MILITARY WRITERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA REVIEW MY PILOT BY SARAJANE GIERE
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Click below for a free preview of Black Market Bones by Roberto Picado, Imzadi Publishing’s newest author. This amazing book is receiving rave reviews for a good reason.
Check out the reviews below and then buy your copy today!
AlexS – Great characters that suck you in
October 24, 2021
Descriptive pose that make for an intriguing story with well developed characters. Definitely an unusual tale though which aired on the darker side of things at times and yet I still found it to be an enjoyable read.
Ben Z. – Great Read
September 5, 2001
This has a certain aspect of the writings of Steven King, but I’m not sure if I would classify it as horror necessarily. Definitely has elements of a thriller، great read overall.
Kim M. – Solid character development
September 5, 2001
The characters, dialogues, story line, everything is awesome in this book. I really enjoyed it. Best wishes for the author.
Honora Logan – Good Book!
September 8, 2001
I highly recommend this book. Well written. Lots of twists and turns. Hope there will be a second book!
D.M. Sorlie – Excellent Read
September 8, 2001
Interesting storyline. The author did a great job writing about an Arizona that’s never talked about but should be. I won’t say too much to give it away, but the mother’s quest was incredible. It glues you to the pages. Be prepared to stay up late reading.
Botkin – Chillingly Good!
September 24, 2001
This is an unusual storyline, but so captivating! The way the author develops the characters, and the depiction of Arizona for this storyline was superb. Great read. I highly recommend!
Joshua David Cain – A great thriller!
September 9, 2001
This was a wonderful book and I enjoyed all of the details regarding Arizona. This book was full of action and adventure. I enjoyed it tremendously.
Mary Kane – Can’t wait to read more from this author!
September 5, 2001
What a Great thriller novel!! This book will seriously keep you on the edge of your seat from Page 1 to the end!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
RS – Great book, awesome adventure
September 2, 2001
I like the book, i was hard to lay it aside. The story is well written and the characters are deep and interesting. After i saw the cover, my first thought was, it might be a comic. “Sadly” it was not, cause I like the style of that cover! Nevertheless, great book!
bookworm3412 – Quite enjoyable!
September 5, 2001
This book was really fun with the solid character development, candid dialogue and vivid descriptions. Some dark and somewhat disturbing elements, which are tasteful. The unique situations combined with topical events and unexpected twists make it a real page-turner. Nice Work!
Jon. – Fun characters, fun story
September 5, 2001
This book was fun to read with well crafted characters and an enjoyable plot!
Lacee Pedro
September 5, 2001
This book is engaging and fast paced. It was very well written and I enjoyed the whole book!
Rose Anderson – Wild ride of a story with very memorable characters
October 8, 2001
This is a great, interesting, wild ride of a story with very memorable characters, but the writing is not consistently high quality. Sometimes it’s very clear and descriptive, sometimes not so much. It’s almost as if different people wrote different sections. I think a good developmental editor could help polish this into a really top-notch book.
Dan – A book that sticks with you
September 8, 2001
Black Market Bones was an unusual tale. One filled with unique characters and dark scenarios. But ultimately it really stuck with me. The writer did an excellent job of painting unique, detailed characters who jumped off the page.
Diego Gimar – I really enjoyed it!!
October 17, 2001
This is a unique story of revenge, redemption, depravity, loss, trauma and bad choices that bring a cast of characters together in the Arizona desert. One mother, one immoral conman, and a man hired to locate bones in the desert. How are these three people connected…the bones in the desert have the answers.
Jenn – Thriller
September 21, 2001
Great read!
The first book for Roberto Picado’s fledgling series, Bombastic Adventures in the Arizona Desert, Black Market Bones has just received it’s first review…and it’s 5 stars!
Lacee Pedro
5.0 out of 5 stars – Great Read
September 2, 2021
This book is engaging and fast paced. I was very well written and I enjoyed the whole book!
Along the border town of Patagonia, Arizona sightings of ghosts seeking revenge are terrifying some of the town folk. As a result, the lives of three people who come together are changed in inexplicable ways.
