The Delivery of a Lifetime: free short fiction

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The short story below is based on the actual Mattioli Brother’s Bakery that was established by my paternal grandfather and his brothers circa 1920. Although I never met my grandfather, I heard stories of him from my father. This story is

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The Security Guard: artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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The picture above comes from the actual sketchbook that inspired me to write my novel, The Bird That Sang in Color. In fact, all of the drawings I’ve been featuring in this latest blog series come from this same sketchbook. This drawing

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The Guitar Player: artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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Although Vincent played a variety of instruments, his favorite was the guitar. When Donna sees this picture, she thinks of all the times he played the guitar for her and remembers him saying his favorite phrase, “I’ve been

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The Priest: the artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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The drawing of Vincent during his short time in a seminary shows him looking out like he’d rather be anywhere else. As in all his pictures, Donna is amazed at how he was able to convey such feeling and emotion with a few strokes of a

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The Dulcimer Player: the artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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In chapter two of The Bird that Sang in Color, Donna sees Vincent playing a dulcimer in his room while listening to one of his favorite bands, The Incredible String Band. Several years later, she sees the above picture in the sketchbook of his

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The Baker: artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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In the third chapter of The Bird that Sang in Color, Donna challenges Vincent’s decision to accept a baking job, saying that he could do so much more. About a week later, she tastes homemade bread that he baked and marvels and “how

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The Protester: artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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One of the pictures that Donna finds in her brother’s sketchbook is one of him in his protesting days. As someone who has participated in many anti-war protests, I am deeply moved by this drawing. War, I believe, is the single must

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The Astronomer: artwork from the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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This is the third picture Donna sees in Vincent’s book of sketches. She remembers a time after Vincent began working at the bakery in town when he bought a telescope and invited her over to look through it while he guided her star gazing.

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The Mandolin Player: artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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The second picture Donna finds in Vincent’s sketchbook is one of him as a child playing the mandolin. She observes that his stance with one foot in front of the other somehow reveals his unassuming, humble nature, and marvels at how he was

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The Boy: artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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This is the first picture in the sketchbook that Donna discovers in The Bird that Sang in Color. Music is already a part of the picture as it shows a bunch of albums beside Vincent, but it also reveals another type of music–the music of

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