Archives for category: 2018

Forthcoming in 2019 One Story Sold, New SF Novel CHROME Published in September 2019 Lisa Mason #SFWApro #SFWAauthor #speculativefiction #fantasyandsciencefiction #published books #publishedstories

January 5, 2019 //

Happy New Year! My best wishes to you and yours for 2019!

Here’s my review of 2018. It was a dicey year for me, with some bright spots. I’ll start with the Attack. Those of you who follow me on Facebook and Twitter—and I posted a blog on WordPress, but took it down for legal reasons—know that in July, 2018 I was violently attacked on a sunny summer afternoon while I was walking around beautiful Lake Merritt in Oakland, California.
A man literally sprang out of the flowering bushes and confronted me on the sidewalk. He tried to beat me up, drawing his fist back to punch me in the face. I fended him off, then he shoved me down a pedestrian walkway into two lanes of oncoming traffic. I shuffled my feet to avoid plunging into the traffic and fell on my right hip on the concrete street curb. The Oakland police apprehended and arrested him. I took an ambulance ride to the hospital, was x-rayed and informed that I had a fractured right hip and broken right femur. Early in the morning the next day, I underwent three hours’ of surgery under general anesthetic.
It’s been a long, brutal six months since then, but as of January 1, 2019, I am walking without a walker or a cane. I’m not as mobile as I used to be. I’m working on that, doing physical therapy every day. I’ve gone grocery shopping with my husband three times, going into the market without a cane (but leaning on a shopping cart). I still have pain, especially in my knee, but I’m walKING! Thrilled about that. And I’m about a third of the way through a nonfiction book inspired by the ordeal and some issues that cropped up as a result. I hope to be done with the piece in 2020. It’s called Sticks and Stones Will Break My Bones.

Now for the good news:
“Aurelia” was published in the January-February 2018 issue of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Here’s one review: https://alexclarkmcg.wordpress.com/page/4/
Jan 23rd, 2018, Aurelia by Lisa Mason, Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, Jan/Feb 2018
“Another fantastic piece in what is shaping up to be a fantastic issue of F&SF. While the last piece I read out of this issue, The Equationist by J.D. Moyer, was my favorite story out of the issue at the time, it will have to share the podium with this gem as well–though I like them for very different reasons.
Aurelia is the story of a debaucherous lawyer who is presented with the woman of his dreams. She lives in a manner overlooking the San Francisco Bay, and but a nefarious person is trying to buy her property. She hires the protagonist, Robert, to be her lawyer, but quickly seduces him–though as he is looking for a wife to make himself look more respectable than he already is–the seduction is mutual. They are married within a month, and their sex is like nothing Robert has experienced.
However, Robert still hungers for sexual relations with nearly every woman he comes into contact with. He cheats on his wife with his psychologist, with the intern, with the lowly tax attorney when he is away on a work trip.
And that isn’t all that’s wrong either. Aurelia, Robert’s wife, has an art studio above the garage. He has only been inside once, and only with her permission. It holds a sense of decay and has burlap twine crisscrossing it so that you have to duck and weave around it. Everything about this studio is wrong, in comparison to everything about the manor next door. It is decadent and majestic, while the studio is decaying and dark.
That’s a pretty good set up. Obviously, Aurelia isn’t what she seems, and there are lots of hints along the way for readers to figure out what will happen before it does.
It is a gothic tale, but also rather fairy tale-esk in the telling. A thoroughly enjoyable experience from a writer I’ll certainly look for in the future.” (A)

“Dangerous” was published January 2018 in Welcome to Dystopia, an anthology of forty-five short stories edited by award-winning Gordon Van Gelder and published by O/R books. Paul Di Filippo’s review at Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/future-is-nearly-now-science-fiction-2018 mentioned the story and ten others as his favorites and called my story “droll.” Two more reviews called my story “hilarious”, see ANALOG at http://www.analogsf.com/current-issue/the-reference-library/ and the SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW at https://sanfranciscobookreview.com/product/welcome-to-dystopia-45-visions-of-what-lies-ahead/.

Finally, “The Bicycle Whisperer” was published in the May-June 2018 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Here’s one review http://sfbookreview.blogspot.com/2018/05/mayjune-2018-fantasy-and-science-fiction.html “Simon’s bicycle runs away. He hires the Lone Rangerette to find her, which she does. LR finds Shimano Stella, calms her down and asks her whether she has run away to get away or to get attention. A lot of story packed into five pages.”

Then seven of my books are BACK IN PRINT. See the list below for the links. The new print books include Summer of Love, The Gilded Age, The Garden of Abracadabra, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, Arachne, and Cyberweb. Click on the links for the covers and reviews.

Forthcoming in 2019 is a story “Taiga” in the April 2019 digest of Not One of Us, edited by John Benson. And the REALLY BIG NEWS is that my new high-concept SF novel, CHROME, will be available for pre-order on May 21, 2019 and go on sale on September 24, 2019!

So there you have it, my friends. More stories and novels are on the way!

From the author of Summer of Love (a Philip K. Dick Award Finalist and San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book). On BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo. On Kindle worldwide in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. BACK IN PRINT! Find the beautiful trade paperback at https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Love-Travel-Lisa-Mason/dp/1548106119/ or IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/summer-of-love-a-time-travel-lisa-mason/1104160569.

The Gilded Age (a New York Times Notable Book and New York Public Library Recommended Book). On BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. On Kindle worldwide in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. BACK IN PRINT! Find the beautiful trade paperback at https://www.amazon.com/Gilded-Age-Time-Travel/dp/1975853172/ or IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gilded-age-a-time-travel-lisa-mason/1106038566.

