I've been friends with Weston Ochse for a few years now and it's always great (in a "I hate you" sort of way) to watch your friends blow up. Luckily, he still remembers who I am. His novel, Scarecrow Gods, won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in First Novel, and is about to be re-released as a trade paperback by Delirium Books. All of this made for a great excuse for me to pester him with a few questions.

Which do you prefer writing: short stories or novels? Do you recommend writing short stories as a way to break into the industry?

Writing a novel is such a long commitment of time and creative energy. For me, writing a novel is more fulfilling, but there are stories that can be told much easier with a short story. Some ideas are just made for the short story.

When I first started writing, I began writing a novel. I got about seventy pages in before I realized that I really didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know what a split infinitive was. I didn't know what an
antecedent was. My grammar was poor, and I tended to ramble, sort of stream of consciousness writing.

So I decided to shelve that novel and work on the short story. I'd read and heard that it was a far harder form, and that if a person was able to master it, they'd find longer works like novels, much easier. So I began writing short stories. I wrote and wrote and wrote. As soon as I'd finished one, I'd send it out, log it in my spreadsheet, and begin another. I had 42 rejections before my first sale, a 1cent per word print magazine out of Kansas called Mindmares. But because I'd kept submitting and writing and getting better, I had 18 more acceptances in the next two months. A year later found me the co-author of Scary Rednecks and Other Inbred Horrors, written with David Whitman, which was the best selling book for the now defunct Darktales Publications and the first POD to be sold by Barnes and Nobles. Since then, I've been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for my short fiction and have over a hundred stories in print.

So, yes. I think everyone should learn how to master the short story. It's not easy, but once you have it down, the novel is a far simpler endeavor.

What work would best give a new reader the proper impression of Weston Ochse work?

"Catfish Gods from Scary Rednecks." It's a fan favorite, and was almost made into a movie. It's a 7,000 word story I wrote in one sitting. It's a story about grandfathers and love and fishing and relationships--everything that's important to me. There's a mythic quality about the story that reminds people of Ray Bradbury. I am so heavily influenced by him, I was at once surprised by the comparison, and yet not so surprised. One reviewer compared it to Something Wicked This Way Comes. I think I might have cried.

But that was written eight years ago. Although I still write using that mythic quality, fewer and fewer of my stories are set in the South. More are set in Los Angeles, Mexico or the American Southwest, showing my new found appreciation and understanding for this area in which I live. A newer story that would provide a proper impression of my writing would be "22 Stains in the Jesus Pool." It deals with a Korean girl trying to understand herself, deal with her heritage, and the enabling personalities she's gathered around her while spending Christmas at a Mexican resort with a strange swimming pool with the face of Jesus on the bottom. Much like "Catfish Gods," it deals with love and responsibility, but this new story also deals with change and redemption. Those last two elements have become a mainstay in both my stories and novels of late.

At what point or with which story did you realize "I think I can make a go of this writing thing"?

When I finished my first novel, Scarecrow Gods, sent it to some readers and heard their responses. I can't think of a scarier event, except maybe asking someone to marry you. I was terrified that they'd come back and tell me to stick to the short story. But the feedback was so overwhelmingly positive, my feelings that I was made to write were justified.

How has your career changed since Scarecrow Gods? Or should I say since winning the Bram Stoker Award?

The skies have opened up and rain shiny gold coins, big-breasted woman hang from trees, and publishers ring my doorbell like nervous shoe salesmen. Oh, sorry, that's what happened to Brian Keene.

For me, it's been wonderful. Such recognition from your peers is something very special. I knew about the Bram Stoker Award far longer than I've been writing. I might say that it hasn't affected my writing, but that would be a lie. The award has given me some confidence that has been useful in the middle of novels. You know when you're halfway done and you sit back and wonder what the hell are you doing and ask yourself what is this crap you're writing? Now I remind myself that the same thing happened with Scarecrow Gods. I can look at the award sitting on my shelf and gain confidence that whatever doubts I'm feeling will mean nothing when I finish the novel.

I also have an agent now. I'm invited to a lot of anthologies. I've been asked to be toastmaster at conventions. And most importantly, I have a key to the Bram Stoker Restroom at the HWA Headquarters high on Mount Laymon.

What's your strangest encounter with a fan?

Not including the Tennessee Sewing Circle, the Oh-My-God Girl or the Hindi Hooker, I think my strangest encounter would have to be George Ibarra. He approached me in Kansas City during the mass autographing for the World Horror Convention. He brought a copy of Scary Rednecks to me and handed me a note. The note was from my mother, telling me to sign George's book for him. That a complete stranger brought a note from my mother telling me to sign a book was beyond belief. Somewhere I have a picture of George and me and the book and the note from old moms.

