanced, creatingfully-rounded and believable characters. The prose is crisp, flowing and attimes simply beautiful. The climax, equal parts horrifying and uplifting,leaves you with a sense of one journey ending as a new one begins.' This isa pretty common description of my writing. I've also been called 'a writers writer,' which is a joy everytime I read it. To me that says that not only do readers appreciate my approachto a narrative, but so do my peers and other professionals.

CM: What do you have in the works?

Weston Ochse: PromotingMultiplex Fandango. I want as many people to read it as possible. This is mybest work collected in one volume. Of the more than 100 short stories I'vewritten, these are the very best. Plus it has an amazing cover by Bram Stokerwinning artist Vincent Chong. Heck, with Joe, me and Vince, that's a BramStoker Trifecta. When I'm not promoting this, I'm working on a novel forSt. Martin's Press called SEAL Team 666. I also recentlyfinished an apocalyptic novel for Abaddon Books out ofEngland calledBloodOcean.That's due out in mass market paperback in Feb 2012.

CM: To those unsure about orderingMultiplex Fandango, what would you do?

Weston Ochse: I'd send themto you, Chris. Dark Regions has the process down.

CM: If fans want to contact you, what's the best way to do that?

Weston Ochse: www.westonochse.com is my website. Fromthere you can go to my facebook, twitter, and message board. You can alsoaccess my books, free stories, screenplays, etc. It's probably the best placeto go. There's also a link there to a page dedicated to Multiplex Fandango,where authors such as Conrad Williams, Steve Tem, Jeff Marriotte, Rain Graves,Rocky Wood, Steven Spruill and Dani Kollin have all provided positive comments.

Click here to read more about or order Multiplex Fandango by Weston Ochse!

Free short story from Multiplex Fandango by Weston Ochse now available for download!

We are happy to announce that Multiplex Fandango by Weston Ochse is now in stock and shipping to customers! We are now offering a free short story from the collection as a downloadable PDF (Adobe Acrobat Reader required):

Image above not loading? Click here to download the free sample.

Click here to read more about or order Multiplex Fandango by Weston Ochse!

Multiplex Fandango. Say it. Multi-plex Fan-dan-go. It's beautiful, isn't it? Just rolls off the tongue. It's almost as beautiful and satisfying as the book you may now be holding in your hands, or reading a review about. What we're seeing here is quite possibly the most comfortable, relaxed, and expert takeover that the horror genre has ever seen. With Multiplex Fandango, Weston Ochse has created an incredible collection, and has given the reader one of the smoothest, most satisfying reads they could ever come across. To drive the point home, Joe Landsdale says in the intro that "This is a book that could almost have been written for me.", but I disagree - this book was written for anyone looking for imaginative, intelligent, and thoroughly awe-inspiring, but strangely uplifting scares that force the reader to think more than react." - Paperback Horror

"This is a book that could almost have been written for me."

- Eight-Time Bram Stoker Award Winner Joe R. Lansdale on Multiplex Fandango

"Multiplex Fandango is a smooth mix of the old school pulp horror vibe and new storytelling, elegantly crafted for the modern reader. - Rain Graves, Bram Stoker Award winner for The Gossamer Eye

"Weston Ochse is to horror what Bradbury is to science fiction -- an artist whose craft, stories and voice are so distinct and mesmerizing that you can't help but be enthralled. Multiplex Fandango is yet another in a long line of exclamation points that reminds us of that fact." - Dani Kollin, Prometheus Award-winning author of The Unincorporated Man

"The truth of the matter is that for all the drive-in movie references, what Weston Ochse has really created in Multiplex Fandango is a travelogue. Acting as narrator and guide, Weston takes you on a trip to places familiar and obscure--New Orleans, the Sonoran desert, Mexico's Pacific coast, and the dark, impenetrable reaches of the soul. He shows off sights that chill the blood, and as with any good trip, the things seen and experienced along the way will stay with you for a lifetime." - Jeff Mariotte, Novelist and Comic Book Author

"Make way for a new powerhouse on the block. Hard work and formidable skills have already shot-gunned Ochse to the front of the genre's exciting new pack of writers. With creative brawn, brains, and balls, the guy's locked, loaded, and switched to full-auto, blazing away with his unique and original brand of modern horror, one of the few new writers, I'd say, who will help re-define the field for the future."- Master of Dark Fiction Edward Lee on Weston Ochse

Click here to read more about or order Multiplex Fandango by Weston Ochse!

Freedom to Write

2011-10-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

Freedom to Write is a loaded title. On the surface, it seems like this would be an essay about being free to write what you want-- politically? Most of us are, unless we live in countries like Myanmar or North Korea.

No, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm really talking about limitations-- writing limitations --but I don't want to use that word. I hate the word limitation and despise its existence.

Limitation is the opposite of freedom. If words have power, then limitation has power, after all, it is the result of self editing, self imposition, and self doubt. The common theme in all those words is the word self. That is you!

So okay, I'll just come right out and say it -- Self-imposed Limitations.

I once said I'd never write a zombie novel. I thought my gawd, how prosaic is that? Zombies have been so done they are over done. Then I spoke with the editor of Abaddon Books in England and he said that he'd be interested in seeing a pitch for a zombie novel from me. That's the sort of motivation we all dream of-- to have an editor ask you for something that could be made into a mass market paperback? So I pitched Abaddon and ultimately wrote the book Empire of Salt, which has done Great Guns for Abaddon. I was able to put my own stamp on the genre, creating a work that adds to the collection of zombie literature. I am so glad that I didn't succumb to my self limitation not to write a zombie novel. There's a good chance that my current success is predicated on this.

Self-editing. Self-editing is the interference in the creative cycle of one's ideas on what should or should not be included in a narrative. Self-editing is the choice we make as we write something regarding which word to use. This is normally fueled by what we each individually bring to the narrative. I've often found that the first word is the best word to use because it is the product of creativity rather than the product of a 20/20 editorial vision. I'd rather change the context of the word than change the word. Anything less is being untrue to the narrative.

Self Imposition. What the hell does that mean? I mean when you the writer impose yourself on the narrative construct. Who you are when you are writing informs the characters you write. You have to consciously remember this because your character might not share your point of view. It probably won't even share your gender or sexual preference. If you want to get good at this write some stories with as far an opposite of yourself as possible, then re-read it and see if it rings true? You'll find out more about yourself in this process than any three trips to the psychologist AND become a better writer.

Self-doubt. Lee Child wants you to have self doubt. Stephen King wants you to have self doubt. Danielle Steele wants you to have self doubt. Hell, I want you to have self doubt. Because if you stop writing and working because of some internalized belief that your work is substandard then it makes all of us who write without self-doubt, or who are able to conquer it, better able to be published. The more of you self doubters there are the easier my path is to publishing success.

Me with zombies from the Tucson Zombie Walk whom I never would have met if I'd allowed self doubt to creep into my creative process

So you have the complete freedom to write as long as you beware of your SELF. You can be the biggest roadblock to your own success. In fact, you probably are. Talent is one thing. Hard work is another. But the inculcation of freedom to do whatever we want to and with the narrative is something only those of us brave enough to write live with out a net can perform.

I'm fearless. I have no self limitations. I have another novel coming out from Abaddon in Feb 2012 called Blood Ocean and a novel coming out from St. Martin's Press in the Fall of 2012.

And you ain't like me.

Or are you?

Do you not have the freedom to write?

Then figure out why not.

Coupons for Crack Babies

2011-09-30T09:24:00.000-07:00

Coupons.

I see then in magazines, newspapers, fliers. We get the Wednesday paper just to get all the coupons.

Coupons are good.

And coupons are bad.

I've always been of the mind that coupons are like crack. The more you use them the more you want them. I know that I've not intended on buying things and have changed my mind because I had a $2.00 off coupon. So I spent $10 to save $2.00. Even my simple math can tell me that is a $8.00 loss. But at least I have something to show for it.

When I'm at the grocery store I see women with binders filled with current coupons. I can't imagine how long they take every day putting the new coupons in, replacing the old, and cross referencing. I wonder if they are arranged by food group or by food type. I've always thought I'd arrange it by aisle, especially since I go to the same store 98% of the time. In fact, I go to Fry's so often that I should have my own parking space.

My Wife's Crack Ice Cream Habit

Let me talk about Fry's for a moment. For my corner of Arizona, it's a pretty decent store. They have good meats, good wine, and good seafood. They are my wife's crack ice cream dealer. They are my wine distributor. They have most vegetables and fruit I want and hold frequent sales. I can get a free bite of sushi if I time it right. They have a great deli counter that has my own crack version of meat - mortadella. All in all, besides some hiccups along the way it's been a good store.

And like most stores nowadays, they issue you a VIP card that gives discounts and points towards free gas. When you buy something, the machine spits out additional coupons for something they think you'd buy based on your purchases. They probably use a modified eighth-grade version of the algorithm which is use by Google or Facebook. If you like this, then try that. If you're friends with this jamoke, then you should friends with this jamoke. That sort of thing.

But when I buy wine from the self-serve checkout a strange thing happens.I get coupons for Enfamil. So the algroythm is saying that people who buy wine also buy Enfamil. The odds are that somewhere a lot of men or women are buying both of these together at great frequency. It has to be. Why else would they offer me baby formula EVERY TIME I BUY WINE!

I wonder if I should bring it to the stores attention.

Me- Excuse me, sir?
Manager- Yes?
Me- Do you know that every time that I buy wine that it gives me coupons for baby formula?
Manager-Isn't that nice.
Me- Don't you think you might be promoting something... unhealthy?
Manager- There's nothing unhealthy about baby formula.
Me- But why do you offer it to everyone who buys wine?
Manager-Wouldn't you?

And so on. The manager I am sure has no idea whatsover. The algorythm was probably created by the same Russian man who offers phone assisstance using the name Peggy.

I mean, I'd understand it if I was buying vodka. At least then I could use the Enfamil to make White Russians. Yummmm.

Got formula?

Killercon Survival Rate

2011-09-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

Back from Killercon and the Killercon Survival Rate is Las Vegas 0, Me 1. Woot!

This is an excerpt from my reading-- Go ahead and play it as you read the rest. It makes great background music... Thing of it as Weston Rock Star Radio.

Like everyone else, I had an awesome time. I twitted, twatted, facebooked, and message board to all of you living vicariously through me. Here's what I put on Shocklines after Day 1:

Angel McCoy, Chris Marrs, and Eunice Magill
Killercon SightingsLatina Hookers.German Tourists.Ed Lee.Crack-addled cross-dressers.Drug pushers.And I kid you not, a man pushing a woman in a wheelchair down the street, trying to pimp her out for wheel chair sex. Yes folks, we are in THAT part of Vegas. (and I love it)After having dinner with my agent, had a few drinks with Gene O'Neil, Gord Rollo, John Mantooth, Shane McKenzie, Bob Meracle, Nate Southard, and Erik Williams. They saw Lee, but failed to bring him around. They said he looked like he was a man on a mission. Hopefully he wasn't chasing down a wheelchair. Nice to be with fellow writers.