The Garden of Abracadabra (“Fun and enjoyable urban fantasy . . . I want to read more!) On BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. On Kindle worldwide in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. NOW IN PRINT! Find the beautiful trade paperback at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1978148291/ or IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-garden-of-abracadabra-lisa-mason/1108093507

Arachne (a Locus Hardover Bestseller) is an ebook on US Kindle, UK Kindle, Canada Kindle, Australia Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. On Kindle worldwide in France Kindle, Germany Kindle, Italy Kindle, Netherlands Kindle, Spain Kindle, Mexico Kindle, Brazil Kindle, India Kindle, and Japan Kindle. Back in Print! Find the beautiful trade paperback at https://www.amazon.com/dp/198435602X or IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/arachne-lisa-mason/1000035633.

Cyberweb (sequel to Arachne) is on US Kindle, BarnesandNoble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also Kindle worldwide on UK Kindle, Canada Kindle, Australia Kindle, Brazil Kindle, France Kindle, Germany Kindle, India Kindle, Italy Kindle, Japan Kindle, Mexico Kindle, Netherlands Kindle, and Spain Kindle. Back in Print at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1984356941 or IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cyberweb-lisa-mason/1001932064

Strange Ladies: 7 Stories (“A must-read collection—The San Francisco Review of Books). On Nook, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo. On Kindle world wide in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. NOW IN PRINT at https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Ladies-Stories-Lisa-Mason/dp/1981104380/ or IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strange-ladies-lisa-mason/1115861322.

One Day in the Life of Alexa (“Five stars! An appealing narrator and subtly powerful emotional rhythms”). On BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo. On Kindle worldwide in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. Order the beautiful trade paperback NOW IN PRINT at https://www.amazon.com/One-Life-Alexa-Lisa-Mason/dp/1546783091 or IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-day-in-the-life-of-alexa-lisa-mason/1126431598.

Celestial Girl, The Omnibus Edition, A Lily Modjeska Mystery (Five stars) On Nook, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo. On Kindle worldwide in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. SOON IN PRINT!

Shaken (in Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine) on BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also on Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands.

Hummers (in Fifth Annual Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror) On BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also on Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, and India.

Daughter of the Tao (in Peter S. Beagle’s Immortal Unicorn) on US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, BarnesandNoble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also on Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands.

Every Mystery Unexplained (in David Copperfield’s Tales of the Impossible) on BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also on Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, and India.

Tomorrow’s Child (In Active Development at Universal Pictures) on BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also on Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands.

The Sixty-third Anniversary of Hysteria (in Full Spectrum 5) on BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also on Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, and India.

U F uh-O (Five Stars!) on BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also on Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, and India.

Tesla, A Screenplay on US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, BarnesandNoble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also on Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, and India.

My Charlotte: Patty’s Story on Barnes and Noble, US Kindle, UK Kindle, Canada Kindle, Australia Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo. On Kindle in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands, and Mexico.

“Illyria, My Love” is on US Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also on UK Kindle, Canada Kindle, Australia Kindle, Germany Kindle, France Kindle, Spain Kindle, Italy Kindle, Netherlands Kindle, Japan Kindle, Brazil Kindle, Mexico Kindle, and India Kindle.

Please visit me at Lisa Mason’s Official Website for all my books, ebooks, stories, and screenplays, reviews, interviews, and blogs, adorable cat pictures, forthcoming works, fine art and bespoke jewelry by my husband Tom Robinson, worldwide links, and more!

And on Lisa Mason’s Blog, on my Facebook Author Page, on my Facebook Profile Page, on Amazon, on Goodreads, on LinkedIn, on Twitter at @lisaSmason, at Smashwords, at Apple, at Kobo, and at Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

If you would like to receive Lisa Mason’s quarterly newsletter, New Book News, please respond by email to lisasmason@aol.com, enter “Add Me” on the subject line, and it shall be done. You may unsubscribe at any time.

If you enjoy a title, please “Like” it, add five stars, WRITE A REVIEW on the site where you bought it, Tweet it, blog it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

Your participation really matters.
Thank you for your readership!

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Interview Re: “The Bicycle Whisperer” My Story in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction @fandsf May-June 2018 Issue Lisa Mason #SFWApro #SFWAauthor #speculativefiction #YAstory #bicycles #publishedstory #magazinestory #TheMagazineofFantasyandScienceFiction

January 1, 2019 //

And wrapping things up for 2018, here’s my interview with Stephen Mazur for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction regarding “The Bicycle Whisperer” in the May-June 2018 issue. You can also find the interview online at http://www.lisamason.com/bicycleinterview.html and at https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/2018/06/15/interview-lisa-mason-on-the-bicycle-whisperer/.

Attention SFWA members: Please consider the piece for the Nebula Award in the short story category. You should be able to find a digital edition on the SFWA website.

Tell us a bit about “The Bicycle Whisperer.”
The title references the 1995 novel, The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans and the story’s plot evokes some of the novel’s essentials. A girl and her beloved horse are severely injured in an accident. The injuries aren’t just physical, but also emotional. In a desperate attempt to heal girl and horse, the girl’s mother takes her on an arduous cross-country trip in search of a man with an uncanny sympathy with horses, especially damaged horses. A horse whisperer. He helps heal both the girl and the horse and reconciles horse with rider.
Readers and reviewers have responded emotionally to “The Bicycle Whisperer”, some disturbed by the end, some finding the story sad, some believing the forgiveness. I’m just glad people are responding emotionally. Emotions are what fiction is all about, even speculative fiction.

What was the inspiration for this story, or what prompted you to write it?
I was pushing a shopping cart out of the grocery store when I noticed a teenager wandering around the parking lot. He was hitting up shoppers for money. They ignored or shunned him. He had that confused, despondent look of someone who had just been kicked out of the house or fled from there, for his own reasons.
I put my groceries in the car and rummaged around in the glove compartment. I almost never carry cash these days! I found only a crumpled dollar, approached him, and offered it. I said, “Promise me you won’t spend this on drugs.” He gratefully took the dollar and said, “I promise.” I said, “Are you going to be okay?” He gave me a sunny smile and said, “Sure.” And it was like looking down into his soul.
When I drove away, imagining what his life was like, the Lone Rangerette stepped out of the shadows and said, “Forget about him, you are going to write about me!” “The Bicycle Whisperer” is as much her story as Shimano Stella’s and Simon’s. With luck and work, the Lone Rangerette, her sentient bicycle Scout Regalia, and her mobile AI Tekto may have their own YA novel in a year or so.

