My apologies to my readers for not posting much lately. Thinking about the publishing world and trying to "measure up" to just about everything I read got me really burned out. Sometimes it's good for a writer to stop and smell the roses, so to speak, to remember why it is we got into this... Continue Reading →
I Love The Phantom Menace
I love The Phantom Menace. There. My secret's out. Saying that feels like saying I love Al-Qaeda. On the Internet, you might think hate for George Lucas has surpassed hatred for Osama Bin-Laden, particularly after his recent decision to yet again alter the Star Wars Saga for the upcoming Blu-Ray release. The controversy between what some call Lucas... Continue Reading →
The Gorgon’s Lover
Let me tell you how I killed her—how I killed the only woman I ever loved. I am a wretched thing, truly, and have little else to offer but this story. Hear me out, if you are wanting for a tragedy, but I give you fair warning: this is no tale for children or the... Continue Reading →
FLASH FICTION: Pizza Planet
Pizza PlanetBy Nick AlimonosXenobiologists still debate the reasons, but there is no denying that of the myriad forms of organic sustenance found throughout the galaxy, none is better loved than pizza. Perhaps the basic composition speaks universally to all species, the way its elliptical shape imitates the pressure gravity exerts on heavenly bodies, or how... Continue Reading →
Thank You, Ralph Keyes
If you manage to find your name on my blog, Mr. Keyes, I would like you to know how much your book, The Writer's Book of Hope, means to me. I often joke about the Writer's Disease and its ailments, yet there are some serious psychological effects to being a struggling writer. You really hit... Continue Reading →
FLASH FICTION: The Protagonist
One textbook from my USF days was the 1992 edition of Flash Fiction, featuring 72 short stories under 1000 words. Although I didn't give it much thought at the time, since I was only interested in writing novels, I have since found really short stories ideal for the attention-deficit, information-saturated internet age. And so let me introduce... Continue Reading →
Dean Ristich & The Writer’s Market 1991
I went to my parent's house last week to interview my father for his biography, and I ended up rummaging through the attic again to find a real treasure, the Writer's Market 1991. It was from my first real stab at publication. I sent four query letters for my first novella, Dynotus Adventures, the story of... Continue Reading →
Telling My Father’s Story
Arthur Alimonos in NYC, 1952One day my father called me at work to tell me about Bill Clinton's new autobiography. "He made 10 million dollars!" he told me. "You see, that's what people want to read, true stories!" For decades, my father has harped on me about how people don't want "fake" stories. In his... Continue Reading →
Contests and "The Ballad of Titian and Midiana"
The first story I wrote for Mrs. Ciresi's Creative Writing class at USF was called The Post Office. When I was done reading it, many of my classmates urged me to submit it to a contest, and stupid me thought that would be a waste of time. Now, ten years later, I deeply regret that... Continue Reading →
Rejection Roller Coaster
You know, it's strange, because getting these is a lot like a roller coaster, in a bad way, because I am not too fond of sudden ups and downs. It's remarkable to think with how little ceremony it sits there, with all the other garbage from your mailbox, a plain white envelope on the kitchen counter... Continue Reading →
The Art of Storytelling 
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