The next day, which was the actual first day of the convention, I spent most of it working in my room on SEAL Team 666.

The Beast and Roy Robbins
More Killercon SightingsLast night was rabid. Had a great time. Interesting sightings included--Tanya, the six foot tall slender black woman who looked like a rail thin Diana Ross. I'm 90% sure she was a woman. I'm a 100% sure she was an escort. She offered me a discount and gave me her phone number. I thanked her, wished her luck and left her off on the 23rd floor.An hour later returning down from the 24th floor, the door to 23 opened. I half expected it to be Tanya and was wondering what to say: "Have a good time?" "Did everything turn out alright?" I mean, what do you say to an escort, post service? But instead of Tanya, it was Suzanne and Rebecca. They were each about 6 feet in heels (what's up with all the tall women?) I'm 100% sure they were women. Suzanne was in a white short wedding dress. Rebecca was in a black short wedding dress. They were going across the street to get married to each other. I wished them a great life. They both wished me the same.

Me Getting Down

At one point there was a headline that worried folks that Killercon had gotten out of hand -- 1 dead, 2 hurt in Nevada casino brawl

Really, Can't you get an idea of the spirit of Vegas yet? Can't you feel it?

At the con, it was great to spend time with and sometimes meet for the first time Wrath James White, Laura Hickman, Ray Garton, Jack Ketchum, Rose, O'Keefe, Carlton Melnick III, Jeff Burk, Jeff Mariotte, Jeremy Wagner, Monica O'Rourke, Brian Lumley, Hal Bodner, James James Gurley, Edward Lee, Monica S. Kuebler, William Gagliani, John Skipp, Nate Southard, John R. Little, Misty Dahl, Gene O'Neil, John Palisano, Gord Rollo, Wendy Cooper, Erik Williams, Mercedes Yardley, El G Grande, PS Gifford, Gabrielle Faust, Ben Etheridge, Evil Ed Coulter (Who is from my hometown!), Mike and Michelle Calvillo, Bill Nola, Jasona nd Sunni Brock, Norm Rubenstein, Steven Booth, Bailey Hunter, RJ Cavender, Jason Reinhardt, John Mantooth, Guido Henkel, Chris Marrs, Robert Devearoux, Jack Staynes, Angel McCoy, David-Matthew Barnes, and so many damn others I know I'll be adding to this for days.And although I appreciated Ed Kurtz challenging me to fisticuffs on Twitter, I'm glad that he demured later on.

If @westonochse doesn't meet me at the casino bar he is thereby admitting I could best him at fisticuffs. There: I said it.Ed_Kurtz_Bleeds

Oooh the fun and games at conventions! Lol. The thing was that I was in the middle of my Rock Star Reading of Playlist at the End, which appeared in Shock Totem Magazine recently. The real question was, where was Ed?Shane McKenzie was cool to meet. Gotta love somene who tweets - Weston was a bad-ass gross-out bouncer. Elvis glasses, baby! Shane won the Gross Out Contest with a very well-wrought tale of grandma sex--- barf!Great convention. The highlight, of course, came on Saturday when my agent, Robert Fleck, brought me the St. Martin's Press contracts for SEAL Team 666 for me to sign. I can be seen here doing just that-- Pictures taken by Rose O'Keefe. Special thank to Eunice Magill for the wine. And to Walter Danenhower and Bob Meracle for being such great fans!

Mike Calvillo

Walter Danenhower

Jon Mayberry, me and Jeff Marriotte's Eyes

Jason Brock and Ben Ethridge

Gene O'Neil, Gord Rollo, John Palisano, and Chris Marrs

Guido Henkel

Ed Kurtz

Skipp and Lee and the Deadly Four Fingers of Death

That's all for now. There are plenty of other pictures out there, but these are some of mine.

Thanks Killercon.

Thanks Vegas.

No hookers were injured during the making of this blog.

Two Reviews - Velvet Dogma and Nancy Goats

2011-09-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

When a review starts out 'One of the great things about reviewing books is being presented with a book you might not ordinarily have chosen and being completely blown away. Nancy Goats by Weston Ochse (pronounced Oaks) is one such book,' you just know it's going to be a good one. And I was right. Ross Warren from Read Horror provides an exceptional review of Nancy Goats. Go to Read Horror and read the rest please.
.

There's also another Velvet Dogma review (added to the contest). This one is from someone who doesn't like or read science fiction, but he likes Weston Ochse books. He came kicking and screaming and left absolutely loving the book.

"I am not well versed in the realm of Science Fiction. I have read very little in the genre as my mind doesn't work that way. That being said, I read Weston Ochse's VELVET DOGMA because I love all of his other fiction output and figured this would be an OK side trip until BLOOD OCEAN is unleashed early next year. Boy, was I wrong!... Ochse amasses a pretty broad landscape...drops these great characters in and let's them go! A really smooth prose and a deft eye to trickery, Weston Ochse has written a modern tale set in the future that should have all of us readers considering what we are doing to this Country...and to ourselves. A very well thought-out meditation...one I wasn't sure SF could be the backdrop for...and I was wrong." Paul Legerski

Velvet Dogma Reviews

2011-09-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Several reviews this week forVelvet Dogma.These folks have been included in the contest.

HORRORWORLD: Horror World used the words 'blown away,' 'pleasantly surprised,' 'rip-roarin'' and 'incredibly handsome,' when they recently reviewed my original eNovel, Velvet Dogma. Okay, one of those is made up, but it was 'insinuated' okay? Please read the full review and if you haven't managed to get your copy yet, which is less than the cost of a Happy Meal.

I was blown away at the quality of the author’s prose. Talk about smooth! I am not a technologically adept man, but Ochse did a marvelous job of taking me through a world that is nothing short of an electronics engineers dream. I still don’t pretend to understand how even half of how the gizmo’s in Velvet Dogma work, but Ochse did a great job presenting them to the reader in such a way that his succinct descriptions of their concepts alone was enough to get me into the story. And most importantly for me, Ochse kept the names of the characters, buildings, events, and even most of the gizmo’s simple enough where I could remember them without having to create a spread sheet to keep track of them all.

For the full review go here.

From Wendy Trakes: Another action-packed adventure, Velvet Dogma shows us a frightening potential future shaped by technology and natural disaster through the eyes of Rebecca Mines who has just been released from a 20 year extended vacation in solitary confinement. Rebecca finds herself a visitor in her own city as she is chased from one part of Los Angeles to the next by both police and the criminal element, creating a snapshot image of the high tech new world and the underbelly of society. The crime she committed continues to haunt her as she is hunted from the very moment of her release. This imaginative high-tech thriller is filled with twists and turns, underground worlds and mad scientists, medical miracles, gangs and mystical prophets. For the full review go here.

Three more days in the review contest. If you want to be included, please make sure that you post, video tape, or spray paint a review of VD somewhere!

Velvet Dogma Contest

2011-09-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

So here it is.

Velvet Dogma has been out for a week now. Downloads from Barnes and Nobles, Smashwords and Amazon U.S. and Amazon U.K. are excellent. So as a reward to all of you intelligent, engaging and handsome people, I am providing this contest.

This will be review contest, so you get the chance to tell people what you think of Velvet Dogma. It doesn't have to be 5 Stars/Excellent. Any review is a good review as long as you are honest. I have enough faith in my writing that at the very least you have liked the novel and felt that the meager sum of $3.99 (2.81 UK) for my four months work was adequate.

Here are the contest rules: You can review the book anywhere. On your blog, on facebook, on YouTube, on one of the merchant sites, such as Amazon, Smashwords and/or Barnes and Nobles. ANYWHERE. You can even spray paint it on the side of a bridge and photograph it. ANYWHERE. But to qualify for the contest you have to do it my MIDNIGHT on September 24th.

There will be 4 AWARDS PROVIDED.

One award of a Velvet Dogma T-shirt from a follower of this blog (which means if you join and review by the deadline, you have a chance of winning this award).
One award of a Velvet Dogma T-shirt selected at random from all the reviews posted.
One award of a Velvet Dogma T-shirt upon the selection of the most original review
One Overall Award for Best Review -- Signed, numbered and limited edition of Blaze of Glory, written by Weston Ochse, Published by Bloodletting Press (For information about Blaze of Glory) - $50 value.

*Note 1 - To qualify for this contest you must inform me of the presence of the review. I recommend doing it in the comments section of this blog posting, but you can also do it any other way you wish that is effective.

*Note 2 - T-shirts can be black, white or gray-- long-sleeved, short-sleeved, or muscle. And yes, you can win all the awards and have Velvet Dogma shirt to wear for the whole family!

* The Lawyers of Binder, Biter and Screw have informed me that I need to mention that I do not condone any use of public or private property for the promotion of my book, unless you own said property, or have the permission in writing from the property owner, or unless said property belongs to a Third World dictator, then all bets are off.

Living Dangerously Weekly: You Are Who You Read

2011-09-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

I saw an article about Gary Paulsen in a trade magazine the other day and clipped it out. For years I'd been trying to think of the title of this book I'd read when I was a kid, and there it was in the article. Hatchet.

Or so I thought.

You see, when I lived in New Jersey as an eight year old kid, I'd read this book that stuck with me. It was about a boy who is lost in the woods... you'll have to forgive my memory. Some of the details are sketchy. The setting was the Catskills, which were not all that far from where I lived. As a kid in 1973, I had a pretty idyllic life. I had the run of the small town we lived in, pedaling my bike furiously from one place to the other. I had one of those banana handle bar, ten dollar, indestructible bikes bought from a creepy guy at the edge of town who sold bikes and lawnmowers and probably hooch. My folks worked far away and I remember getting out of school, rushing home, throwing my books down and taking my bike everywhere. There wasn't a trail in the woods I didn't know. I knew of the special places, like the bushes with the broken beer bottles where I'd occasionally kneel and sniff like an animal, the smell of stale beer as foreign to me as it would be to any creature of the forest. I remember finding the skeleton of a small animal and storing it in a box that I buried in the woods; one which I'd come back to and investigate with the reverence of a Smithsonian scientist.

Then my mom brought home a book.

Hatchet is about a young boy who survives a plane crash in the Yukon, but that wasn't the one I was thinking of. My Side of the Mountain is the one I'd read back then and damn, but that book affected me. This boy runs away from home and lives off the land in the Catskills for two years. He carved fish hooks. He made his own bowls. He was like a Jedi-Eagle Scout and I remember wanting to be him. Every time I'd pedal away from home after that I told myself that I could survive out there if I wanted to. I could run away and be able to fish and eat and hunt just like that kid. There were times I almost didn't come back. After all, I'd read the book, and like any How-to Manual, as long as I followed the directions of Jean Craighead George, I'd be able to survive.

