Chris Morey: First
off, can you tell us a little about Multiplex Fandango? Is there a theme to the
book or are the stories independent of one another?
Weston Ochse: Fandango
means many things.
It's a dance for sure. Most often using triple meter, it
cranks along. Much of the Flamenco music is a Fandango.
Fandango also means 'a
foolish or useless act.' But of course the foolishness of such an act is always
in the eye of the beholder. Rarely do those doing something like a fandango
think 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, Robin
Hood Prince of Thieves, Dances with Wolves and The Count of Monte Cristo, made
his directorial debut in 1985 with FANDANGO. Starring a young Kevin Costner and
Judd Nelson, it's the story of five
Texas college
students in 1971who go off on one last journey before they part their separate
ways, many of them going to
Vietnam. It's a coming of age movie about how we grow
up and change. Quintin Tarantino, one of
my cinematic idols said of the movie, "Fandango is one of the best
directorial debuts in the history of cinema. I saw Fandango five times
at the movie theater and it only played for a fucking week, all right."
Multiplex is just what it is - it's a mega theater with
multiple screens. When you put the pair
of words together, you get a place with multiple screens delivering a fandango
on each one. My writing has always been called cinematic. That was never my
intention, but probably a result of being a child of pop-culture. The results of that cinematic quality in this
short story collection are word pictures that will take you places.
CM: You dedicate the book in part to Ray
Bradbury and Joe Lansdale. Can you tell us how they have influenced you?
Weston Ochse: Besides
the fact that they are two of the best short story writers in the last 50
years?
Ray Bradbury's The Sound of Summer Running, which became the
novel Dandelion Wine was the most
influential story I ever read. It changed the way I looked at literature. In
that story alone I discovered literature's transformative nature and am stunned
every time I read it. Then of course there's Dandelion Wine's dark brother, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Both
set in the same fictional town, Something Wicked
deals with the dark in the same ways Dandelion
dealt with the light.
Joe Lansdale is a
literary barracuda. He's a razor-sharp tumbleweed that rolls right over your
expectations. All you have to do is read The
Night They Left the Picture Show to learn that. Joe's ability to entertain
with both humor and violence, while simultaneously dealing with complex social
issues is the model story for me. In my forward
to the anthology I wrote-- Joe
Lansdale is a literary samurai. His dojo is the page. His two-fisted katana
swings completely eviscerated my sense of what should be when I read "Night
They Missed the Horror Show" and "On the Far Side of the
Cadillac
Desert
with Dead Folks." We have a lot in common. Our southern heritage. Our love of
martial arts. Our sly look at the world. I'm double honored and humbled that he
wrote the introduction to Multiplex Fandango.
CM: Multiplex Fandango contains your
Bram Stoker award finalist short story "The Crossing of Aldo Rey" and
your Bram Stoker award finalist novella "Redemption Roadshow." What
do 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 peers
that for one brief moment you captured magic with your pen. I won the Bram
Stoker 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 I
was writing my first novel I was filled with self doubt. It took me two years
to write it and I was terribly unsure if it would even be readable. The award
was a world-sized sigh of relief. Since then I've been nominated for the
Pushcart Prize for Short Fiction, as well as the two awards you mentioned in
your question. Although they didn't win, they were considered among the four
best literary works of their type for that year. That alone is an honor that I
terrifically appreciate.
CM: Why do you write horror and weird fiction? What draws you to the
genre?
Weston Ochse: I never planned on being a horror author. I
just ended up that way. In fact, when I started writing I just wanted to be a
writer. Frankly, regardless of what I write, that's who I am. That the end
result is categorized as horror, or dark fantasy, or weird fiction, well,
that's someone else's categorization. Interestly enough, I'm not very well read
in the horror genre. I'm not a horror snob, it's just that because of my Master
of Fine Arts Degree (or perhaps my degree is a result of that), I'm interested
in all sorts of literature, to include what is called literary fiction. I've gone
around and around with some friends on this subject when they make fun of me
for not knowing this author or that book. What I think I bring to the genre is
a 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 do
that. Really, that's for other folks to
do. That's like asking Megan Fox how she looks so sexy or a girl how come she
kisses so well. As far as my writing style, there are a lot of nice folks who
have written reviews about it. Read Horror recently reviewed a novella of mine
thusly--'The twists and turns of the plot
are handled adeptly and the characterization is superbly nuanced, creating
fully-rounded and believable characters. The prose is crisp, flowing and at
times simply beautiful. The climax, equal parts horrifying and uplifting,
leaves you with a sense of one journey ending as a new one begins.' This is
a pretty common description of my writing. I've also been called 'a writers writer,' which is a joy every
time I read it. To me that says that not only do readers appreciate my approach
to a narrative, but so do my peers and other professionals.
CM: What do you have in the works?
Weston Ochse: Promoting
Multiplex Fandango. I want as many people to read it as possible. This is my
best work collected in one volume. Of the more than 100 short stories I've
written, these are the very best. Plus it has an amazing cover by Bram Stoker
winning artist Vincent Chong. Heck, with Joe, me and Vince, that's a Bram
Stoker Trifecta. When I'm not promoting this, I'm working on a novel for
St. Martin's Press called SEAL Team 666. I also recently
finished an apocalyptic novel for Abaddon Books out of
England called
Blood
Ocean.
That's due out in mass market paperback in Feb 2012.
CM: To those unsure about ordering
Multiplex Fandango, what would you do?
Weston Ochse: I'd send them
to 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. From
there you can go to my facebook, twitter, and message board. You can also
access my books, free stories, screenplays, etc. It's probably the best place
to 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.