Was “The Bicycle Whisperer” personal to you in any way? If so, how?
I’m fascinated by people’s propensity to anthropomorphize everything. From the love we lavish on our pets (I’m a crazy cat lover myself) to attachments people form to inanimate objects. I had a college friend who was inordinately attached to his beat-up Chevy. He’d gone through several unhappy romantic relationships, but his car—he called her “Clementine”—stayed with him through thick and thin. Just the other day, a reader posted on my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/lisa.mason.7393264), saying how much he appreciated the story and that he seriously loved his bicycle from 1974 when he was in college in Austin, Texas. And he referred to his bicycle as “she.”
I’ve enjoyed the sentient car stories recently published in F&SF so I was inspired to write about a sentient bicycle and her troubles. It’s not so far of a stretch to imagine how emotionally attached people could become to AI. Would AI have emotions, too? By definition not, but it’s fun to imagine that they would.

What are you working on now?
More stories, always! The YA mentioned above, set in a gritty near-future. A high-concept SF novel. And an urban fantasy. I’m even revisiting a concept I filed in the to-do box, involving a woman detective in 1960s San Francisco. The latter is not fantasy or science fiction, but I enjoy mysteries and should probably write at least one.

Anything else you’d like to add?
As always, people can visit me at http://www.lisamason.com for my newly reissued trade paperback books, ebooks, interviews, blogs, adorable cat pictures, and my husband Tom Robinson’s bespoke art, mobiles, and jewelry. My latest novella, published in trade paperback and as an ebook, is One Day in the Life of Alexa, and has been well received with five-star reviews.

If you enjoy a title, please “Like” it, add five stars, WRITE A REVIEW on the site where you bought it, Tweet it, blog it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

Your participation really matters.
Thank you for your readership!

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Interview Re: “Aurelia” My Story in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction @fandsf January-February, 2018 Issue Lisa Mason #SFWApro #SFWAauthor #darkfantasy #publishedstory #magazinestory #TheMagazineofFantasyandScienceFiction #NebulaAward

December 28, 2018 //

Here we go, my interview with Stephen Mazur for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction regarding my story “Aurelia” in the January-February, 2018 issue. You can also find the interview online at http://www.lisamason.com/aureliainterview.html and at https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/2018/01/22/interview-lisa-mason-on-aurelia// If you’re a SFWA member, the story should be on the website for your free download. And please consider the work for the Nebulas!

Tell us a bit about “Aurelia.”
I call “Aurelia” my Alfred Hitchcock story. Great wealth, a troubled marriage, a mysterious, possibly psychologically challenged wife, a fabulous but spooky mansion, a murder mystery. If Hitchcock’s film “Vertigo” had supernatural elements—and I wish it did!—that would approach my vision for the story.
I’ve always been fascinated by stories that present the supernatural from a psychological point of view. “My Dear Emily” by Joanna Russ springs to mind. I’m particularly fascinated by the chapter in The Unicorn Tapestry, by Suzy McKee Charnas, which is told from the point-of-view of a psychotherapist who has been asked to counsel Dr. Edward Weyland, a faculty member and professor at her college who has acquired a reputation for being mentally unsound. At first, Weyland resists her therapy, then he begins to describe what sounds like an extreme urban lifestyle. It is revealed, finally, that these are his hunting habits in New York City and he is a vampire.
I wanted Aurelia to be a mystery, perhaps psychological, perhaps not.

What was the inspiration for this story, or what prompted you to write it?
There is an incredible Mediterranean mansion in the Sausalito hills named Villa Aurelia, which I had an opportunity to tour at length. I was so inspired by the house that I looked up the name and discovered that “aurelia” derives from the Latin “aureus”, meaning golden. The word describes a chrysalis, deriving from the Greek for golden, the final pre-adult stage in the life cycle of a butterfly, in particular certain nymphalid butterflies. The chrysalis is decorated with fine gilt features.
Aurelia, in her human incarnation, is like a chrysalis before she manifests as a full-blown, supernatural, blood-drinking—plot spoiler omitted!
Robert refers to her villa as a golden cocoon. He senses that the house itself has supernatural power.
Coincidentally, I happened to be reading an anthology of vampire stories that included the E.T.A. Hoffman classic “Aurelia”. I’d never encountered the story before, which is not a typical vampire story. There, too, the Big Reveal of the wife’s true nature is the whole point of the story.

How do you view Robert, the protagonist of your story? Is he sympathetic or does he get his just desserts?
Oh, he’s an SOB. But he’s a charming and witty SOB with whom you’d like to go to your favorite Italian restaurant and drink a lot of merlot. At thirty, he’s totally cynical about love and marriage and already promiscuous. He’s hardworking but he carefully considers whether his conduct as an attorney is unethical, how he can avoid getting into trouble, and does it anyway.
He’s loyal to his best friend Trevor, to the law firm they work for. And he sincerely loves Aurelia and supports her “right to be different.”
However! Aurelia has bespelled Robert right from the start. She’s sensed him from afar, sought him out. He senses her presence watching him before he even meets her. She proceeds to make him her human servant.
Plenty of supernatural entities require human servants to negotiate their way in the human world, people the supernatural entity doesn’t kill or transform into their own kind. Dracula has a human servant, Renfield, who is driven mad.
So even though Aurelia seems as if she’s been taken advantage of by Robert, in fact she’s the one in control. His activities in the human world are of no interest to her. She needs him to take care of the house, of her, and provide her with progeny. Which he does.
So it feels as if he’s gotten his just desserts. But for me, Robert’s end is tragic, the inevitable, inexorable result of him discovering the truth about Aurelia.