The next year I read My Brother Sam is Dead. By James Lincoln Collier, I think this was the first book that made me cry. The novel thrust me into the American Revolution with the protagonist who lived and breathed 1775. I learned about patriotism, duty, loyalty and death. This novel truly affected me. Later when I was a father, this was a book I bought specially for my son, just so he could maybe experience some of what the book meant to me.

The next year we moved to Tennessee. This would be about 1975 when I was ten, or maybe the next year, I can't be sure. I remember ordering a book from the weekly reader program. I brought the exact change in, put it in the envelope with the paper I'd filled out, and waited an impossible three weeks. When it came, I was astounded. For the life of me, I cannot figure out the title, though. I googled and searched, but I just can't find it. But I can tell you the plot. The book was about a young boy kidnapped and taken to communist China by his father's nemesis. The boy learns Chinese and the ways of the people. He's treated as a second son by the Chinese man, but the boy knows better an always holds the hope of rescue in the back of his mind. Eventually his father comes and saves him. After a perilous journey, they both escape China. To this moment I can remember lines in that book. I know that you have to boil the liche nut to get it to make a dye so you can cover your skin.

Fast forward to now.

I've read thousands of books, but arguably, these three books I mentioned affected me more than any others. They directed my life. After twenty years in the Army, most as an intelligence guy who speaks Chinese, I can't help but believe that each of those books had a major influence in my life. I can set a snare as easily as I can boil a liche nut. Sam taught me humanity, the same humanity I levied as a soldier bearing one of the greatest responsibilities a country can bestow.

It's utterly amazing how books can influence us. And with that knowledge, I'm becoming more and more cognizant of what I write. There were times as I was learning my craft that I wrote pretty much anything that came to mind. And that was fair. After all, I was in the learning process. How could I learn without practice? But now I feel I have the bones to do about anything I put my mind to.

A few years ago, I was asked and wrote a story that I took the greatest care with in the WW II anthology A Dark and Deadly Valley. I was concerned that, because I was writing about the immediate aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima, I might not do the horrible day justice. I spent an inordinate amount of time researching and trying to find the perfect way to write the story. Eventually I settled on a personal account by a survivor who'd related how he'd been waiting for a train in the station when the bomb had gone off. When he awoke, he and hundreds of other commuters were fused together, their skin melted by the blast. I decided to begin there. So far every review has pointed that story as a star of the book. Hiroshima Falling is a story of which I'm proud. I couldn't have written it ten years ago. I couldn't have written it five years ago. I doubt I could have even written it two years ago. I think I've grown in my writing and in that growing found a way to see past the story to the reader.

I hope one day I can write a story that will affect a child or an adult in the way those books affected me. I could have been a businessman, I could have been a doctor, or I could have been a priest. But those books, the amazing writing and characterization and description somehow wove their way into my subconscious and directed who I was to become.

To direct one's future.

Now, that's talent.

Incidentally, the rest of the Gary Paulsen article went on about how he was proud to be a teller of tales. So I'll leave you with this:

"I'm a teller of stories. I put bloody skins on my back and dance around the fire, and I saw what the hunt was like. It's not erudite; it's not intellectual. I sail, run dogs, ride horse, play professional poker and tell stories about stuff I've been through. And I'm still a romantic; I want Bambi to make it out of the fire."

I think I'm more like Paulsen than any other writer. I write about the stuff I've been through. Pretty much all of my writing is experiential fiction. I envy those who can create whole cloth plots from the ether.

I'm not that guy.

And I'm not sure if I'm a Bambi guy, either.

But I am a romantic and I'd give anything if Old Yeller would survive.

Weston Ochse is the Bram Stoker-winning author or Scarecrow Gods, as well as the author of a number of novels including Empire of Salt, and soon to be published Blood Ocean (Abaddon Books). His most recent publication is an original eNovel called Velvet Dogma.

Velvet Dogma - Live, Naked and in Your Room

2011-09-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

Today is the day.

Ironic, really. On the day that I type THE END onto my latest novel Blood Ocean (Afterblight Chronicles), the very first science fiction novel I wrote goes on sale. I've already told the story of Velvet Dogma on this blog with -- Velvet Dogma Orphaned No More -- where I told the tale of how it came to be and what happened to it on its publishing journey. I gotta say that I am just damn thrilled that you all are going to be able to read my efforts. It's been six long years and now it's here-- Live, Naked and in Your Room for you to read.

Velvet Dogma has been compared to PK Dick and William Gibson. That's someone else's comparison, not mine. My hubris isn't of sufficient stature to place myself among these giants. I do owe credit to and my mind was stimulated by Gibson's Neuromancer, however. That novel along with Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash are two of the best cyberpunk novels ever written-- hell, best science fiction novels written. You'll notice in Velvet Dogma the influence. Thanks to both these literary genius gentlemen for laying such a brilliant foundation for me to play upon.

So here it is. The book is only published in eBook. I've already been asked to publish it in paperback but I said no. I want to try this medium, which is perfect for a novel about the internet and computing. I've taken Joe Konrath's advice to heart and used some of his eBook guiding principals, primarily in the cover. Isn't it awesome? I've also used a lot of his other advice. Notice inside the book you will find links and excerpts to other books, not all of them my own. Thanks Joe for the help.

Here's where you can find Velvet Dogma for $3.99
Amazon - Velvet Dogma
Barnes and Nobles - Velvet Dogma
Smashwords - Velvet Dogma with a free 20% preview and in all formats

PS - Note to all readers. Please Plus 1 this, comment if you can, click a reaction and share it to twitter or facebook. It would mean a lot to me. (THANKS)

Living Dangerously Weekly - The End of Summer and the Start of Labor

2011-08-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

Me at 6 and Excited for School

Labor Day used to mark the end of summer and the start of school. As August creeped by, I remember both dreading and loving the coming of Labor Day. It was the end of the summer magic, but it was also a new beginning. Classes would start. School would open. What new girl would I meet? What new friends would I have? To balance all that excitement in my head, I'm lucky my brain didn't explode.

Now I'm older. No more school. Even if there was school, it starts in many places long before Labor Day. Here in Arizona it started the first week of August. Kind of takes the oompf out of Labor Day. Makes it like any other three day weekend.

Labor Day is kind of special if you think about it. It's the only holiday dedicated to the American worker. It's a reward and remembrance for hard work. It's the acknowledgment that hundreds of years of people have helped make this country great. Most often we celebrate Labor Day by drinking and BBQing. That's all good, but isn't the message sometimes lost? How many of your kids, or you for that matter, know that Labor Day was designed to celebrate work and the work ethic?

I'm going to have a dinner on Labor Day for sure. Probably make lamb shanks and Yvonne will make a huge Greek salad. But the rest of the weekend is going to be filled with work. In honor of Labor Day and all of those workers who came before me and built the America I live in, I am going to work. I'm going to sacrifice my free time on the altar of the sweat of the American brow.

I have to finish Blood Ocean by midnight on Friday. That's my deadline. I have 50 pages left. I have to get it done. Then I have to give it a read through over the weekend before I pass it to Yvonne for editing.

I also have to start Seal Team 666. St. Martin's Press has given me105 days to write it.All I have now is an outline and some character sketches. So I plan on starting to write that on Saturday morning.

It's been a tough summer with fires and monsoons at the Ochse Casa. On the other hand, it's been a good summer for writing opportunities. I'm not going to fritter them away. On Labor Day weekend I will be involved in the labor of writing, the labor that I love, and I will glorify it.

Chance Meeting of a U.S. Navy SEAL

2011-08-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

Just to demonstrate how small a world this is...

I was on a flight from Tucson to Atlanta yesterday . About halfway through I opened a book called The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228by Dick Couch. I'm using the book as reference and source material for my up-coming St. Martin's book, SEAL TEAM 666, which I'm starting right after I finish BLOOD OCEAN. The Warrior Elite is a day-by-day walk-through of BUD/S training and gives an excellent perspective on what it takes to be a SEAL and what they have to go through during training. That they have nearly an 80% attrition rate says a lot.

Anyway, I'm reading this book when I get a tap on my elbow. I have an aisle seat and the fellow behind and across the aisle from me has just tapped me on the elbow.

"I see you're reading about Class 228," the man says.

I'd noticed him at the Tucson Airport. About 6'1" and 180 pounds, the muscles in his shoulders and arms were pronounced without being gaudy. Dressed in civilian clothes, he could have walked out of one of the adverts in my Esquire. He is good looking and self assured.

"I am. It's pretty good so far. Have you read it?" I ask by way of response.

"I have. Actually, I'm Class 227."

And there you have it. A SEAL on my flight. Small world. We get to talking. When two military men meet there is a certain dance we have. It usually starts with where we've been and how long we've done things and ultimate ends up by comparing assignments. Now, although I've deployed with SEALs on a number of occasions in my previous life, my assignments can't compare to theirs, so we proceeded to the next phase of the dance, which is name dropping. I do know quite a few folks in the special operations community. Knowing where he was probably from, I dropped some names from folks stationed in Coronado Island, San Diego, California, and Dam Neck, Virginia. I finally hit on a couple of names he knew. I could see the change in his eyes as our joint friendship of those people made us close in a way we never could have been before, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon if Kevin Bacon were a SEAL.

He asks why I was reading it and I told him about SEAL TEAM 666, At first he gives me a crazy look.
"Is it a Christian Book?" he asks.

"A lot of Christian's are going to die in the book, but it's not a Christian book per se. It's more of a supernatural thriller book-- a horror book."

Then the light dawns in his eyes. He gets it.

I explained to him about how I was asked to write this and that one of my challenges is to keep the SEAL TEAM, as fictional as they are, as real and authentic as possible.

He appreciates that and tells me so.

Then we talked about what he was doing. He was on his way to Arlington Cemetery for a funeral. Although I didn't ask out of respect, I'm sure it was one of the SEALs who recently died in the tragedy in Afghanistan. Several of my friends were already busy with funeral duties, interfacing with the families of those who perished.

It's a small world and the world of SEALS is even smaller. Smaller still, since the loss of so many in Afghanistan. This meeting served to remind me to take this project seriously. I have a universe of respect for SEALs and want to make sure that when you all finally sit down on your couch to read SEAL TEAM 666 that you grok that fact amidst all the supernatural helter skelter I'm going to slam on the page.

Why I Hate Kevin J. Anderson

2011-08-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

I hate Kevin J. Anderson. It seems like every day he's taking a hike on some mountain, hill, monument, in some place far far away, dictating another fabulous new novel that he turns into a private secretary to transcribe. He's not strapped to a chair. He's not face diving into a monitor or passing out on the ASDF keys. In fact, he doesn't even use a keyboard for first drafts. Instead, he combines two fun activities into one and let's someone else get carpal tunnel.

