Updated website and more on what inspired Rivo

Where did the idea of Rivo come from?

Rivo is based on the heroes I grew up adoring. Heroes like Luke Skywalker (pre-Disney), Wesley (The Princess Bride), Link (Zelda), and Atreyu (Neverending Story), among many others.

You could say Rivo was first born many years ago when I was a boy growing up in upstate New York. My friends and I would often venture out into the woods and gather up some sticks that would serve as suitable weapons as we battled the forces of evil, our imaginations running unabated. We would often act out different scenes from movies and games to make them our own in a sense.

I remember how much we loved those heroes—heroes were not the gritty, morally gray sort seen in today’s fiction, but rather heroes who were noble, virtuous and uncorrupted by the world.

I also remember how we used to promise to each other that we would never change, we would always stay friends, brothers in arms forever! We were all gonna grow up to be the fearless and noble heroes we used to watch on tv and play as in those games.

Of course we all made the mistake of growing up and forgetting about our promises over time. We all turned our back on each other and the promises we made. But maybe a promise is still a promise, noble as it was naïve, even if it was made by a group of 8yr old boys over peanut butter sandwiches and Sunny Delight.

I can’t live up to my end of the promise as I would have liked to have (none of us did, of course), but I can give the world Rivo. Rivo is the hero we all promised to become. And his story is a tribute to that promise as well as to the heroes who’s tales inspired it. Tales that drove a group of young boys out to the woods, hills, and streams of upstate New York. Hearts ablaze with eyes full of adventure.

A Final Note

I’m still waiting to hear final word from my editor. I’m really hoping I will hear back by the end of next week. He sent me a message on 7/31 that he had just started working on it. Right now, it’s looking like October/November release.