What did you learn for this story that you did not already know, if anything?
I researched butterflies, how they undergo amazing physical transformations in their lifetimes, what they eat—not only pollen from blossoms! How they use scents to attract mates and repel enemies, and relentlessly pursue procreation. Some females mate with multiple males to ensure they conceive. Some lay multiple eggs, some species a single egg.
Aurelia chooses Robert because of his strong reproductive urge. As a human servant to a supernatural entity, he realizes he’s become a sex addict in the human world. He’s not happy about that. He senses that his addiction stems from Aurelia’s bespellment.
Aurelia doesn’t care—she needs his urge toward her in order to produce the daughter she needs to continue her supernatural line.
Also, in terms of research, I wasn’t that familiar with E.T.A. Hoffman’s body of dark Victorian fantasy beyond his story, “Aurelia.” I learned about his other classic story, “The Nutcracker.”

Anything else you’d like to add?
“Riddle” in the September-October 2017 68^th Anniversary issue of F&SF and now “Aurelia” in the January-February 2018 issue have started a mini-trend for me of dark modern fantasy. I mostly write science fiction and modern fantasy. In both of those F&SF stories, I plumbed some depth of darkness in myself—to my surprise.
Then I realized I’d written another dark modern fantasy, “Felicitas,” that fits right in with this mini-trend. The story also presents a supernatural female monster and her troubles with men and sex.
“Felicitas” is written entirely from the supernatural entity’s point-of-view and was published in Desire Burn: Women Writing from the Dark Side of Passion (Carroll & Graf), edited by the late Janet Berliner, who was the president of Horror Writers of America at the time. I republished the story in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, my collection of previously published short SFF fiction. You will find the ebook on all the retailers. As of December 2017, you will also find the book in print at https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Ladies-Stories-Lisa-Mason/dp/1981104380/. Enjoy!

If you enjoy a title, please “Like” it, add five stars, WRITE A REVIEW on the site where you bought it, Tweet it, blog it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

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Thank you for your readership!

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Paul Di Filippo’s Review of WELCOME TO DYSTOPIA, Edited by Gordon Van Gelder, With a Mention of My Story, “Dangerous” Lisa Mason #SFWApro #SFWAauthor #speculativefiction #womenssciencefiction #feminist

December 23, 2018 //

Another good way to wind down 2018! Here we go, Paul Di Filippo’s write-up on WELCOME TO DYSTOPIA, edited by the award-winning Gordon Van Gelder, at Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/future-is-nearly-now-science-fiction-2018

“While the four books above (in the review) display definite desires to tackle social themes in parallel with their narratives, or as subtext, they don’t necessarily foreground such concerns, nor wear their injured hearts so nakedly on their sleeves as do the writers in the hard-hitting anthology Welcome to Dystopia, helmed by the noted and accomplished editor Gordon Van Gelder. Solicited outright in the wake of the 2016 election under the rubric of extrapolating worse times from current bad times, these stories display passion, craft, wit and commitment. But taken all at once, since they are generally unleavened by humor or a sense of proportion (being pretty much USA-centric and focused on short-term outcomes only), they administer a moral and civic drubbing that can leave the reader exhausted and even dismayed. Best to imbibe them in small homeopathic doses, considering their dire effectiveness in limning troubled times ahead.

Unable to synopsize all forty-five tales, I’ll point out a few that hit some major riffs common to others.

Immigrants and borders of all kinds are prime topics. In Michael Libling’s “Sneakers,” two hapless Canadians run afoul of despicable US guards carrying out a conspiracy, while in Janis Ian’s “His Sweat Like Stars on the Rio Grande,” a plot to retain rather than discourage immigrant labor is warped by a callous woman to ensnare her lover. And the quiet tragedy of a deportation splits a family in Mary Anne Mohanraj’s “Farewell.”

Women, minorities, and the poor all take it on the chin. Lisa Mason’s droll “Dangerous” imagines the process of “vagina registration.” Its epistolary format is employed by quite a few of the tales herein, perhaps betokening the bland lethality of bureaucratic messages. Ted White’s “Burning Down the House” gives a hardnosed cyberpunk account of the travails of a member of the underclass, a girl named Nicole. And TS Vale riffs ingeniously on the Boko Haram abductions of female students in “BK Girls.””

The review, obviously, covers several books and more stories in the anthology, and includes Di Filippo’s extensive expertise on the science fiction field, in which he has been a long-time critic and reviewer.

If you enjoy a title, please “Like” it, add five stars, WRITE A REVIEW on the site where you bought it, Tweet it, blog it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

Your participation really matters.
Thank you for your readership!

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The Garden of Abracadabra “Very Entertaining Urban Fantasy” Is In Print and an Ebook Worldwide Lisa Mason #SFWApro #SFWAauthor #urbanfantasy #modernfantasy #contemporaryfantasy #magiccollege #magicians #magicalapartmentbuilding

December 21, 2018 //

Two hundred steps on the stepper! Yay! I’m feeling better and better, walking better and better. And a nice review on Barnes and Noble by veteran SFF reviewer Paul Di Filippo of Welcome to Dystopia, the anthology edited by award-winning Gordon Van Gelder, mentioned my story, “Dangerous.” The next blog (tomorrow or in the next few days) will give you details and links. In the meantime, here’s this:

At her mother’s urgent deathbed plea, Abby Teller enrolls at the Berkeley College of Magical Arts and Crafts to learn Real Magic. To support herself through school, she signs on as the superintendent of the Garden of Abracadabra, a mysterious, magical apartment building on campus.

She soon discovers that her tenants are witches, shapeshifters, vampires, and wizards and that each apartment is a fairyland or hell.