Telephoto shot through a sniper scope of the hated author

as he dictates the last 42 chapters of his latest novel

Yeah. I fricking hate Kevin J. Anderson, especially now when I'm strapped to a chair in the dining room (because I moved my entire setup upstairs to get more done) with two deadlines looming. If he was me, he'd be somewhere in the Grand Tetons (note that the French named an entire mountain range after breasts), hiking, dictacting, and grinning form ear to ear that he is so adept at multitasking that his bank account goes ching ching ching.

And he's probably stress free too. I mean what's to stress about? Which hiking boots to wear?

Taken after KJA Dictated two new Dune novels

and the proposal for a new Star Wars trilogy

Earlier in the week I was reminded that I had an editing job to do on a project. I'd let it lapse as other projects piled up. Eunice Magill, a great friend of mine, emailed me about it, and I snapped at her. I was short, too short for such a good friend. At the end of the day, I appologized for being an ass and for allowing the stress to get to me. WWKJAHD (What would Kevin J. Anderson have done)? He'd have shrugged it off, taken another hike, and listened to the ching-a-ching-ching as it echoed through the valleys.

Oh to be Kevin J. Anderson and be able to tra-la-la through the world instead of sitting at the computer hammering in desperate bursts, hoping beyond hope that my inspiration and creativity won't be snatched away by Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, eMail, GMail. Google Plus, Linked-in, Shocklines, HWA message board, my message board at BrianKeene.com, this blog, my wife's blog (because sometimes that's the only way I know what's going on), the news, chat windows and the daily adorations of my three Great Danes.

So what's the stress? Here are the projects I'm currently working on-

Novel - Blood Ocean (Abaddon)

Novel - Seal Tealm 666 Outline (St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne)

Novel - Living Death Race 2000 (Books of the Dead)

Novel - Black Fever (With Mike McCarty)

Blight (Comic Book)

Killing Time (Comic Book)

4 short stories

2 Novellas

And promoting the releases of Multiplex Fandango and Velvet Dogma which are happening this month and next.

In reality, I'm only really working on Blood Ocean. My deadline is for sometime in September. I'm about 100 pages shy of the end of the book. Normally, I could make that no sweat. In fact, I probably will make it no sweat. I plan on this weekend to be a 50 page weekend and I'm already 18 pages into that goal. But two things happened this week. Although they were good things, they were the sort of things that sent my blood pressure sky high.

The first was that Abaddon Books, bless them for keeping me on as an author, decided to put Blood Ocean up for pre-order everywhere books are sold. Isn't that neat? I mean, there's no stress with that, right? Except for the fact that I haven't even written the freaking book yet! I imagine people from India to Montana cliking pre-order buttons, looking forward to this book, maybe even planning to take it on a special trip with them, only to have it not be there when they expect it. Readers will be crushed. Bookstores will be burned. Entire populations will be let down. The United Nations will have me as an international pariah and starving children in Africa will weep.

Okay, maybe that's a little overboard, but I wanted to share with you some of the insanity I have to wade through in my brain just to achieve a coherent thought. I actually think these things. Sure, I realize they're hogwash most of the time, but it takes awhile.

And the second thing? Now this is good news. St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books (not sure which or what the difference is) accepted my outline for Seal Team 666. This is a big project. I got the contract on Thursday. All 26 pages of it. I do believe they have the intention of publishing this in Swahili. Not sure. So much gobbelty gook in the contract, all I do know is that it's coming out as a trade hardback first, then all the other editions. I also saw the line that said they want the book turned in by November 1. That actually stopped my heart. So check this out, kids. In the middle of feeling wonderful, my heart actually stopped, the floor opened up and I fell through into the lava pit of Oh Shit!

Let's do the math. Let's say I get Blood Ocean done by Sept 1. Then that leaves 2 months to write a 90,000 word novel. That's 45,000 words a month. That's 1500 words a day, which comes out to anywhere between 6-8 pages, depending on dialogue and decription. And that's if I don't do anything else at all, like, edit Blood Ocean, which I definitely will. So if I miss a week for editing, the daily required total goes up to 1800 words a day. If I get sick for three days, it goes up to 2000 words a day. If I get jury duty and get sequestered for another two weeks, that means that I have to write 3000 words a day and get it done in a month.

Oh. My. God.

Breathe. I need to breathe. Okay, I know. WWKJAD? Then when I got the answer, I realized that it didn't help. Well, it did help in a sort of way. I discovered that my fear of deadline was replaced by an intense hatred for Kevin J. Anderson, because it became obvious what he'd do if he was beset with my problems.

He'd go on a freaking hike and have it done by noon.

Here KJA shown after his arrest

for inappropriate contact with

wildlife in Redwood Ntnl Forest

So thank you KJA.

Thanks for having so much damn fun and for making it look too easy.

Now back to writing. I've only done 8 pages this morning and I need to do 12 more by the end of the day.

Wait? Did someone just friend me on Facebook?

Groovy.

(Note that KJA was not actually harmed in the making of this post--although he might have been had I been able to get out of my +4 Chair of Miserable Confinement (D&D reference) and track his happy ass down. I'd spot him right away because he'd be the one hiking away, seemingly talking to himself, dollar signs falling out of the sky behind him.)

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, also check out fellow Abaddon author Chuck Wendig at Terribleminds

P.S.S. Feel free to click on one of the quick take boxes below or leave a comment.

Velvet Dogma - Orphaned No More

2011-08-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

Velvet Dogma.

It rolls off the tongue doesn't it.

Gotta love that title. I've loved it for six years. Yes. Six years. Because that's how long ago I first wrote the novel. Fresh on the heels of winning the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in First Novel with Scarecrow Gods, I was told of a publisher who was looking for something specific. They wanted a novel with a strong female protagonist. Hell, I can do that. I did that recently with Tomes of the Dead: Empire Of Salt. But back then, it was a definite stretch. Yet the opportunity was there so I wrote the outline and first three chapters and pitched the novel. Amazingly the editor loved my idea and accepted it. She didn't offere me a contract, but she told me to write it. And I did.

It took me five months. That was the fastest I could write it. I edited it. Friends and readers read and critiqued it. And six months later I turned it in. The editor read it. Then I got a message on my answering machine. It went something like this, "Wes, this is XXX. I want you to know that I'm accepting Velvet Dogma, but I'm leaving tomorrow for a new job."

For me it was all good news. That is until the next day, or really a few weeks later when I tried to contact the new editor.

Silence.

More Silence.

Even more silence.

Then I cold called the new editor. She knew who I was and told me that she wasn't working with any of her prdecessor's projects. This, my friends, is what the undustry calls 'orphaning' a book. I was stunned. I had a novel proposal accepted. I wrote it. I submitted it. It was accepted. And all this from a major New York house. Now it was back in my lap with no love.

I half heartedly sent it out to another publisher who immediately loved the idea. So immediate that two years later, they got back to me and told me that they didn't want it.

At that point I as pretty sick of the whole thing. It sat. I think I asked my agent to send it to one or two publishers. I can't remember. I had other novels published and written in the meantime. I'd move on.

Finally, this year, I got over myself. I decided to dust it off and publish it as an eBook. After all, Velvet Dogma is a damn good book. It was accepted by a major house, only to be orphaned when an editor packed her bags and moved on.

Shit happens. Then you die. Then I publish an eBook. Or actually, Crossroads Publishing publishes it. I went to them and asked if they wanted it. They jumped at the idea. The cool thing was that I'd been thinking about this for some time now. In fact, I'd been in contact with Danielle Tunstall, whom I'd discovered this spring looking for some pictures for a different project. Her photos and digital enhancements are just amazing, as you can see. She did the cover for Matt Hults' book HUSK. I contacted him and we talked about her, then I got her contact information and bought the rights to the picture. I wanted to make sure that this picture was the cover. Not only is it perfect for the novel, but it has a lot of movement.

So what's Velvet Dogma about you ask?

In the year 2040, the world has finally achieved the perfect merging of human and machine by developing a method by which the computer has direct integration into the brain. Called Personal Ocular Devices, or PODS, the interface fits over the eye feeding information directly along the optic nerve into the brain, allowing minds and computers to become one.

But not for Rebecca Mines who has been held in solitary confinement for the last 20 years. Arrested under the 2002 Patriot Act as a cyber-terrorist for unleashing a program called Velvet Dogma, her parole restricts access to all computers and all but the simplest of machines. Although the government is still fearful that she'll resume her previous profession, Rebecca wants nothing more than to find a place to exist in peace. She has a life to live, and twenty years of personal stagnation from which to recover.

But she discovers that things have changed dramatically since she’s been in prison. Not only is organ theft sanctioned, but all of her organs have already been levied to the highest bidder. No sooner does she promise the judge that she’ll be a law-abiding citizen, then she finds herself on the run from not only Chinese Black Hearts, eager to confiscate her organs, but the authorities who realize that they’ve let her out too soon.

Velvet Dogma will be published in September.

If you're an eBook reviewer, let me know. I'll make sure you get a complimentary copy.

More to come...

Living Dangerously Weekly - Inventing Science, Seafood, the U.S. Navy and Velcro Pimp

2011-08-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a hell of a week. At the start I worked on the outline for the St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books project, SEAL TEAM 666. Now it's all tricked out and ready for prime time. Waiting to see what the editors think and keen to get contracts signed and deals sealed. In fact, I was on the plane over Mississippi with free internet, sitting in first class (free upgrade), when I finished all the edits and additions. Glad to put that baby to bed.

The rest of the week I spent working on Blood Ocean. I'm on track to finish this, but keep feeling like I'm behind. I'm at a technical part of the novel where I have to invent some science. Gotta love soft science fiction novels. I wonder if Mr. Murray from my H.S. biology class knows that I'm totally faking being a scientific expert because I actually learned more from my English teacher. Mr. Murray almost kicked me out of the class because I just couldn't get it. Still, back to writing the novel, the secret about inventing science is that it has to be about 90% accurate so that the reader will embrace it. The rest is bright lights and tinkly bells. On an interesting note that only serves to stress me the hell out, Blood Ocean is up for pre-order at Barnes and Nobles Online. I'm not even finished with it!

I did spend the week in D.C. The day job demanded that I genuflect at the seat of government power and do some serious work regarding intelligence training. I mostly came home exhausted, but still managed to plug a few pages of Blood Ocean away every night. Thursday night was a special night. My old friend Dave Lake and I went to The Wharf in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia. This is my favorite restaurant. My favorite bartender was there as well, Brian Wallenius (aka Velcro Pimp). It was a grand meal that took four hours. We talked old times and new. We drank two bottles of wine. And we had incredible food. Check it out: Oysters on Half-Shell, Corn-fried Oysters over a lump crab and corn succotash, She Crab Soup, and perfectly prepared Rockfish stuffed with lump blue crab. Mmmm Damn! (If you're really hungry, have the same apps then order the Lobster and Shrimp Linguini. It comes with half a lobster in the pasta and the other half on top of the pasta)

Now for the really big news. My Daughter is in the NAVY!!! She's going to be an Aviation Ordinance Woman. She's going to have access to bigger guns, bombs and missiles than her dad. It's just awesome.

