FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
It Is the Best Book You Are Not Reading This Summer – ‘Michael’s Secrets’ by Milton Stern
July 13, 2009 – Although the reviews are excellent, sales are tanking for Milton Stern’s latest book, ‘Michael’s Secrets.’ Blame it on the economy? Blame it on homophobia? Blame it on timing? Blame it on people not wanting to look in the mirror? For whatever reason, Michael’s Secrets is the best book you are not reading this summer.
Riding on the heels of the hilarious, yet disturbing, ‘On Tuesdays, They Played Mah Jongg,’ STARbooks Press releases ‘Michael’s Secrets’ by Milton Stern, bringing back those menopausal, Jewish women who proved popular with book clubs from New Jersey to Texas to Las Vegas and were featured as part of the ‘Vagina Monologues.’
Set twenty years later, Rona Sapperstein and Doreen Weiner, the surviving players from Hanna Bern’s Tuesday night Mah Jongg game are now living together, while Hanna’s son, Michael Bern, the highly successful television comedy writer, begins three new chapters in his life.
Here is what the critics are saying:
“’Michael's Secrets’ is a wonderful book of self-discovery, taking us along with Michael on his journey to understanding himself, and the choices (usually bad ones) that he makes, particularly in his love life. We see more of the fabulous women from Stern's first book, as Stern whips back the covers and exposes the flaws and secrets kept hidden from Michael and us until now.” – Kiernan Kelly
“’Michael's Secrets’ by Milton Stern is a beautifully written story with well-drawn, vivid characters. The protagonist, Michael Bern, is a delightfully sympathetic character. … I enjoyed journeying with him into his world of romantic heartaches and self-discovery, always facing whatever darkness his life presented with humor and the desire to retain his personal integrity and goodness no matter how much he's been mistreated.” – Sedonia Guillone
“What Michael experiences in ‘Michael’s Secrets,’ on top of all that has been mentioned thusly, very much parallels the life of any gay man anywhere in the world. Add to this the fact that Michael learns many things about himself that totally alter his perspective on his life and circumstances, and what you get in the end is the tale of a successfully stable gay man who encounters other gay men who appear less than stable or dare I say ‘sound’ and the question many gay men ask themselves all the time: ‘Why the hell to I put up with this s**t?’” – D.M. Israel
“Do not be mistaken--this is not a depressing book at all. It is full of laughs as author Milton Stern uses humor to see how our youth affects the way we behave today. This book is set twenty years after its predecessor as Michael begins a new period in his life. He finally begins to understand why he is attracted to some men and not to others. Much of the book will hit home, and Michael shares a lot with many of us.” – A.L.
FROM THE BACK COVER:
The Girls from ON TUESDAYS, THEY PLAYED MAH JONGG are back in MICHAEL’S SECRETS by MILTON STERN.
Just when things are looking up for Hollywood television and screen writer, Michael Bern, his TV show is cancelled, his best friend dies face first into her birthday cake, and his dog decides to take an eternal nap in her favorite chair. To escape the unending drama of Tinsel Town, he accepts an offer to move to Washington, DC, and co-write a screenplay with his friend, Sharon. But, anyone who knows Michael knows that drama just follows him everywhere, and it is usually of his own making.
He meets and falls in love with Steve, a narcissistic “leather queen in a sash,” as his friend Mark calls him. The sex is hot, but it is followed by the emotional game of push-pull. Just when Michael extricates himself from this relationship, he finds out the darkest secret from his childhood, and emotionally raw, he allows himself to be pulled back into Steve’s world only to fall harder than ever. But, there is someone else – Sam, a nice Jewish actor, who would be perfect for Michael, yet it’s the oldest story in the book. He liked a man he never loved and loved a man he never liked.
At least Rona and Doreen, the surviving girls from his mother’s Tuesday night Mah Jongg game, are there to add much needed humor to Michael’s oh-so-dramatic life in DC. Now living together, Rona and Doreen reveal secrets from Michael’s past that explain his attraction to men who use him then discard him.
If it all sounds dreary and depressing, it isn’t because Milton Stern’s wit and style entertain us once more as he finds humor in everything, and in MICHAEL’S SECRETS, he does not fail to deliver.
MICHAEL’S SECRETS by MILTON STERN
This book is intended for all audiences.
$16.95 U.S.
245 Pages
ISBN-10: 1-934187-46-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-934187-46-3
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Milton Stern resides in Rockville, MD, with his toy parti-poodle, Serena Rose Elizabeth Montgomery, where he works as a writer and editor and volunteers for a gay antique car club and an animal rescue association. He is the author of four books, including “Harriet Lane, America’s First Lady” and “On Tuesdays, They Played Mah Jongg,” along with numerous short stories.