On her first day in Berkeley, she stumbles upon a supernatural multiple murder scene. One of the victims is a man she picked up hitchhiking the day before.

Torn between three men—Daniel Stern, her ex-fiance who wants her back, Jack Kovac, an enigmatic FBI agent, and Prince Lastor, a seductive supernatural entity who lives in the penthouse and may be a suspect—Abby will question what she really wants and needs from a life partner.

Compelled into a dangerous murder investigation, Abby will discover the first secrets of an ancient and ongoing war between Humanity and a demonic realm, uncover mysteries of her own troubled past, and learn that the lessons of Real Magic may spell the difference between her own life or death.

The Garden of Abracadabra, “Fun and enjoyable urban fantasy,” is an ebook on BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords.
The Garden of Abracadabra is also on Amazon.com in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands.
NOW IN PRINT! ORDER on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1978148291/. or IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-garden-of-abracadabra-lisa-mason/1108093507

“So refreshing. . . .This is Stephanie Plum in the world of Harry Potter.”
Goodreads: “I loved the writing style and am hungry for more!”

Amazon.com: “Fun and enjoyable urban fantasy”
“This is a very entertaining novel—sort of a down-to-earth Harry Potter with a modern adult woman in the lead. Even as Abby has to deal with mundane concerns like college and running the apartment complex she works at, she is surrounded by supernatural elements and mysteries that she is more than capable of taking on. Although this book is just the first in a series, it ties up the first “episode” while still leaving some story threads for upcoming books. I’m looking forward to finding out more.”

So there you have it, my friends! I’m delighted to announce The Garden of Abracadabra is now In Print! Also an ebook worldwide.

If you enjoy a title, please “Like” it, add five stars, WRITE A REVIEW on the site where you bought it, Tweet it, blog it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

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Tags Abby Teller, Berkeley College of Magical Arts and Crafts, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, magic apartment building, magic college, magicians, Real Magic, The Garden of Abracadabra, The Garden of Abracadabra 1: Life's Journey, The Garden of Abracadabra 2: In Dark Woods, The Garden of Abracadabra 3: The Right Road, urban fantasy, urban fantasy and more

Categories "Dangerous", 2018, Abracadabra!, Authors, Bast Books, Book Marketing, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Booksellers, Bookstore, bookstores, Contemporary Fantasy, Ebooks, Facebook Author Page, Facebook Personal Page, Fantasy, Fiction, Kindle book, Librarians, Libraries, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author On Facebook, Lisa Mason Official Website, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, Magic Apartment Building, Magic College, Magicat, Magicians, modern fantasy, Nook book, Print Book, Print books, Published Book, Published Worldwide, Publishing, Readers, Reading, Real Magic, The Garden of Abracadabra, The Garden of Abracadabra 1: Life's Journey, The Garden of Abracadabra 2: In Dark Woods, The Garden of Abracadabra 3: The Right Road, The Magicat, Urban Fantasy, Urban Fantasy and Beyond

Strange Ladies: 7 Stories “A Must-Read Collection” San Francisco Review of Books Lisa Mason IN PRINT AND AN EBOOK Worldwide New Review #SFWApro #storycollection #fantasyandsciencefiction #publishedfiction #shortstories #SFWAauthor #

December 15, 2018 //

I did 200 left-right steps on the stepper, two long indoor walks without the cane, 20 deep knee bends—toe lifts, 10 high knee lifts (taking it easy on that PT, worried I could tear knee cartilage which would be a disaster). Feeling pretty good!

And feeling good about the new review below!

As I mulled over my published short fiction, I found seven wildly different stories with one thing in common–a heroine totally unlike me. I’m the girl next door. I have no idea where these strange ladies came from.

In The Oniomancer (Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine), a Chinese-American punk bicycle messenger finds an artifact on the street. In Guardian (Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine), an African-American gallerist resorts to voodoo to confront a criminal. In Felicitas (Desire Burn: Women Writing from the Dark Side of Passion [Carroll and Graf]), an illegal Mexican immigrant faces life as a cat shapeshifter. In Stripper (Unique Magazine), an exotic dancer battles the Mob. In Triad (Universe 2 [Bantam]), Dana Anad lives half the time as a woman, half the time as a man, and falls in love with a very strange lady. In Destination (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction), a driver takes three strangers from a ride board on a cross-country trip as the radio reports that a serial killer is on the loose. In Transformation and the Postmodern Identity Crisis (Fantastic Alice [Ace]), Alice considers life after Wonderland.

Five stars on Facebook and Amazon! “Great work, Lisa Mason!”

“Hilarious, provocative, profound.”

From Jeanne-Mary Allen, Author on Facebook and the Book Brothers Blog: “Kyle Wylde and I are thrilled to have found such a talented, dedicated, and brilliant collection of shorts in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories…Your style/craft is highly impressive.”

From the San Francisco Book Review: “Strange Ladies: 7 Stories offers everything you could possibly want, from more traditional science fiction and fantasy tropes to thought-provoking explorations of gender issues and pleasing postmodern humor…This is a must-read collection.” http://anotheruniverse.com/strange-ladies-7-stories/

From the Book Brothers Review Blog: “Lisa Mason might just be the female Philip K. Dick. Like Dick, Mason’s stories are far more than just sci-fi tales, they are brimming with insight into human consciousness and the social condition….Strange Ladies: 7 Stories is a sci-fi collection of excellent quality. If you like deeply crafted worlds with strange, yet relatable characters, then you won’t want to miss it.” http://www.thebookbrothers.com/2013/09/the-book-brothers-review-strange.html#more

5.0 out of 5 stars This one falls in the must-read category, an appellation that I rarely use.
I have been a fan of Lisa Mason from the beginning of her writing career, but I confess that I often overlook her short fiction. That turns out to have been a big mistake! I have just read Strange Ladies thinking I would revisit a few old friends and discover a few I had missed. Well, I had missed more than I had thought, and I regret that oversight. This collection was so much fun! I loved each and every story and enjoyed their unique twists, turns, and insights. I thank Ms Mason especially, though, for the high note ending with the big smiles in Transformation and the Postmodern Identity Crisis. Uh oh, I guess I still am a child of the summer of love. Well played. You made me laugh at the world and myself.