Last but not least, a word about Velcro Pimp. Brian Wallenius has made it to my short list of best bartenders on the planet. Not only does he remember things near perectly, but he has a personality to match. We got to talking and he really wanted me to create a psycho killer character for him. And you know what, I think I will. I've already decided that he's going to go by the name Velcro Pimp. I'll write it as a short story. So there you have it. If there are any takers for this story, let me know and I'll write it. But for now it's fermenting in the vats of my mind.

Lest I not forget. Shock Totem #4 is out featuring my story Playlist at the End. To my knowledge, it's the only horror story using an mp3 playlist as a narrative framing device. It was a load of fun and nasty as hell.

You can get this from the folks at Shock Totem or at Amazon- Shock Totem 4: Curious Tales of the Macabre and Twisted. The playlist is going to blow you away.

Until next week.

Living Dangerously Weekly - Frog Stranglers and Monsoons

2011-07-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

This post seems longer than it is to me because this is the ~~third~~ ~~fourth~~ fifth time I've written it. For some reason Blogger hasn't been saving my edits. But I'm on to it. I know what it's trying to do (DRIVE ME CRAZY). Seems the new editor won't work in Firefox and I have to use creepy old IE.

Anyway...

For those of you who follow Living Dangerously, you'll remember that it was just a month ago when my little corner of Arizona was threatened by fires. We were evacuated twice. More than 60 homes burned. The Huachuca Mountains were on fire for weeks. It was a humbling and terrifying experience. Which is why the irony of complaining about too much rain isn't lost on me. And not only is it the rain, but it's also the humidity. I put a battery in my daughter's car this morning and was drenched in sweat. I mean come on. I might as well live on the East Coast if you're going to do that to me.

But the gratification comes with the knowledge that we only have about a week of this left. Which is awesome. Since July 4th we've been hit daily with frog stranglers, worm gurglers... Monsoons. The desert soil isn't made to soak up water, so it sheets to the lowest level. With the mountains burned and deforested, those next to the mountain are getting hit the hardest.

Probably the craziest thing are the frogs. The Arizona Spadefoot Frog to be exact. These damn things estivate (sleep in dormancy in the dry soil until the monsoons hit. It's like having dehydrated frogs. Just add water and POOF!

Instant Frog!

And with a thousand of these screaming in the night, it's something out of a horror movie.

So that's been my week.

Projects currently working on:

Blood Ocean (Abaddon)
Seal Tealm 666 Outline (Thomas Dunne)
Living Death Race 2000 (Books of the Dead)
Black Fever (With Mike McCarty)
Blight (Comic Book)
Killing Time (Comic Book)
4 short stories
2 Novellas
and a partridge in a pear tree

Dread Central Fandangos

2011-07-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

Dread Central is a pretty awesome clearinghouse of everything horror. They decided to take a look at MF. Here's an excerpt of what they said --

"There are names in the field of horror literature that everyone knows. Names like Barker, King, Lovecraft, and Straub are firmly implanted in the collective consciousness and most people can tell you who they are. Then there are names that you instinctively know you've heard, know you should know, yet can't remember why. These names include some of the best writers that the genre has to offer. In the sphere of horror authors, these guys are at the top of their game, even if mainstream success hasn't caught up with them yet. Such a guy is Weston Ochse, and while you might not have heard of him, he's considered a writer's writer, damned fine at his craft, and someone the rest of the horror loving world should be reading. Here's an example of why."

To find out when you can order this book or just want information about my comings and goings, sign up for my Living Dangerously Newsletter (top right) so we can live dangerously together.I promise I won't spam you. Or just go to Dark Regions to get it while copies last.

Reposted from http://multiplex-fandango.blogspot.com/

Nancy Goats - Undead Rat Reviews and Dad Talks

2011-07-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

Undead Rat reviewed Nancy Goats recently. (For those who don't know, Nancy Goats is part of the Delirium Novella Series. It's a small book. It had a print run of 150 copies (ten left) and is now available in digital.)

This was a tough story to write. I wanted to deal with the issue of identity, especially from the perspective of a young man coming out. Doubly hard is that I can only view this from the outside in, but I hoped that my empathy would carry me through.

Here's what I wrote for the introduction: I originally conceived of Nancy Goats in 2002. I’d written a straw man short story, but wasn’t exactly happy about how it turned out, so I held onto it for awhile. The biggest issue was that although I wanted to write about gay issues, especially because of a recent rash of gay bashings in L.A. at the time, I didn’t want to be disrespectful to anyone. Thanks to Mikey Huyck and Mike Oliveri for looking at early versions of this and providing advice.

Thanks also to my Kuai Lua instructor in San Pedro, Mark Nunez, for not only teaching me Hawaiian blend jujutsu, but also for letting me be the bouncer at several MMA matches before UFC was a big deal. That gave me the opportunity to see firsthand fighters and their trainers in small octagon matches in downtown L.A. and Wilmington. I met the normal and the crazy. Most often I couldn’t tell the difference between
the two.

Thanks also to Kevin Sessums for his memoir, Mississippi Sissy. Reading this amazing piece of work reminded me that I had yet to finish Nancy Goats and inspired me to complete

So I wrote it. Delirium Books solicited a novella from me for their series and I decided to turn this one in. Serra did the amazing cover (it's a humanized goat in drag), then it came out. For awhile there was nothing but crickets. Then came two reviews back to back. Both of them slammed the book. Both condemned it for not being horror (I think it is). Both also had problems with a thing that happens just over halfway through the book. I can't go into it here, because it is a major spoiler, but there were several foreshadowing events.

So I sat down and talked with my dad about this book. First of all, let me tell you two things. 1. My dad is an English PHD and a full professor. 2. My dad never reads my work. For some reason, however, he read this one. Interesting, because it is pretty damn violent and not something I'd consider suitable for a Whitman scholar (My Dad's book is just there) and an expert on everything Shakespeare. Still, he parsed the violence, understanding that it was needed. When he finished, he called me. He said that he admired my skill with this story, because although it's violent and although it's decidedly horror, it is at its core a literary story.

Before all of you all go getting your pants in a pretzel, what he meant by that was that the story was centered around the emotional well-being of a character and the issue of identity, rather than anything concrete or physical. There was no quest. There was no physical goal. All there was was a figurative understanding that had to be attained before the story could conclude. I thought this was interesting and appreciate that my dad read one of my books. I also appreciate his comments because I think it puts some of the reviews in perspective. Not that these guys don't read or can't understand a literary story, but I camouflaged it too well. They weren't expecting it. They thought they were going to get a straightforward horror tale of violence and payback, but instead they got something else. Now I get it.

Undead Rat blurbs the story wonderfully: "Nancy Goats is violent but not gory. It’s full of hatred and dehumanization because of differences between people. And it’s about one young man who has struggled to make an identity for himself and then having to fight to resist the Family Pain’s attempt to brutalize and strip away his humanity; lest Paco truly becomes a goat."

Try and pop on over to Undead Rat's Website and give him some props, if nothing more than to click his Publicity Box on top.

Nancy Goats can be found in three places. It's at Amazon for Digital. It's also at Darkside Digital and will get you discounts on other Horror Mall products. And there's also 10 copies of the limited hardcover left at a reasonable price.

I guess now I'm a certified Badass!

2011-07-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from Bastardized Version:

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

WHY I'M BADASS: Weston Ochse

ART BY RUSS DICKERSON

Tennessee. Humpback humpback, crooked letter crooked letter. Wait. That's Mississippi.

Okay, let's start over. Tennessee. Home to the Dollywood Mountains and the timeless classic, Hee-Haw. The land is covered verdant rolling hills, cradling Nashville to its ample bosom - the town that brought us Miley Cyrus and Garth Brooks and Regions Bank. Tennessee, known for the dental hygene and higher education of the top 5% of its citizenry - beating out Arkansas and Mississippi by mere fractions. (Thank god for Mississippi and Alabama, sayeth the Arkansan, or we'd always be in last place.) Tennessee, where the barbecue is more piquant than sweet due to the copious use of vinegar.

In this fiery cauldron of country music, religious fervor, snake handling, and gigantic breasts, a warrior was born. A warrior unlike the world has seen before.

A warrior to praise before all others. A warrior whose coming was foretold in the Book of the Dead and the 1957 Almanac.

The original badass, Weston Ochse.

Tennessee, where Weston doesn't live anymore. He lives in Arizona, where all the great warriors of this dimension go to fuck and feast eternally at the Table of Kings, where they serve fajitas, higado encebellado and really strong margaritas, sometimes topped with a shot of Grand Mariner (for only $4.99 more), and other delectable victuals for your eupeptic delight and where it takes a month to get a reservation. There. That's where he lives. Badassville.

Please give a standing 21 gun salute to author Weston Ochse, total badass.

----------

JHJ: Why are you badass? Please explain your badassery.

WO: I’ve been to 55 countries, jumped out of aircraft, swam in the Coral Sea, hiked through Death Valley, eaten snakes, bugs and maggots, fought for the honor of women, friends and my country, stared down enemy soldiers and fired rounds in certifiable anger. I entered the crucible of badassery and was spat out the other side as a 230 pound man who can kill with chopsticks, eviscerate with a machete, and remove any obstacle by placing the claymore mine with the side that says ‘This Side Towards Enemy,’ at whatever target I desire and depressing the clicker. I’ve driven tanks, fired artillery, and boarded U.S. Navy ships at sea. I’ve faced down cannibals in Papua New Guinea, skipped along the Great Wall of China, played a game of golf through two warring tribes, and pissed on the DMZ between North and South Korea. I’ve conducted jungle operations in the Golden Triangle, ran from four forest fires, and been stung by more than 200 bees and yellowjackets. I am the badass of badasses. I’ve convinced bad people to tell me secrets and removed terrorists to places where they can do the least amount of harm. I’ve walked into prisons in more countries than a redneck has toes and come out the other side without a hair out of place. I’ve been knocked out three times, had my nose broken eight times, broke my hand, my wrist, my ankles and still came back fighting. I’ve been a bouncer at UFC cage matches and stared down more badasses that most people see in their entire life. I’m a badass father to two badass kids, son to badass parents, and husband to a wife so badass, I had to up my badassery just to marry her. Yeah, I’m a badass.

JHJ: And you forgot to add that we've both seen General Wesley Clark buck naked. That guy ain't afraid of dropping trou right in the Little Rock Racquet Club locker room, let me tell you. Moving on. What’s the most bad-fucking-ass thing you’ve ever done?

For the rest of my badassery, go here.

PS. John Hornor Jacobs is a badass himself. Keep your eye out for Southern Gods, coming soon from Night Shade. I read an advanced readers copy. That is one Badass Southern Cthulhu book.

