Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 16:24:22 -0700 From: Weston Ochse Subject: [WRITERS] BIO: Finally Getting Around to It Greetings fellow writers, all. I have been on this Listserv for almost six months now and haven't written a bio. Nor did I write one when I was on two years ago. So, for those of you who care to see behind my dark twisted writings, here it is. I am 33 years old. I live in Sierra Vista, Arizona. It is in the Sonoran Desert and the valley I live in is surrounded by the Chiricahua, Dragoon and Huachuca Mountains. And I mean surrounded-It is a 360 degree ring of ridges that without much effort, can be easily misconstrued for the lip of an immense volcano. Which if you consider the heat, certainly fits. I live in the shadow of Thunder Mountain (Huachuca), which is actually very green and beautiful. Every afternoon this summer, boiling gray and black clouds have climbed over its peaks giving us incredible lightning storms and rain. "Monsoon season," they say. "What monsoons?" I ask. "This is the desert." Well, evidently this portion of the desert has monsoons similar to those I have experienced in Thailand and Korea. I am in Arizona, because the Army sent me there. I am an Interrogation Instructor at the US Army Military Intelligence School. And I know I say this often, but I really do enjoy twisting young minds. I also speak Chinese and Vietnamese. The Army has really been good to me. It has given me virtually everything I have wanted. Nowhere, would I have ever been able to go to all the countries I have been to and have done the things I have done. (Was that a sentence?) For instance-I have been to China, South Korea, Philippines, Japan, Marshall Islands, Wake Island, Guam, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. I have worked at Embassies. I have helped to build schools, churches, wells, clinics. I have provided support for medical and dental missions. I have trained and interacted with indigenous soldiers and peoples, seen the way they have lived, shared their lives and am changed from it all. Now before this turns into a commercial or I get accused of bragging, I will move on. I live here with my Bull Terrier, Zombie. Not only did I need a little mute comfort after my recent divorce, but I figured every fledgling horror writer needs a mascot. My children, a boy and a girl, live with their mom and see me every chance they get. Why do I write horror? Hmm. Although I read all types of fiction, I see where horror satisfies me the most. I appreciate science fiction, but I see most science fiction as dealing with societies and future possibilities and impacts. Romance, historical and mainstream shouldn't need an explanation. Horror I see as dealing directly with human conflict. It dwells directly within the regions of the individual's experience and how that person is changed by events or changes others. It delves into the dark corners that lie within all people that we are afraid to look at. It attempts to explain behavior and attitudes through metaphorical spiritualness. And after all the horrors I have seen in this world, it is what I know. Many of you have read some of my postings, already. A few of you have been offended. For this I am sorry. There are some things I won't submit to the group. They examine very raw topics and it's like talking about sex in public. But there are things that I do submit. Poems and short stories that I work very hard on, trying to get the message or tone perfect, so that the reader can experience what I have (or imagined) in the safety of their own home. You see, I think it's important to examine these things, because turning blind eyes don't work. I believe that in order for a society to find its comfortable middle we need to recognize the extremes. The only place, other than the newspaper, that these things and people can be found, are within the pages of horror. I have enjoyed reading many of y'all's (My Tennessee heritage showed here) works. I may not comment on all of them and on occasion, there is a thread that I won't even read, but I still enjoy. I have only been writing for the past three years. Just recently, I have begun getting published. I am doing several rewrites now, some that I am very excited about. Regarding what can be found online- My poetry can be found at Atrocity Asylum, Sparks and Huge. My stories can be found at Chiaroscuro, Dream Forge and as of 1 September, Peridot Books. I was also asked to write a column at Dream Forge, which after a microsecond of thought, I accepted. If there is anyone out there who needs help in developing marketing plans and finding markets for your stories, please don't hesitate to ask me for help. Although I think I write very well, I give much of the credit for my recent success to organizing a successful plan. So. That's it. That's me. Pleased to meet ya. -- Weston Ochse "I am surrounded by the lint from an enormous navel, This blare of morning, hideousness of trees tricked out in their chemical greens, Snot on the walk and the dead grease of a mineral world." ---Theodore Roethke Experience the Ravings of the High Desert Hermit in Self Imposed Hell visit http://www.pcisys.net/~drmforge/ochse.htm