Milton Stern
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.