PRESS CONTACTS
Eric Summers
Senior Editor
STARbooks Press
202-247-1149
STARbooks Press
PO Box 711612
Herndon, VA 20171
The Girls from ‘On Tuesdays, They Played Mah Jongg’ Are Back in ‘Michael’s Secrets’ by Milton Stern
MARCH 1, 2009, WASHINGTON, DC – Riding on the heels of the hilarious, yet disturbing, “On Tuesdays, They Played Mah Jongg,” STARbooks Press releases “Michael’s Secrets” by Milton Stern, bringing back those menopausal, Jewish women who proved popular with book clubs from New Jersey to Texas to Las Vegas.
Set twenty years later, Rona Sapperstein and Doreen Weiner, the surviving players from Hanna Bern’s Tuesday night Mah Jongg game are now living together, while Michael Bern, the highly successful television comedy writer, begins three new chapters in his life.
“After finally brining my screenplay, ‘The Girls’ to life in 2006 as ‘On Tuesdays They Played Mah Jongg,’ I never considered a sequel,” Milton Stern says. “After all, it was a 19-year process to finally get it published. But, a year later, I decided to continue the story.”
Stern tells us that he actually stopped publication of the sequel because he felt that although funny, it was even darker than his usual writing. “However, this last spring, a book club in Las Vegas picked up ‘Mah Jongg,’ and I was asked by my publisher to dust off the sequel, so I spent the summer rewriting it – twice!” he continues, yet he can’t help but amuse, shock and sadden his readers at the same time. “It is how I write, and it reflects a lot of how my childhood was – funny, sad and shocking. I read ‘Mommie Dearest’ and said, ‘So what.’”
While incorporating flashbacks to continue his main character’s story, in “Michael’s Secrets,” there are no more therapy sessions. “Michael Bern finds himself in emotionally draining relationships that bring up issues from his past that many will be able to identify with,” Stern says. “And, the girls are back, especially Rona and Doreen, who are funnier than ever.”
In closing, he tells us that he thinks Michael’s actions “may hit too close to home” for some readers who have been on both sides of his two screwed up relationships. “But, they always say art imitates life … if I can be so bold to call what I do art,” Stern says with a smile.
For Immediate Release
Novel Takes Humorous Look at How We Carry Childhood Scars into Adult Relationships
DECEMBER 26, 2008, WASHINGTON, DC – In his latest novel, Milton Stern uses humor to examine how the darkest secrets of our childhood affect our adult relationships, as the girls from "On Tuesdays, They Played Mah Jongg" return in "Michael’s Secrets."
Set twenty years later, "Michael’s Secrets" brings back Rona Sapperstein and Doreen Weiner, the surviving players from Michael Bern’s mother’s Tuesday night Mah Jongg game as the highly successful television comedy writer begins a new chapter in his life. As he rediscovers a city, where he stayed every summer with his grandmother, and enters into not one, but two, new relationships, Michael begins to understand why he is attracted to certain types of men as well as the circumstances of his career path.
“I was once asked many years ago if I was ever serious,” Milton Stern says as he relaxes in his Washington, DC, apartment. “The truth is I am usually serious, it is just that I find it better if not easier to find the humor in the darkest situations, which at times confuses people.”
Readers will witness how a stable, successful, television comedy writer can experience an emotional meltdown as he is drawn into a codependent relationship with a needy narcissist. “As much as many of us would never admit it,” Milton Stern continues, “Most of us have been in a relationship with someone, whether friend, lover, or spouse, that has turned us into something we do not recognize and made us do things we regret as we succumb to the actions of the irrational sides of our personalities.” In Michael’s Secrets, the main character does just that. “For instance, how many of us have found ourselves becoming borderline stalkers?” he asks with a smile.
The author is convinced that many readers will see themselves in "Michael’s Secrets" but never admit it out loud. “I think there are points where people will cry, gasp in horror, laugh out loud and shake their heads,” Stern says. “Ironically, my intent was not to shock, just to tell a story.”
When asked why a sequel to "On Tuesdays, They Played Mah Jongg," Stern replies, “Michael Bern’s story was left unresolved as he faced the demons of one strange year in his life, but he never took a look at what led to that year, and I wanted to go back to the beginning to see what made him who he is. Michael’s Secrets actually opens with the story of his birth and the situation around it, which becomes more influential to his actions as discovers the biggest secret of all.”
He also states that he wanted to update his readers on what happened to Rona and Doreen, who are now living together and more hilarious than ever. “I have so much fun writing about Rona and Doreen, especially the way they talk to each other,” Stern says. “These characters are based on women I knew.”
