by Robert J Ristino | Feb 29, 2024 | General
Like the characters that inhabit them, novels have minds of their own. My most recent book, The Barbarian Princess, aka The Barbarian Queen of the North, has undergone a remarkable transformation since its cerebral birth. It began with the title. I decided to change... 
by Robert J Ristino | Sep 11, 2023 | General
Having expanded on my top five plot conceits, I’d like to add another five that bother me to no end. Number 6. The obvious stakeout conceit. This conceit has many iterations, so I’ll share just a few of my favorites. The first is the stakeout in the car... 
by Robert J Ristino | Aug 24, 2023 | General
I have a major pet peeve about the conceits writers employ in fiction, especially suspense thrillers and mysteries. Let’s begin by defining what a plot conceit is: In drama and other art forms, a conceit of a work of fiction is the underlying fictitious... 
by Robert J Ristino | Aug 11, 2023 | General
If you’ve visited my blog you may have seen the post about my upcoming book, The Barbarian Queen of the North, The post featured an artist’s rendition of the lead character, Princess Alauna. I contracted to have this piece of art created by an artist in Great Britain,... 
by Robert J Ristino | May 19, 2023 | General
Princess Alauna is one of two main characters in my latest novel, The Barbarian Queen of the North. From the very beginning I had an idea of who she was and what she would look like. However, as I continued to write she acquired her own persona, seeming to become... 
by Robert J Ristino | Mar 16, 2023 | General
Read an article recently that addressed the topic of writing by the seat of your pants or pantsing (sounds like something you would do as a kid). Simply, it’s doing a mind dump on the page. Instead of agonizing over every word, every sentence, every paragraph—just...