How much do you think a network of friends coming up the writer's ranks together helps?

Oh, I think it's tremendously important. As you may or may not know, I was part of the original Horrornet Cabal. Brian Keene, me, Mike Oliveri, Rain Graves and many others grew up together in the genre. We were lucky enough to have folks like Dick Laymon, Ray Garton, Paul Wilson, Tom Piccirilli, Doug Clegg and Ed Lee as our mentors. We huddled in chat every night and planned how we were going to take over the world. We were hungry. We all wanted success. And each of us has achieved it in oneform or another. Many of us have had novels widely published. We've won Stokers and other awards. But this is still the middle of the journey. We're constantly helping each other out with advice and such. We're about as close as you can be within a community like this.

We see some other groups coming up like us. We recognize the fire in their eyes and remember when we were that hungry. In the solitary universe of a writer, to have a group of like-minded people to call your friends, to have someone to commiserate with or celebrate with, is invaluable.

What were some of your early career mis-steps that I'm sure you look back on fondly?

I can think of plenty, but to make this constructive, let me say that the biggest early misstep I made was not being ready for success. Let me explain. Scary Rednecks was a tremendous hit. Its success went far beyond anything I could have ever imagined. At my first convention in Denver, Doug Clegg and Dick Laymon lauded over the book. Those two gentlemen will always have a very special place in my heart for the things they said, and the people to which they said it. Anyway, late Friday night at the convention, Brian and Mike found me at a party and asked me if I'd spoken with Publisher X? (The name's not important.) 'No,' I replied. Then I asked why? 'Because he's looking for you. He heard about how good Scary Rednecks was and wants to talk to you about a deal.' So imagine that everything you've always wanted in the world just came true but you weren't ready. After a mad scramble through every nook and cranny of the Drake Hotel, I found Publisher X. He told me how impressed he was with the buzz of the book and then asked me what else I had to show him. (insert sound of car screeching to a stop) I had nothing. Nada. Zilch. I saw the excitement die in his eyes. He told me that when and if I had something else, to look him up. Then he walked away. I'd made the mistake of resting on my laurels. I didn't have anything prepared for success. Now I have four more novels finished than I have published. It will never happen again. But for Publisher X, I still have never worked with him and maybe never will.

You are married to the lovely and talented Yvonne Navarro. What's life like in a two-writer family? Friendly competition or a pooling of efforts?

Very cool. Wonderful, in fact. We have so much in common. It's like having a best friend with benefits. She goes to her office on the second floor. I go to my office in the basement. We visit each other and
sometimes meet in the middle. We both understand the solitude needed to write and respect each other's creative space. No competition at all.

What's the one piece of advice would you give to a newbie writer to help them in their career?

Don't believe your family or friends about the quality of your writing, unless you're only writing for them. Find a publisher you believe in and write for that publisher and keep writing until you are accepted. Then find another publisher and do the same. We say we don't need validation, but we really do. We need professionals to see our work and tell us that it meets their standards. That's the only way to become a professional. Just claiming to be means nothing.

How do you explain Muy Mal to a newcomer and what would be a good jumping on spot?

Muy Mal is a shared world writing project that Mike Oliveri, John Urbancik and I have been a part of for two years. We're going to end it in June of this year, but it's been tremendous fun during its run. The fiction is written periodically by each of us in serial form. We have our own story arcs, and last year almost destroyed the world in an arc we all shared in.

My arcs center around the American Southwest and the idea that a great evil lives in the desert. They are League of the Red Palm, Chronicles of the Black Bishop and El Cazador. We use creative commons licensing which means they are totally free. We use pictures and music from the web to enhance them. Some of the stories have been professionally podcasted. If you go the Muy Mal site and click on my picture, then go to the readers menu, it allows you to click what you want in whatever order you want.

I'm frequently asked why I give away fiction. The short answer is because I can. I have so much creative output, that I can afford to give this away to fans while I learn about this new world I've created. One day, I'll write a novel centering on my ideas. For now, I'm merely exploring the length and breadth of the lands.

What's up next for Weston Ochse?

Scarecrow Gods in paperback in May. It's going to be huge. The print run is the largest Delirium has ever done. They want to get their books in every bookstore in North America, to start. People have literally been banging at the doors of Delirium Books to get a copy of it ever since it won the Stoker Award. So much hype, but only 350 copies were printed. Now everyone gets their chance.

Also the second book of the trilogy that began with Recalled to Life is due out in July. Called The Golden Thread , it continues the tale of Kimo and Demitrius, the latter who is now in the world of Bastion. What's cool is the new and unique things I've done with the Bigfoot legend. People are going to love it. The book comes out in limited edition only from Delirium Books. The first book sold out in 8 hours. I imagine this one will sell out even sooner.

Things are looking up.