“I’m quite impressed, not only by the writing, which gleams and sparkles, but also by [Lisa Mason’s] versatility . . . Mason is a wordsmith . . . her modern take on Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland is a hilarious gem! [This collection] sparkles, whirls, and fizzes. Mason is clearly a writer to follow!”
—Amazing Stories

Strange Ladies: 7 Stories (“A must-read collection—The San Francisco Review of Books). On Nook, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo. On Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. NOW IN PRINT at https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Ladies-Stories-Lisa-Mason/dp/1981104380/ and IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strange-ladies-lisa-mason/1115861322.

So there you have it, my friends. I love short stories! Share the love here!

If you enjoy a title, please “Like” it, add five stars, WRITE A REVIEW on the site where you bought it, Tweet it, blog it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

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Tags "Destination", "Felicitas", "Felicitas" in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, "Guardian", "The Oniomancer", "Transformation and the Post-modern Identity Crisis", "Triad", Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Desire Burn: Women Writing from the Dark Side of Passion, Fantastic Alice, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Twitter, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Reviews of Strange Ladies, science fiction, Speculative Fiction, Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, Stripper, Universe 2

Categories "Destination", "Destination" in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, "Felicitas", "Felicitas" in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, "Guardian", "Stripper" in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, "The Oniomancer", "Transformation and the Post-modern Identity Crisis", "Triad", 2018, Amazon.com, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Authors, BarnesandNoble.com, Books, Booksellers, Bookstore, bookstores, Dark modern fantasy, Desire Burn Women Writing From the Dark Side of Passion, Desire Burn: Women Writing from the Dark Side of Passion (Carroll & Graf), Ebooks, Ereaders, Facebook Author Page, Facebook Personal Page, Fantastic Alice, Fantastic Alice (Ace), Five Star Review, Librarians, Libraries, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author On Facebook, Lisa Mason Official Website, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, Literary science fiction, Literature, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Magazine Story, Magazines, modern fantasy, Nebula Award, Nebula Award Finalist, New York Public Library Recommended Book, New York Times Notable Book, Philip K. Dick Award, Philip K. Dick Award Finalist, Print Book, Published Book, Published Stories, Published Worldwide, Reviews of Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book, Science fiction, Science Fiction Humor, Short Stories, Short Story, Speculative Fiction, Stories, Story Collection, Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, The Oniomancer, Universe 2, Universe 2 (Bantam), Worldwide

One Day in the Life of Alexa, My Novella In Print and an Ebook, Has Got New Reviews! Five Stars! Lisa Mason #SFWApro #SFWAauthor #Longevity #Aging #WarRefugees #FarFuture

December 11, 2018 //

With the cold weather in the San Francisco Bay Area, my repaired fractured hip and broken leg are kind of sore today. Difficult to walk well. Also, the District Attorney called and the case, after another preliminary hearing, has not been resolved against the Attacker. So I have to go and testify in the first week of 2019 before a judge (but not a jury) along with the other witnesses (there are several) and the arresting police officer who also got injured by the Attacker.

The D.A. told me the Attacker will be there with his public defender. I don’t mind telling you, I am afraid of him. Will he be in restraints? Will there be security guards? The D.A. told me the Attacker has a criminal record (but the D.A. won’t, as yet, tell me what his record is) and that, from my statement and the several witnesses to the Attack, he was probably criminally insane at the time of the crime. Not at all looking forward to this. Under our American system of criminal justice, he has the right to face his accuser. But I really don’t want to face him. In the meantime:
From Goodreads comes the first review of One Day in the Life of Alexa:
One Day in the Life of Alexa, by Lisa Mason (Bast Books) incorporates lively prose, past/present time jumps, and the consequences of longevity technology. Kosovo refugee Alexa enrolls in a secret pilot program designed to extend her life span. Her best friend, Marya, is not accepted, but Marya’s infant aka “Little Monster” is. As the decades roll by, Alexa adapts to a life of constant measurement and surveillance. [Plot spoilers omitted] In reflection, the book is as much about the enduring trauma of war as it is about longevity technology, and in this it feels more like mainstream than science fiction. Mason’s skill as a writer sustains what might be better executed as a novella into a short novel. Still, it’s a quick, absorbing read with an appealing narrator and subtly powerful emotional rhythms (like the repeated refrain, “No matter how long I live, I will always remember this”)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35200314-one-day-in-the-life-of-alexa#other_reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Lisa Mason doesn’t disappoint us on that issue and gives us a look …
By R Bruce Miller on October 1, 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
“Scifi is nominally about the future and the impact of technology on society. Lisa Mason doesn’t disappoint us on that issue and gives us a look at a desirable biotechnology with some serious long-term and unforeseen consequences. However, like all the truly great scifi writers, what she really writes about is you and me and today and what is really important in life. Alexa lives an improbable life and yet, somehow, is a very real everywoman. Solzhenitsyn would have appreciated the homage. Cats! Grow your own organic food! Yes, there is much fun to be had on this journey, but the message nonetheless is solid and important. I enjoyed every word even though this book spoiled my day because I had no choice but to read it in one sitting while drinking too much coffee.”

And here’s another five-star review, and then I’ll let you decide:
“[Alexa] finds her internal resource that allows her to survive many more days in a much more uplifting manner than poor Ivan Denisovich. Discovering where her strengths [lie] is not depressing but uplifting for this reader.” On US Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0711PP65J

Book Description:
Alexa Denisovitch, a refugee from Kosovo during the 1999 war, is just seventeen when she is accepted by GenGineer Laboratories as a Tester for Longeva, a revolutionary additive that may significantly extend her longevity.
But becoming a Tester has unintended consequences and Longeva causes devastating unforeseen side effects.
Confronting environmental, political, and personal perils of the future, Alexa must grapple with the tough questions of life, love, and death.
Order in Print from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/One-Life-Alexa-Lisa-Mason/dp/1546783091 at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-day-in-the-life-of-alexa-lisa-mason/1126431598.