Marikler races to save her young son from the greed and deception of her husband, carrying the blessings and absolutions of her parish priest.
Ron Yawkey accepts a clandestine job to search for and locate skeletons in the desert and is hired by a local paleontologist; a man who previously discovered an unknown fossilized species in Mexico. A fact that must remain a secret.
James Carter is a man on the run after embezzling from a gay S&M porn production company. After arriving in Patagonia, he integrates himself within the civilian militia group that patrols the border, having declared war on any and all illegals.
Three unconnected people brought together by circumstances must face the judgments of… Black Market Bones.
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The following article written by The Progress Contributing Writer Sophia Colitti was printed in The Progress, Feb. 10, 2021. To view the original article please click here.
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Sarajane Giere’s book, “My Pilot,” is about her husband, Bernard.
WEST CALDWELL TWP. – Although Sarajane Giere lost her husband to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2013, writing about him was not filled with pain.
Amid her reflection on loss as she worked on “My Pilot: A Story of War, Love and ALS,” published in November, the West Caldwell resident blissfully regressed to her memories of the great love of her life.
“It was like falling in love again throughout the whole six years I wrote the book. It was wonderful all this time; it was a work of love,” she said.
“As I wrote, I got (the music-streaming service) Spotify and put on all the songs from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s. Most of the songs were love songs in those days, and they all remind me of him. I think of them all the time and think of him.”
Giere will discuss the book online at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12. Her talk is sponsored by West Caldwell Public Library. To register, send email to richelle.defrank@westcaldwell.bccls.org.
“My Pilot” embodies the ethereal feeling of being in love combined with hard-hitting truths about war, sickness and distance.
Giere incorporated the love letters that she exchanged with her late husband, Bernard, known as “Bernie,” who served as a pilot during the Vietnam War. He was in the Air National Guard for 15 years as air commander of the 106th Rescue Wing.
Their love story began at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The book covers their collegiate days, their initial move to Texas as a married couple in 1962 and their life together until he died of ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. There is no cure.
The turbulence of their lives during the ‘60s is highlighted, based on Bernard’s letters sent during wartime.
“I think that most of our strength-building times were when he was in harm’s way. They are the backbone of the book. I saved all of his letters from Vietnam. It was very reassuring and comforting to know our love brought us together through letters,” Giere said.
“My Pilot” has resonated with folks beyond the Giere’s acquaintance as an embodiment of the military wife’s experience. It exposes the strength of these women and the trauma they endure. Giere explicitly stated the rawness that is not covered in cinematic and textbook depictions of the Vietnam War.
She credits “My Pilot” for her rekindled connection to the military wives with whom she shared unfathomable grievances. She recounted one time where she witnessed another woman receive a knock on the front door.
“I was like a fly on the wall because the men notifying her of her husband’s death were at the front door and I was behind. I watched what happened. My mind had said, ‘Never forget this moment, look in the window and see this wonderful woman. See what she was going through’ as I was comforting kids who didn’t know their father was gone.”
Well-Traveled
The Gieres lived in six states as they pursued their careers. While Bernard was flying planes, Sarajane taught elementary reading, art and English for 23 years.
Years later, when Bernard was diagnosed with ALS in 2012 at age 73, Sarajane’s one wish was to make him happy.
She shared her memories of their final year together, which included taking Bernard to fly a biplane despite his physical setbacks.
During that year, Sarajane asked Bernard questions about his life as he was mentally slipping. He willingly shared details that she would later channel into her writing.
After his death, she joined The Write Group in Montclair, where she found her motivation to work on the book.
“I was with people who love writing and we encouraged each other to get better. I would get good reactions after reading the letters from Vietnam, which helped me continue. I always liked memoirs, seeing how people overcome adversity in their lives.”
Giere said she wears a necklace of an airplane on a chain with a diamond chip because her husband was a gem.
“Even in the letters we wrote to one another before we were married, I saw the humor, pathos and bravery of the man. I thought to myself, ‘I want my grandchildren to know this wonderful man; I want him to live on.’
