Stained Glass

Bernie's book is now available at Lulu.

You can see it by clicking on that "Books by Sand Pilarski" link on the right. We decided to share my "storefront." That saved him a lot of time and aggravation; time is something he doesn't have a lot of in the first place, and he certainly deserves a break from aggravation.

When he started the book, I hoped his writing would be good. How on earth would I be affirming and encouraging to him if he stunk? By the greatest good fortune, both Bernie and our daughter are wonderful writers. I was off the hook. The first few chapters were wonderfully readable, the main character Paul was so realistic I loathed him instantly. (I still do.) However, when Bernie announced that Part Two was going to be written from the standpoint of a woman, I had trepidations. And when further disclosure indicated that the woman was going to be a lesbian, I once again began to worry. How on earth could a man write about a woman realistically?

I've seen male authors try to model female characters with often idiotic or pathetic results -- even famous male authors, I might add. Indeed, becoming fed up with lousy portrayals of women in literature was the primary reason I stopped reading anything but female authors for a long time.

Once again, Bernie came through with flying colors. Not only was the main character Margaret feminine enough to suit me, but the appearance of Mei-ling Weaver was like a comet of characterization and she pretty much stole the show. And well she should, and Part Two was wonderful.

Bernie and I both got rather panicky when Part Three shot into a third-person point of view, however. The idea was that of balancing things out, of explaining, of looking at the broader picture. It could have been shittola, but instead, it seemed to cut loose some restraint in Bern's writing and he simply soared. There's a point in Part Three at which I break down in tears and blubber every time I think about it, let alone read it.

Ah, he's good.

Now that Stained Glass is done, maybe he'll turn once again to the Fr. LeCoeur stories for the Press, or pick back up on Mr. Cutter's Problem, which looks to be another phenomenal story.