Kirjahaku

This special collection features 50 of Don Tassone's best short stories. The author has dedicated this book to his granddaughter Alice, who has Down syndrome. He is giving the proceeds to the National Down Syndrome Society.

In Small Bites, Don Tassone offers readers bits of contemporary life, mostly gentle, mostly optimistic, often instructive. Stories range from flash-fiction size half-pagers to twenty-page studies of how relationships develop, how decisions are made and unmade, how persuasion and collaboration work.The collection is divided into fourteen tiny Appetizers, twelve substantial Entrees, and fourteen small but intense Desserts. Appetizers like "Friends" and "Run" are quick and easy to consume; they're secular parables, meant to produce a small, "got it " sense of surprise as readers fill in what's implied but not directly stated. Entrees range more widely, sometimes questioning current forms of connectivity, sometimes underscoring a sense that humans need to trust and to engage with one another. "The Discord in Our Souls," for example, leaves readers puzzling over which of several bad options is least bad. "Beauty Mark" traces a model's reaction to the accident which defaces her. "Everything Is Real" includes a ghost. Most stories in the final set, the Desserts, focus on beginnings and endings--on little acts of courage, sweet though painful memories, manageable ironies.In Small Bites, Don Tassone combines insights gained during a successful thirty-year career in corporate public relations with those which come from growing up in a middle class American family, becoming a parent, watching people grow. He's the author of the novel, Drive, and another collection of stories titled Get Back. He currently teaches courses at Xavier University, writes, and enjoys cooking up stories like these.

Conventional wisdom holds that story collections should have a theme. In this way, this book is unconventional. The fifty stories in this collection are wide-ranging. Some are serious, others light. Most are gentle, but a few are disquieting. There are fantasy, spirituality and politics here. Many of these stories are slices of life. Most are short. All are an invitation to think more deeply. "If there were ever any doubts as to whether Don Tassone could make a successful transition from corporate executive to a creative storyteller, he's put them to rest. In Sampler, Tassone glides effortlessly between humor and melancholy, politics and romance, sharing his wisdom through the vessel of the narrative. Contemporary anecdotes like 'A Little More Conversation' contrast with timeless ones like 'Barefoot, ' yet all 50 short stories in this collection share a common bond: they stimulate the mind."- Dominic Vaiana, writer, marketer After a long career in the corporate world, Don Tassone has returned to his creative writing roots, living his passion for the written word which first led him to earn a degree in English. Sampler is his fourth book. The others are Drive, a novel, and two other short story collections, Get Back and Small Bites. Don also teaches at Xavier University in Cincinnati. He and his wife Liz live in Loveland, Ohio. They have four children.

The 20 stories featured in this collection are based on abiding themes but with new twists, stories that explore old ideas in today's world. What does tolerance look like, for example, at a time of such great divisiveness? Fifteen of these stories are longer. Five are very short. All are an invitation to think anew. Don Tassone's thoughtful new collection of wide-ranging stories delves into the connections made throughout our lives-from the perils of teenage angst to the precariousness of life at the top of the corporate world. Communications play a huge part-by iPhone, executive phone, in heartfelt handwritten letters, and even when the characters find themselves off the grid. Tassone knows whereof he speaks, and the "New Twists" ring true - Mary Ann Presman, author of The Good Dishes With authority and compassion, Don Tassone brings his characters to life on the page and makes us care about them-whether a teenage Mexican immigrant who resents his hard-working father or a hardboiled executive prepared to fire her mentor. You find yourself pulling for these characters as they reach small epiphanies or suffer shattering disappointments and loss. - John Young, author of When the Coin is in the Air After a long career in the corporate world, Don Tassone has returned to his creative writing roots. New Twists is his fifth book. The others are Drive, a novel, and three other short story collections: Sampler, Small Bites and Get Back. Don and his wife Liz live in Loveland, Ohio. They have four children.

It is 2055, and there's a new pope. It's Jessica Simon, an American, a wife and a mother. She's taken the name Francesca. A lifelong advocate for the poor, she believes the Catholic Church must return to Jesus' teachings and bring God to life in the world. But powerful forces are aligned against her. They see Francesca as a threat. Some will stop at nothing to stop her. Will Pope Francesca survive? Will she succeed in reforming the Church? In an hour of darkness, can she rekindle the light?A woman from Missouri ends up on the balcony of St. Peter's in Rome in 2055, having just taken the name Pope Francesca. Like "the visitable past" Henry James speaks of, Tassone's future is visitable. The reader can go there, to that balcony, that life; and though impossible now, it seems a possible future when imagination and reason together see what the mind alone cannot see now. I enjoyed suspending disbelief and getting to know Pope Francesca. She has a lot to offer that speaks to the needs of our world today, a lot that makes a woman Pope not so far-fetched as it may seem now. What can be imagined is often not far from what can happen.- Murray Bodo OFM, author of Francis: The Journey and the DreamFrancesca reminds the reader of an untapped potential of emerging faith and growth within the Roman Catholic Church. Women To some readers that may be alarming. To them Francesca invites the question, "What is there to fear?" To others who believe Jesus still speaks to his followers today to come follow him, perhaps in renewed and vigorous ways, Francesca challenges, "How will you believe? How will you share the Good News in the 21st century?" To both groups of the faithful Francesca reminds, "Nothing is impossible with God."- Patti Normile, author of Following Francis of Assisi

This collection features 75 diverse short stories arranged by five themes: hope, fantasy, nostalgia, shadow and light. Like snapshots, these stories capture moments and reveal truths we might otherwise miss.Ease through this treasure chest of deeply moving, satisfying and complex stories cap-turing snapshots in time with the precise amount of words. Imagine being a ghost glid-ing in and out of many lives, gathering up precious reminders of the human struggle and comforted by the messages received. Then, without warning ... FLASH The warm blanket is stripped away by sobering stories daring us to seek a deeper perspec-tive. Tassone's wonderful way with words has proven that yes, big things do come in small packages.- Libby Belle, author of The Juicy Parts: And Other Quirky StoriesDon's beautiful stories journey through the range of human emotions. Trauma. Sad-ness. Regret. Turning to redemption. Renewal. And hope. In these short vignettes, we can begin to reflect on our own lives while there's still time to emerge anew. - Jeffrey Kass, award-winning author of The Rona Diaries. One World. Two Pandem-ics and Oreos and a Pack of Marlboro LightsAfter a long career in the corporate world, Don Tassone has returned to his creative writing roots. Snapshots is his sixth book. The others are novels Francesca and Drive, and three other short story collections: Sampler, Small Bites and Get Back. Don and his wife Liz live in Loveland, Ohio. They have four children.

Journeys Within features an eclectic mix of 30 new short stories. Unexpected events prompt the characters in many of these stories to take a fresh look at their lives and their choices. What they discover sets them on a new path. A violin virtuoso whose life has been saved by music is called to share his gift with those caught in a civil war. A chance meeting of a retired woman and a young man, both feeling lost, leads them to re-examine their purpose. Nearly killed in a plane crash, a lifelong bully finds himself at the mercy of others. Some of these stories touch on current issues and events. All are stories for our time. BIOAfter a long career in the corporate world, Don Tassone has returned to his creative writing roots. He is the author of two novels and eight short story collections. Don and his wife Liz live in Loveland, Ohio. They have four children.