The Passage

2011-07-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

I'd heard about The Passage since early last year. Then I listened to an interview with the author on NPR. I have to admit, I was immediately intrigued. But like most of us, our TBR piles are gargantuan. So it took me until this summer to get around to reading it.

And I'm glad I did. I didn't think I'd love this book as much as I did. Such a broad sweeping tale, I was doubtful Cronin could hold my interest. But he succeeded not only because of his plotting and pacing, but also by using different narrative framing devices. The latter showed a writing musculature I didn't expect. Cronin's use of stream of consciousness, 3rd Person, first person flashback, or diary entry invigorated The Passage and kept it fresh.

Looking forward to The Twelve.

Here's an excerpt from the NPR interview that has been archived:

Prof. CRONIN: I decided that I would go about writing this book the way I wrote all my other books. The difference here was one of scale and I suppose also urgency. All novels come down essentially to moments in which characters make choices that they can't un-choose - where things change, they can't be changed back. You can do this at, you know, with an awkward dinner party. Or you can do it by strapping your characters essentially to a runaway train of a plot, which is what I decided I was going to do.

Plot is different from story. Plot is something you can describe in the abstract, it's a series of events, every book's has got one. But story is where plot and character meet - thats where they combine. And I'd learned to be a writer by writing about people, by writing about characters. And that just because I had this very large canvas and very energetic plot, I wasnt going to go about it differently in any way.
I've never met even a secondary character that I didnt want to spend time with and figure them out. For the duration in which Im writing them, they feel like the main character to me. And the way I go about this is I always make sure that I know every character's secret, what they're not telling anybody. And once I do that, their humanity just kind of ignites.

But the range of characters in this book is, you know, much broader than anything I'd attempted before. And each time I went into a new character, you know, a homeless man in Houston, Texas who ends up on Death Row; an FBI agent; a sort of mystical nun from Sierra Leone - I mean, this is the kind of range that I had in this book and it was it was a lot of work and required a lot of concentration. But it was also really a lot of fun to do it. I got to have this whole vast cast of imaginary friends for the duration of writing the book.

Slight Spoiler--The only problem I did have was with his character Auntie. She was too much like Mother Abigail. Her character was unneeded and served only to remind me continuously of Stephen King's The Stand.

House of Fear

2011-07-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

House of Fear was an invitation only anthology from Solaris Books. Known previously for being a straight science fiction imprint, since it's recent purchase by Abaddon Books, Solaris has now branched out to horror.

The editor invited me to the anthology, which by the way, is not an automatic acceptance. I've had my share of times when I just didn't deliver. Thankfully I delivered this time. The editor used the words Ray Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon and my name in the same sentence for his introduction to my story. This actually made me blush.

From the cover copy: The tread on the landing outside the door, when you know you are the only one in the house. The wind whistling through the eves, carrying the voices of the dead. The figure glimpsed briefly through the cracked window of a derelict house.

Editor Jonathan Oliver brings horror home with a collection of haunted house stories by some of the finest writers working in the horror genre, including Joe R. Lansdale, Sarah Pinborough, Lisa Tuttle, Christopher Priest, Adam L. G. Nevill, Nicholas Royle, Chaz Brenchley, Christopher Fowler, Gary Kilworth, Weston Ochse, Eric Brown, Tim Lebbon, Nina Allan, Stephen Volk, Paul Meloy and more.

The full table of contents:

Objects in Dreams may be Closer than they Appear - Lisa Tuttle

Pied-a-terre - Stephen Volk

In The Absence of Murdock - Terry Lamsley

Florrie - Adam L.G. Nevill

Driving The Milky Way - Weston Ochse

The Windmill - Rebecca Levene

Moretta - Garry Kilworth

Hortus Conclusus - Chaz Brenchley

The Dark Space in The House in The House in The Garden at The Centre of The World - Robert Shearman

The Muse of Copenhagen - Nina Allan

An Injustice - Christopher Fowler

The Room Upstairs - Sarah Pinborough

Villanova - Paul Meloy

Widow's Weeds - Christopher Priest

The Doll's House - Jonathan Green

Inside/Out - Nicholas Royle

The House - Eric Brown

Trick of The Light - Tim Lebbon

What Happened to Me - Joe R. Lansdale

UK Release date - 1st October - ISBN 978-1-907992-06-3

US Release date - 27th September - ISBN 978-1-907992-07-0

Deadwood Love Affair Still Burns

2011-06-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

29 June 2002. The next day's headlines read 'Thousands Flee after Governor Orders Evacuation.'

That morning started just like any other, except I was about as nervous as a cat in a rocking chair factory. I dressed in a black tuxedo, marched through the liquid hot air to Mount Moriah Cemetery, and waited for the rest of the official ceremony to arrive. My family, including both of my kids dressed in their own formals, arrived and marched through the knee-high grass to meet me at the Deadwood overlook, near the graves of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane. Fifteen minutes later, my soon-to-be wife arrived, Yvonne Navarro, looking just amazing in the wedding dress she'd purchases on our trip to Catalina Island. I read a poem, we said our vows, we kissed and lightning struck five miles away.

We went back down the hill, changed into our reception clothes, cut the cake, made sure that folks were happy and were about to have our first dance, only to be interrupted by a plane flying low overhead, dropping water on the fire that had crested the mountain behind my parents' home. Next thing we knew, the governor was calling for everyone's evacuation.

We ran around grabbing things, counting people, saying hurried goodbyes.

We merged into the one way traffic out of town, carrying a total of 30,000 people out of the Black Hills and onto the Great Plains. It wasn't until night that we were able to stop for a bite to eat. Later, we stayed in the basement of a friend of our parent's house.

This was the story of my wedding. It was hot. Not just the temperature, but my feelings for my wife. And they run as hot today as they did that day. A fire still burns inside me.

One day we'll have that reception that we never had. One day we'll do it right.

But for now, we have each other.

Which is the best gift life has ever given me.

Weston Ochse
Tarantual Grotto
Sonoran Desert

Magnificent Monday - Seal Team 666, Shock Totem and Publishers Weekly

2011-06-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Not all Mondays are created equally.

This we know.

It's a truism and was probably carved in stone by the first caveman to invent beer, sunscreen and cable TV.

I've had my share of dreadful Mondays for sure. So it was with sheer joy that I experienced this Monday's announcements.

1. SEAL TEAM 666

This is terribly exciting. I've been working with Brendan and Peter at Thomas Dunne Books for weeks now on this, ever since they reached out to me, firming up the concept. This is going to explode when it hits the bookshelves. Everyone who like character-driven action and horror narratives will love this.

From Publishers Weekly

Thomas Dunne Goes to the 'Seals'

Brendan Deneen and Peter Joseph, at Thomas Dunne Books, bought world rights (along with dramatic rights for Macmillan Films) to Weston Ochse's Seal Team 666. Deneen and Joseph came up with the concept in-house and attached Ochse, a retired Army officer who's won both a Pushcart Prize and a Bram Stoker Award, to write the novel. The book offers a supernatural twist on the story behind the squad that took out Osama bin Laden—the publication is planned to coincide with the one-year anniversary of bin Laden's killing next spring—and follows a Navy Seal trainee (who was demonically possessed as a child) recruited into a government unit confronting a wave of otherworldly attacks on the U.S. Robert Fleck at Professional Media Services represented Ochse in the deal.

(Note that the PW announcement mentions that I won the Pushcart Prize. I was nominated for it, but to my knowledge didn't win it.)

2. Publishers Weekly Review of Multiplex Fandango

Weston Ochse. Dark Regions (www.dark-regions.com), $40 (286p) ISBN 978-1-937128-06-7

Ochse (Scarecrow Gods) builds a "multiplex" of 16 stories (six original to this volume) for his impressively diverse first collection. The creepy, Lovecraftian "Fugue on the Sea of Cortez" features a disillusioned American soldier searching for existential enlightenment in the waters near a Mexican fishing village. "The Crossing of Aldo Ray" fuses zombie fiction and social commentary. "Catfish Gods" tells the poignant tale of a 13-year-old Tennessee boy, his recently deceased grandfather, and an ill-fated fishing trip. The standout is unarguably the profoundly moving novella "Redemption Roadshow," in which a guilt-ridden Arizona highway patrol officer seeks a necromancer in hopes of finding redemption--and gets something else entirely. Horror fans will be drawn in by Ochse's cool, collected writing style and then blown away when he peels back reality's skin to uncover the supernatural terrors lurking just beneath the surface. (Aug.)

3. Nancy Goats Goes Digital

For all of you who wanted a copy of Nancy Goats but couldn't afford the $25 price tag for the signed copy, Delirium has made a digital copy available for $4.99. Just a warning. This isn't your average horror tale. It's ultra-violent, but with the sensibility of a literary fiction story (or so a PHD recently told me).

http://www.darkside-digital.com/nancy-goats-by-weston-ochse.html

4. Shock Totem Issue 4

Rarely do I submit to online Webzines. Not because there's anything wrong with it, but because I'm just too damn busy. But when I saw Shock Totem Issue 2, I thought to myself, "Hey! These guys and gals are doing it right." And I liked their style. A story using an MP3 Playlist as a framing device had been rattling around in my head for some time. It sat down and wrote what would become 'Playlist at the End' in an afternoon and submitted it to them. Thankfully, they accepted my story.It's a vile piece of metafiction, and to my knowledge, the only story that has incorporated an MP3 Playlist to the degree that I did. The songs drive the plot and lend it texture. Everything from Muskrat Love to War Pigs. You all are going to dig this one.

So that was my Monday. Pretty freaking awesome I think!

How was yours?

The Art of Evacuating from Fires

2011-06-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

The Art of Evacuating from Fires.

I should be good at this. I've done it now four times.

My Parent's Home

The first was during my wedding reception to the incomparable Yvonne. We were married in Deadwood, S.D. beside the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity on a scorching hot dry day in June 2002. An hour later, after we'd changed and almost had a dance, fire sprung up in Grizzly Gulch, causing the evacuation of about 30,000 people, including everyone at my wedding. We never did have the reception. We left all the food and booze behind. I know. Tragic.

My second evacuation came a year later. It was October in 2003. Reggie Bannister, friend and acclaimed star of the Phantasm Movie franchise, had invited me to participate in a horror extravaganza he and Gigi (his wife) had planned. Myself, Brinke Stevens, Angus Scrimm, and several others traveled up past Twin Peaks to Crestline. The local bookstore had dozens of copies of Appalachian Galapagos. We were in for a great weekend. We had drinks and dinner that evening and woke up to a conflagration. The two fires, Grand Prix and Old, converged into one raging firestorm with a cloud as big as Kansas rising above the pine forest. We evacuated along a highway called The Rim of the World. Fire actually licked at the wheels of my car as it sped between hungry flames and a thousand foot drop above San Bernardino. That was scary.