Ask your local bookstore to order the book. Here is the ISBN: ISBN 978-1546783091

One Day in the Life of Alexa is also offered as a Kindle ebook at US Kindle, UK Kindle, Canada Kindle, Australia Kindle, France Kindle, Germany Kindle, Italy Kindle, Netherlands Kindle, Spain Kindle, Brazil Kindle, Mexico Kindle, India Kindle, and Japan Kindle.

Now an ebook on BarnesandNoble, Kobo, and Smashwords!

If you enjoy a title, please “Like” it, add five stars, WRITE A REVIEW on the site where you bought it, Tweet it, blog it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

Your participation really matters.
Thank you for your readership!

Tags Aging, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Twitter, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, literary science fiction, Longevity, Longevity Drug, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Refugees, science fiction, War Refugee

Categories 2018, Aging, Amazon.com, Authors, BarnesandNoble.com, Bast Books, Books, Booksellers, Bookstore, bookstores, Ebooks, Facebook Author Page, Facebook Personal Page, Far Future, Fiction, Goodreads Book Review, Goodreads Review, Librarians, Libraries, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author On Facebook, Lisa Mason Official Website, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, Literary science fiction, Longevity, Longevity Drug, Novella, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Print Book, Print books, Published Book, Published Worldwide, War Refugee, War story

THE GILDED AGE “A thoroughly entertaining time travel story supported by vivid characterizations and settings” New Reviews! A New York Times Notable Book, Sequel to Summer of Love, BACK IN PRINT Also an #Ebook Worldwide! Lisa Mason #SFWApro #SFWAauthor #timetravel #1890s #Victorianage #farfuture #dystopia #darkromance #feminist

December 2, 2018 //

I had a difficult day yesterday; I think the physical therapy has been too tough. I’m scaling back the vigorous exercise a bit. Rest is good. So I’m very happy to have this book back in print and even happier that readers are still discovering it!

New Review of The Gilded Age at http://sfbookreview.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-gilded-age-by-lisa-mason.html:

“The world of 2495 is at an unsustainable twelve billion population. Zhu Wong is a Daughter of Compassion, a group working to enforce the birth restriction laws. She is in jail awaiting trial when she is recruited by the Luxon Institute for Superluminal Applications (LISA, I love the acronym) to t-port back to 1895 San Francisco. She accepts the deal. Her mission is to find Wing Sing, take her and the aurelia to the mission run by Donaldina Cameron. In 1967 Wing Sing’s daughter will eventually give the brooch to Chiron at the end of his stay in the Summer of Love project.
Zhu finds Wing Sing, but she doesn’t have the aurelia. They are captured by a Chinese gang. Zhu is bought away from them by Jessie, a madam, Wing Sing stuck with the Tong. Zhu does work for Jessie, but is more valuable as a bookkeeper so avoids becoming a prostitute. Daniel Watkins is the son of a real estate magnate coming to San Francisco to collect on debts. He is low on funds and is referred to lodging at Jessie’s where his life becomes entwined with Zhu’s. Somehow Zhu is attracted to this heavy drinking smoker who has distinct views of women. Despite herself and her mission, Zhu cares about Jessie and Daniel.
I loved the character of Zhu. Somehow I wasn’t repulsed by Daniel and Jessie. They are more a product of their environment doing what they can with their sense of right and wrong. Very enjoyable, I read the last two hundred pages straight through. This is definitely a stand alone novel, though Summer of Love is mentioned several times. I’ll have to read that one as a prequel rather than book one.”

And this is from Library Journal:
“The discovery of a golden brooch that should not exist in the 25th century prompts the Luxon Institute to send a young Chinese woman 600 years back in time. She arrives in San Francisco in 1895 to prevent the future from altering the past. This sequel to Summer of Love (LJ 6/15/94), seen through the eyes of an observer from the future, juxtaposes the tempestuous, sprawling milieu of boomtown San Francisco with its shadowy underside of prostitution and decadence. Mason’s graceful prose and her skill in orchestrating a complex and satisfying plot make this a solid purchase for sf collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This is from a reader:
https://www.amazon.ca/Golden-Nineties-Lisa-Mason/dp/0553373315
5.0 out of 5 stars Hypnotic Read
ByRobin Booneon Published on Amazon.com|Verified Purchase
“Lisa Mason’s Summer of Love and The Golden Nineties both have this quality – you want to reread them as soon as you’ve read them. Her writing conveys an abiding love of San Francisco, and interesting bits of California history are woven into the storylines. The writing is so compelling that you feel as though time travel were a possibility. I hope she writes more of these San Francisco fantasies!”

And this is from Publisher’s Weekly
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-553-37331-8
“Mason’s sequel to Summer of Love is a delightful expansion of that work and a major step forward for her. The tale centers on Zhu Wong, a Chinese national whose lawyer plea-bargains her release from prison so that Chiron and his companions from the previous novel’s Luxon Institute for Superluminal Applications can transport her 600 years into the past to find a macguffin called the aurelia. Once in San Francisco, 1895, Mason brings the environment and the times to life with her rendering of the city’s activities, especially its corruption. The several historic personages who appear–including Frank Norris, Jack London and Susan B. Anthony–are all given dimensions that reflect the rigor of Mason’s research without leaving the reader overburdened by minutiae. Zhu Wong finds herself embroiled in a world of decadence and prostitution; she sees friends and companions abuse themselves with such things as alcohol, cocaine and corsets. As with Karen Joy Fowler’s Sarah Canary, Mason uses the novel partially to explore the role of women in society. As Zhu grows to understand the hypocrisies of the 1890s, she becomes even less comfortable with the presumptions of her own time. She creates several “closed time loops,” apparent paradoxes that impede her mission–and, perhaps more important, thwart her own desires. Eventually she finds her way out of the time loops and in the process teaches everyone–including herself–a few lessons about life. Her bravura performance with this book should both leave the reader wanting more and solidify her position as one of the most interesting writers in science fiction.”