“I wanted my seven grandchildren and one great-granddaughter to know how amazing he truly was. It’s a matter of passing things down, and the best way to do it is in writing.”
Giere recommends that everyone follow suit.
“I would say, because I love re-reading old letters, keep a diary and write in a journal. Write your feelings, write about what’s happening, the way you feel about the world, your inner self and expose yourself to other writers.”
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“An affecting recollection of a memorable marriage.”
MY PILOT
A STORY OF WAR, LOVE, AND ALS
BY SARAJANE GIERE
RELEASE DATE: NOV. 9, 2020
A woman recalls her life—never dull and sometimes terrifying—as an Air Force wife in this memoir.
When Giere married Bernie, the uncertainty of their lives presented itself as a source of adventure rather than anxiety: “We were so much in love that we never questioned what the future would bring.” But Bernie, an Air Force pilot, was eventually sent to Vietnam with the 557th Squadron, a separation that weighed heavily on the author, only 25 years old at the time. She was responsible for tending to their young daughter and preparing for the arrival of another child. Giere did her best to manage her fears—she played bridge, joined a Bible study group, prayed—but nevertheless remained scared her husband, like so many other pilots, would not return. The author movingly depicts her predicament, which became intensely real to her when she learned another Air Force wife lost her husband in Vietnam: “After that the vulnerability of a pilot’s life became a reality that helped define my role in this new war experience. My friends from the past, who carried on their civilian lives as if there were no Vietnam, seemed disconnected, foreign.” Giere poignantly chronicles her eventful marriage, including the years following Bernie’s deployment to Vietnam and his struggle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Still, her husband’s stretch of time overseas forms the dramatic backbone of the memoir. The author charmingly strikes an informal register, an anecdotal casualness that forges an even greater intimacy with readers in this admirably candid remembrance. And while of course she did not serve in Vietnam herself, she relates Bernie’s experiences, through conversations and letters, so vividly that readers receive a captivating peek into a soldier’s life there. This is an endearing reminiscence, a kind of love letter from the author to her husband, both sweet and wise. An affecting recollection of a memorable marriage.
Join Aerospace Live and author Sarajane Giere as they sit down for a one on one conversation where Sarajane offers a uniquely intimate glimpse into the life of a military wife and talks about her life with fighter pilot husband, Bernie, a Vietnam Veteran who flew 214 combat missions in the Vietnam War and served 25 years in the Air National Guard’s world-class 106th Rescue Wing.
If you would like to check out this interview on Apple, here is the podcast link:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aerospace-live/id1541790633
Thank you to 1st Lt Robert J. Roberts at Aerospace Education Live for providing us with a link to this interview.
Click here for more wonderful videos and interviews from Aerospace Education Live!
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STRAP IN – WAR FROM A CHOPPER PILOT’S POINT OF VIEW – In 1971, I was a college kid trying to pick a major so I could graduate. Marc Cullison was first lieutenant flying helicopters over the dense and dangerous jungles of Vietnam. “The Other Vietnam” brings to the reader the smells, sounds and dangers of that life-changing experience. It’s the details that matter: the MPCs, the hooch girls, rats in bed, the missions and the dangers of war. This is a well-told story of coming of age in the worst possible place to do it.
ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOBOOK!!
A GREAT RETROSPECTION OF RETURNING TO VIETNAM FORTY YEARS AFTER – I highly recommend Marc Cullison’s “Vietnam Again.” It was a great read. It’s the story of a group of Vietnam Veterans who return to Vietnam for a two-week rediscovery trip. Their expectations were mixed about returning to such a dark foreboding time in their lives. It proved to be much more than a trip to a place they once knew, Cullison’s recollections and conclusions are thoughtful, compelling, and an example of a group of men coming to terms with their time as soldiers in this tiny sliver of a country that had such a profound impression on their lives. As I said before, “Vietnam Again,” was a great read!
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LOVE THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT – Why? Because the character development in this book was amazing, I loved the main characters. not only that but the writing was amazing. i have never been to many of the places listed in the book but the way Ron was explaining it, painted a clear picture in my mind.