And now this.

The Monument Fire.

Compilation of great photos

Compilation of some stunning videos

We evacuated once after seeing the line of smoke and burning homes march our direction, then thought everything was okay and de-evacuated. That's a new word, by the way. De-evacuate: To naively return to your residence when you think the fire is no longer a danger.

Yeah. And we packed for a day and a half. Yvonne, using tetris algorithms, packed two carloads into each car and we sped away. Then we returned Saturday night, woke up Father's Day morning and unpacked the car. The mountain chain beside us known as the Huachucas was barely smoking. It just had to be over.

By 1:30 the mountain had exploded. We walked out of the grocery store with Father's Day dinner fixin's in hand and rushed home. Had we been ten minutes later, we would have had to leave the dogs for four days, including our blind one in the crate. She wouldn't have survived it. Ashes were falling on our home. 40 mile an hour winds pushed a yellow cloud over our home. Sheriff cars with loudspeakers begged us to leave or else burn. We decided to Re-evacuate. That's a new word too. Re-evacuate: To frantically flee after de-evacuating prematurely.

Monument Fire Father's Day Night

So what does one take when re-evacuating? Here's a short list.

Comic Book Collection
Tax Records
Eleven socks
Fourteen T-shirts
Two Pair jeans
Seven Pair underwear
Elvis Jacket
Elvis Blanket
Vitamins
Blowdryer
Bram Stoker Award
Blackhawk .357 Magnum single action long barrel
Computer
Miscellaneus box of books including my own and those I couldn't live without which included Joe Haldeman's War Stories and Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine (Latter personalized)
Sunglasses (Not my Elvis ones)
Can of tuna
Box of Bling (Jewelry)
Dop Kit
Netbook
Four bottles of wine
Two hats
Family Photo album
And that's about it...

So that's four times now. Four. FOUR! I've had to do it three times more than most people ever have to do it. For many of you, I just took your turn. I've now done it so that you don't have to. So if you ever think you have to evacuate, think about it for a moment. You might find that I've already done it for you. So kick back, relax and watch other people's stuff burn.

Special thanks to my parents for letting us take over their home and for allowing our dogs to sleep in comfort and coolness. And thanks to my father in law for protecting my comic book collection. As Brian Keene will attest, I have some seriously rare books.

And most of all, thanks to the firefighters for saving our home.

Introducing Blood Ocean

2011-06-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

So while I've been busy gallivanting through Europe and California, people have actually been working. Here is the cover of my new novel from Abaddon Books. It's due to come out early next year. One of the Afterblight Chronicles, Blood Ocean introduces a gang of Hawaiians living aboard a floating city of ships. It's a book about courage. A big hug to the staff artist Luke Preece for doing such an awesome job and thanks to Jon Oliver for letting me write the book.

Here’s an Afterblight Chronicles primer: The Afterblight Chronicles is a post-apocalyptic shared world series published by Abaddon Books. All the novels are mass market paperbacks and are released everywhere English language books are sold. The world has been devastated by an epidemic. Although there are pockets of an attempted continuation of civilization, the truth is that the world has gone to hell in a handcart. The reason for this is a disease that has wiped out most of the world's population. It kills almost all those who are not of the blood group 'O neg'. Those people who survive are untouched. Everyone else dies. Infrastructures have collapsed. Mobs run rampant. The only kind of law that exists is that imposed by the people with the biggest guns. In this devastated and chaotic world who can bring hope and order? (From The Abaddon website)

I'm joining the ranks of Simon Spurrier, Rebecca Levine, Jasper Spark, Scott Andrews and Al Ewing. This is going to be great.

Where Art Though Electronica? What shouldest thou get?

2011-06-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

So I'm looking at all the new computers, iPads, MP3 players, Netbooks, Kindles, Nooks etc. There are just so many choices. How does one get to just one or two pieces of electronica? What is the single source solution?

Right now I have a netbook (Samsung NC10), a desktop, Dell Inspiron 500 series with two monitors and a cheapo MP3 Player. I also have a CD player in the office and one in the car.

I love the Netbook. Samsung was the company that broke the code on lightweight long-lasting batteries. My NC10, which is 2+ years old, has a 10 hour battery life. It also has instant on, meaning I can put it to sleep and within 30 seconds (which is instant for a windows system) I'm back to my program, which in most cases is msword. It's fast and has a great camera. The speakers suck, though, but that's why Edison invented ear buds.

My desktop is adequate. I use two monitors, which I love. No complaints there, but it is pretty big.

My MP3 player is about dead. It's tiny, holds about 2 gigs and is about as no-frills as a 1950s vibrator.

So in looking at new pieces of electronica, I realize that I want an iPod, an iPad, a Kindle, a Macbook Air, a netbook, and a replacement desktop, probably an all in one touchscreen monitor. With all that I might as well carry around a blender for my foofoo drinks and a microwave for my snacks. You can pick me out of a crowd because I'll be the guy with the wheelbarrow.

And I haven't even talked about the phone. I'm locked into Sprint right now because of the Everything Data Plan for two phones which runs about $125 a month. I like my HTC TouchPro 2 and can't afford and iPhone or the service contract for one.

So what should I get in the future?

iPad vs Netbook: Mac/Apple purists have a single choice. I'm not an anything purist. I do have to say that having to deal with the foibles of microsoft all of my life I've become attuned to troubleshooting and I know the MSWord program like it's my little demented brother. With the iPad I can't write novels using the screen keypad. I've tried. I could get a universal keyboard, then it would work, but the formatting for the programs in iPad aren't perfect for submitting to NY Publishers. Then again, iPads have the cool touch screens with the apps. It is certainly a better social media tool.

What if I throw a Kindle or a Nook into the Mix? Do I have to have an iPad too? What if all I want is an eBook reader? Of course I can download Kindle for PC too?

I think I may have found the perfect little computer... or at least the first generation of a computer that will solve these needs. I checked out the Asus EE PC91, which is a netbook with a Rotating touchscreen.

A quick check shows that there are an increasing number of these sorts of netbooks out there that will give me the social media functions from an app-rich environment touch screen, the ability to convert to a functional eReader, and the ability to triple as an actual computer with the sometimes clunky, but industry standard Windows-based MS word.

I'm going to keep my eye out for the best one. My Netbook has a few months left for sure.

So on to the MP3 vs iPod. I've been reluctant to make the switch because of the price, but I have to. I'm going to get an iPod pretty soon. I have a CD player in my office that I haven't used in ages. I also have a stack of CDs that are dusty enough to have been excavated by Indiana Jones. Plus, my MP3 player doesn't have enough power to be heard when I'm riding my motorcycle, so I need something with a little muscle.

So Netbook with rotating touchscreen and iPod. Check.

But what about a desktop? I have to admit, I love the Macbook Air (which I'd use as a desktop). It would be pretty ridiculous to have a Windows notebook and a Mac desktop. As peaceful and congruous as the relationship between a Muslim man and his Jewish wife. Still, I like the Mac. I'm up in the air with this. One of the problems is that there'd be a steeplearning curve. I hear there are camps and intervention groups that will help you through the transition, but I know how to deal with my demented little brother. Why should I get a new better brother and try and learn how to socialize with him now too? My father has an HP Touchscreen All in One Monitor. I like that and how it uses such less space. Maybe something like that would be perfect. I'll keep my eye out for them.

So I'm not sure about the desktop yet. But allow me to score your brain and leave you with this stunning image of a Mac thief. I can only imagine what I'd look like if someone was able to hack into my camera.

Read the full story here -- http://thisguyhasmymacbook.tumblr.com/ -- it's freaking hilarious.

My Life in Comics - Where I Leap Into the Fray

2011-06-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

I've loved comics ever since I can remember. After about the age of five, I always had comics. I remember driving across country and stopping at a Stuckeys in Iowa and convincing my mother to buy bags of pre-packaged comics. My mom was always good about that. She didn't care if it was a comic, as long as I was reading. In fact, I went to the grocery store with her specifially to get her to buy me comics, Cracked and Mad Magazines. We needed apples, I got comics. We were out of bread, I got comics. I tried to get her to buy Heavy Metal once, but that didn't work out. Darn.

My bud Brian Keene and I have talked about this for years. We're both Silver Age Comic nuts. I love old Fantastic Four, The Defenders, and Avengers. I grok the Inhumans, Silver Surfer and Namor (this is when he was impetuous, arrogant and an anti-hero). I dug the hell out of Marvel Team Ups and What Ifs. Remember those? What if Doctor Doom was a member of the Fantastic Four? Stuff like that. They were big in 1978 when I spent the summer with my grandparents.

I went through the 1980s not buying or reading, for that matter, any comics. I'd joined the Army and was literally knee deep in dirt and alligator shit for a decade. I returned to comics during the big wave in the early 1990s. I was able to be a part of the Image evolution. Along with traditional super heroes, they had a comic called Pitt. Remember that? This one sort of changed my idea of comics, that they weren't only about heroes. That got me into Cerebus and The Sandman. I discovered Vertigo and started to really pay attention to all the different companies and what they had to offer.

Then I discovered The Preacher and the writings of Garth Ennis. Then Warren Ellis. And with Warren I discovered that art can be ART, and was inspired by Ben Templesmith (Fell).

During this time I was writing. Learning my craft. I've won awards for fiction and screenplays. I even had a short story printed in the back of about a dozen different IDW comic books. I have projects stacked on top of projects stacked on top of projects. I have three novels and a short novel due tomorrow. Yet comics are still my love. I think about them. I read and reread them. Lately I've been enjoying Brian Keene's The Last Zombie and Joe Hill's Locke & Key. Both books combine tremendous story with stimulating art.

Now I can't draw, but I can write a tremendous story. I'm damn good at that. So after the World Horror Convention this year I decided why not try my hand at comics. I need something more than a story in a comic book. I need to be able to create the entire comic book. So I've done three things:

One. I've partnered with artist Russel Dickerson on a project called Killing Time. He hasn't worked on comics much either, but he's a terrific artist who is coming into his own. Killing Time will be a webcomic provided page by page. Probably a full-paneled page once per week once we get going. The story of Killing Time is based on the short story 'Tarzan Doesn't Live Here Anymore' from my new short story collection Multiplex Fandango. We're targeting that the first page will be available sometime in July.

Two. I created a 4 script arc for a new mini-series called BLIGHT. It's a slipstream, steampunk, horror comic. Imagine of Locke & Key meets Preacher, then this would be their love child. Like most of my work, Blight takes place along the Mexican Border. I'm very excited about this. Of course the only problem is that very few people in the comic world know me. There are a few joints I can submit this to cold, but the chances are slim. The chances get much better, as do the places where I can submit this increase in volume, if I have an artist-writer team. So, in that light, I'm now searching for a comic artist with experience who wants to partner with me on Blight. If you know one, or if you are one, shoot me an email at westonochse@gmail.com with the subject "Blight Artist." I'm a hard and fast worker.

