PART SEVEN IN THE HISTORICAL FICTION SERIES: VARSALONA Marisa received another call on her telefonino and told us that the Mayor needed us to come back to the Comune right away, but she needed to go in the opposite direction for another matter. …

PART EIGHT IN THE HISTORICAL FICTION SERIES: VARSALONA After our three-course lunch and digestive at the bar, Marisa received another call and informed us that we needed to go to the church, Chiesa Madre, immediately to meet the priest. We gathered our belongings and started the trek up to the…

PART SIX IN THE HISTORICAL FICTION SERIES: VARSALONA — I assumed we’d be grabbing a quick bite and then heading straight over to meet with the priest. Instead, a huge round of antipasti appeared with arancini, salami, prosciutto and cheeses.

PART FIVE IN THE HISTORICAL FICTION SERIES: VARSALONA — Marisa and I walked down the hill until we reached Piazza Pepi. What I would soon come to know as the Societá Operaia Castronovo (or, as I call it, the Social Club) is located in Piazza Pepi. The town’s senior men congregate at the Social Club, often sitting on chairs…

PART FOUR IN THE HISTORICAL FICTION SERIES: VARSALONA — My time in Castronovo di Sicilia was not all ceremonies and birthday parties. After all, I was there to search for information on the bandit’s family. On my first full day, I showed up again at the Comune and the Mayor introduced me to the new Vice-Mayor, a hometown girl…

PART THREE IN THE HISTORICAL FICTION SERIES: VARSALONA Once the word got out amongst the peasants that their Ciccu Paulu was living in the forest, he had no shortage of helpers offering him shelter, food, or money. As the help and the money poured in, Varsalona felt it was his…

Grieving and Golden Slumbers With the ocean’s roar and the faint melody of “Golden Slumbers” in the air, I realized it was over. My mother was gone. I was six when I found out that my father — the man who I thought was my father — was not my…

How to Break into Fashion Law (Or Any Career That Seems Out of Reach) FASHION LAW Fashion law has only recently become a phrase that lawyers can say with a straight face (and many still can’t). Fashion law overlaps retail law, but it also focuses on protecting the creative and…

“The air is wine. The grapes on a score of rolling hills are red with autumn flame. Across Sonoma Mountain, wisps of sea fog are stealing. The afternoon sun smolders in the drowsy sky. I have everything to make me glad I am alive.” — Jack London In California, Chardonnay…