Three. I've pitched Dynamite Comics about one of their owned projects. I'd love to breathe new life into it and resurrect it. I've definite ideas. Now to get my foot in the door.

So there you have it. I didn't step, slide, shimmy or skip into the fray. I freaking leaped.

Now to see what I can do there.

Weston Ochse
Tarantula Grotto
Sonoran Desert

Doctor Doom's Guide to the Universe and the Rules for Burial of Christian Insects

2011-06-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

I was overseas during Memorial Day. Brian Keene hosted a special 20 minute video I produced called "Doctor Doom's Guide to the Universe and the Rules for Burial of Christian Insects." With music, cadence calling, and an essay presentation, this was my homage to the American Soldier. I'll share it here now.

Doctor Doom’s Guide to the Universe
May 29th, 2011

Special Memorial Day Guest Video Blog by Weston Ochse

“In honor of the men and women who have trained, fought, and given their lives for America, I’ve created a dramatic and profane narrative about my real and not so real experiences in U.S. Army basic training. This is the story of one young man’s indoctrination into the world’s largest street gang, as well as a love song to what it means to be a soldier. Thanks to my fellow warrior Brian Keene for premiering this video.”

It was Sherman Alexie who inspired this video. If anyone has contact with him, I'd sure like for him to see it.

Thanks

Paella, Paella, Paella and Elvira!

2011-05-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

Little did I know that when I went to Valencia, Spain, that I'd be going to the place where Paella was born. I've had every kind of paella since I've been here. Paella Valencia is with vegetables, chicken and rabbit. Paella Negra is made from squid and squid ink. That's my favorite. There's even lobster paella. And it's all so damn good. The only problem is that the Spanish don't eat until about 10 PM so by the time I had paella, I was on carb overload and ready for bed. Next time I go to Spain I'm going to get on a regiment to prepare.

So for your viewing pleasure, I'm going to share some food pictures.


Cheese and Mushrooms in a Dill Sauce (Romania)

Elvira walking with me in Romania to eat

Sardines in Vinegar Tapas on the Beach

About to be Paella'd

Paella Negra and Sangria

More Sangria

Appetizers of whole fried prawns in salt and pepper


Before the Paella Fest

xxxx
xxxx
xxx

The Hand of the Martyr

2011-05-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

When Willie Martinez showed up to the first day of this conference I'm attending in Valencia, Spain, talking about seeing the shriveled hand of an old Christian Martyr in a Cathedral, I knew I'd have to see it too. He said the veins popped out of it like and the skin was like jerky.

I know. I know. A little too descriptive. And I'd never use the word 'jerky' in the same sentence with 'Christian Martyr.' It seems damn sacrilegious and a little too profane even for my tastes. Still, I had to see it.

So the I ducked out of the last half hour of the conference, changed and began walking in the direction of the town I'd heard it was. Past the river park where they relocated an entire river and made a park the length of the city. Past an old castle entrance. I really didn't know where I was going, but I somehow unerringly arrived at the Plaza of the Sacred Virgin, then around the corner found the awe-inspiring and imposing 1270 edifice called Valencia Cathedral or The Cathedral of the Chalice.

Yeah. That Chalice. 1st Century gold cup that old Jesus shared with the people. And they refer to it as The Holy Grail. BONUS. I get to see a martyr's hand and the Holy Grail.

Check this out

The Holy Grail of Valencia

The most celebrated treasure in Valencia Cathedral is a chalice known as the Santo Caliz, which is said to be the famous Holy Grail. Whether or not this is so, it is certainly an intriguing artifact. It is of ancient date and was hidden in a monastery in northern Aragon throughout the Dark Ages, where it inspired many Grail legends. It has been enshrined in the cathedral since 1437, and can be seen in a dark, simple stone chapel in the corner of the cathedral.

The Santo Caliz is made of two parts: an ancient stone cup attached to a medieval stem and base. Fashioned out of dark brown agate, the main cup is 6.5 inches tall and 3.5 inches wide. Experts have dated it to the 1st century BC with a provenance of Antioch or Alexandria.3 The medieval stem and handles are made of gold; the alabaster base is decorated with pearls and precious stones.

Inside I took the audio walking tour. As you can see from the pictures here, it was just amazing. I kept wishing Yvonne was there because no matter how much I was enjoying it she would have loved it ten fold me.

Then I saw the hand of the Martyr. I gotta admit. I stopped breathing for a moment. It was a very eerie sight. And it was more than a hand. As you can see, it was the lower half of an arm. Wow. Just wow. Turns out it's from St. Vincent the Martyr. Also known as Vincent of Saragossa. Wikipedia says:

According to legend, after being martyred, ravens protected St. Vincent's body from being devoured by vultures, until his followers could recover the body. His body was taken to what is now known as Cape St. Vincent; a shrine was erected over his grave, which continued to be guarded by flocks of ravens. In the time of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula, the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi noted this contant guard by ravens, for which the place was named by him كنيسة الغراب "Kanīsah al-Ghurāb" (Church of the Raven)

Here's the Valencia Cathedral Website

Afterward, I sat in the piazza and drank some water and had a sandwich. The sandwich was Spanish ham, some sort of semi-soft cheese on brioche. Are you kidding me? God that was good.

Here are the rest of the pictures from Valencia, Spain. Enjoy.

Scary Rednecks and Appalachian Galapagos

2011-05-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Once upon the time there were two young writers who got together to make a chapbook. That chapbook exploded into 16 stories, a book that sold more books than any other Dark Tales titled, and spurred a sequel collection titled Appalachian Galapagos. These two books were collected into a very limited 26 copy Omnibus edition from Delirium that went for about a billion bucks. Scary Rednecks was reprinted by Delirium. Until now, Appalachian Galapagos has not been reprinted. That is until now.

Now both Scary Rednecks and Appalachian Galapagos are available for download in all e-formats.

Scary Rednecks
All Formats
Amazon

Appalachian Galapagos
All Formats -
Amazon (coming soon - the above link includes Kindle)

Appalachian Galapagos had an interesting evolution. It was supposed to come out in hardback by Imaginary Worlds. But Imaginary Worlds soon became Imaginary Books and folded having only published Brian Keene's No Rest for the Wicked in 2001. Here's the cover for the IW version of Appalachian Galapagos.

Then in 2002, John Turi of Medium Rare Books approached us. He soon published the book in a trade hardcover and released it on the main floor of the Book Expo of American. It was a big hit, but the publisher couldn't keep enough copies in stock for distribution.

Here's the Medium Rare version.

And since 2003, there haven't been any other copies in any other format available for sale.

That is until now.

I thought you all might appreciate this.

-Weston

Multiplex Fandango Up for Pre-order

2011-05-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the BIG Day. Multiplex Fandango is up for pre-order at Dark Regions Press. Some of you may have heard about it, but this is my master work of short fiction. Please if you have a moment and an inclination, jump over to Dark Regions at this link and pre-order the book.

If you haven't yet heard about it. The cover art was done by Vince Chong. Joe Lansdale provided an introduction for the book. So far it's gotten some fantastic reviews. Surely, this collection has my very best work, encompassing 15 years of writing. I've written 6 original tales for this collection. Of my 100+ published short stories, I selected ten. So Multiplex Fandango has 16 stories for hours of fearful reading.

I could share the blurbs that have been coming in, but I won't inundate you. The latest blurb came in just today, though, so let me share that. You all might not know Dani and Eytan Kollin, but they are the authors of The Unincorporated Man (Tor Books), which exploded onto the science fiction scene, winning the coveted Prometheus Award. I read it with awe, amazed that such an original idea and a well-written book could be written by first time authors. Since then they've gone to write quite a bit more. Here's what Dani had to say about Multiplex Fandango

"Weston Ochse is to horror what Bradbury is to science fiction -- an artist whose craft, stories and voice are so distinct and mesmerizing that you can't help but be enthralled. Multiplex Fandango is yet another in a long line of exclamation points that reminds us of that fact." -- Dani Kollin, Prometheus Award-winning author of The Unincorporated Man

That he compared me to Ray Bradbury is most humbling. I dedicated Multiplex Fandango to Messrs Bradbury and Lansdale. I think they are absolute masters of the craft. So to be compared with Mr. Bradbury is a lifelong dream.

So do me a favor and go over to Dark Regions Press, please. I the meantime, you can check out my uber-cool trailer. Feel free to shoot me a comment now and then too.

The Last Zombie Infects Me All Over Again

2011-05-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

Nothing like hot sun, cool water, and a zombie comic. Nothing better unless it's from Brian Keene. He can tell a story and in the world of comics, I'm envious. I've recently been writing comic scripts so I'm becoming familiar with how the experts are doing it. From Steve Niles, to Chuck Dixon, to Jeff Marriotte, to Warren Ellis, I'm learning the art of taking my story and creating a visual and narrative symbiosis.

I'm a self-described Bronze Age comic book lover. For the uninitiated, this is roughly 1970 - 1985. Loved the Team Ups. Loved the What Ifs. LOVED the Defenders. In fact, my wife got me The Essential Defenders for Christmas, which saved me from going into my jacketed and boxed collection. There's a certain naivete with the Bronze Age. The characters aren't all knowing, rarely even know themselves, and make a lot of mistakes. I think that was a character of the time reflected in the comics. It probably represents me most accurately.

Take modern comics, for instance.Warren Ellis, whom I love, created Desolation Jones among many other great works. But representationally, I think Desolation shows a modernism in comics that is polar opposite of Bronze Age. The character seems to understand himself. He knows more. Not that he's smarter than his 1975 counterparts, but as a character, Desolation is representative of a society with instantaneous information, which includes self-reflection and self-knowledge. That said, modern comics are very aware of themselves and inculcate social issues to a much greater degree.

Back to Brian... what he's done with The Last Zombie, and earlier to a degree with Devils-Slayer, is merge modern and Bronze Age comic realities. The soldiers and characters retain much of the naivete, hoping the best in people, unsure what the right answer is, and relatively unaware of their own interior motives. Yet all the while Brian is able to weave social issues and a level of self-reflection not often found in Bronze Age.

And his soldiers are spot on. Brian's ability to represent the reality of brothers in arms, soldier on soldier dependancey and love is absolutely perfect. I saw many of my friends in the characters of The Last Zombie.

Yep. Brian did it to me. I'm infected all over again. For a long time I've had my desk covered with comic covers because it's who I am. I forgot that for awhile. My desire has been rekindled. I need to read more comic books. I need to write comic books.

My goal for 2011 is to have a comic script accepted. So all you publishers out there, watch out for it. I'll be calling soon. Expect it. The stories are exploding out of me. Ideas are oozing from my skin. I have a story to tell. I have a comic to write.

Gotta go now. My panels are calling.

Weston Ochse
Tarantula Grotto
Sonoran Desert