And this just in from an Amazon.com reader
Buy It
By Uke Enthusiast
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
“One of my favorite books. I am delighted it is back in print. A thoroughly entertaining time travel story supported by vivid characterizations and settings.”

Book Description: The year is 1895 and immigrants the world over are flocking to California on the transcontinental railroad and on transoceanic steamships. The Zoetrope demonstrates the persistence of vision, patent medicines addict children to morphine, and women are rallying for the vote. In San Francisco, saloons are the booming business, followed by brothels, and the Barbary Coast is a dangerous sink of iniquity. Atop Telegraph Hill bloody jousting tournaments are held and in Chinatown the tongs deal in opium, murder-for-hire, and slave girls.

Zhu Wong, a prisoner in twenty-fifth century China, is given a choice–stand trial for murder or go on a risky time-travel project to the San Francisco of 1895 to rescue a slave girl and take her to safety. Charmed by the city’s opulent glamour, Zhu will discover the city’s darkest secrets. A fervent population control activist in a world of twelve billion people, she will become an indentured servant to the city’s most notorious madam. Fiercely disciplined, she will fall desperately in love with the troubled self-destructive heir to a fading fortune.

And when the careful plans of the Gilded Age Project start unraveling, Zhu will discover that her choices not only affect the future but mean the difference between her own life or death.

“A winning mixture of intelligence and passion.” The New York Times Book Review

“Graceful prose. . . .A complex and satisfying plot.” Library Journal

“Rollicking. . . .Dazzling.” Locus Magazine

“Should both leave the reader wanting more and solidify Mason’s position as one of the most interesting writers in science fiction.” Publisher’s Weekly

The cover, by San Francisco artist Tom Robinson, is styled to look like an 1890s billboard.

The Gilded Age is BACK IN PRINT! Order the beautiful trade paperback at https://www.amazon.com/Gilded-Age-Time-Travel/dp/1975853172/ or IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gilded-age-a-time-travel-lisa-mason/1106038566.

The ebook is at BarnesandNoble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords and on Kindle worldwide at US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands.

So there you have it, my friends. Bantam Books, a division of Random House, published this as The Golden Nineties. Yes, I changed the title. I think the new title is better. (Wish I’d thought of it in the first place….) This is the Author’s Preferred Print Edition.

Whether you’re a longtime reader or new, I hope you enjoy this classic!

If you enjoy a title, please “Like” it, add five stars, WRITE A REVIEW on the site where you bought it, Tweet it, blog it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

Your participation really matters.
Thank you for your readership!

Tags 1890s, 1895, Dark romance, Feminist, immigration, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Twitter, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, mainstream, New York Public Library Recommended Book, New York Times Notable Book, overpopulation, San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book, science fiction, the far future, The Gilded Age, The Gilded Age A Time Travel, time travel

Categories 1890s Immigration Policy, 1895, 2018, Amazon.com, Authors, BarnesandNoble.com, Bast Books, Book Distributors, Book Marketing, Book Reviews, Books, Booksellers, Bookstore, bookstores, Certified Reseller, Chinese Immigrants, Dark Romance, Ebooks, Far Future, Feminist, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Librarians, Libraries, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author On Facebook, Lisa Mason Official Website, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, Literary science fiction, New York Public Library Recommended Book, New York Times Notable Book, Print Book, Print books, Published Book, Published Worldwide, San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book, Science fiction, Science Fiction and More, The Gilded Age, The Gilded Age A Time Travel, Time Travel, Time Travels to San Francisco, Worldwide

Back in Print, Brand-New Review! Summer of Love, A Philip K Dick Award Finalist, San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book Nominated for the Tiptree Award! Also an Ebook Worldwide Lisa Mason #SFWApro #SFWAauthor #timetravel #1967 #the farfuture #PKDAwardFinalist #sciencefiction #feministsciencefiction #feminist #mainstream

November 28, 2018 //

I did 150 steps on the stepper and took a long walk, indoors, without the cane. The leg is getting better and stronger. My goal is to become stronger than I was before the Attack. Meanwhile, I’m so thrilled this book is back in print! And as timely as ever!

What readers say:
“This book was so true to life that I felt like I was there. I recommend it to anyone.”
“More than a great science-fiction, a great novel as well.”
“My favourite SF book of all time, beautiful, cynical and completely involving….Unmissable!”

Brand-new 2018 review of SUMMER OF LOVE at http://sfbookreview.blogspot.com/2018/02/summer-of-love-by-lisa-mason.html
”Ever since the Save Betty project completed there has been degradation in the archives. The Luxon Institute for Superluminal Applications (LISA, still love that acronym) has determined that San Francisco in 1967 is a hot dim spot. They commission the Summer of Love project. Twenty-one year old Chiron Cat’s Eye in Draco will t-port from 2467 to the summer of love where he is to find the Axis, a teenage girl from the Midwest will have important descendants, and protect her through the summer. This Susan Stein takes an alias, so Chiron has only probabilities to know if he finds the right girl.
In 1967 Susan receives a postcard from Nance, aka Penny Lane, who is in San Francisco. Her parents find the postcard, tear it up and burn it. She runs away that night and takes the name Starbright. She arrives hoping to see Penny Lane, but instead meets up with Stan the Man, manager of the Double Boogie band. She is invited to live with them in a house that is a constant party. She loves it, but a week later Stan hooks up with someone new. She meets Ruby again and Ruby takes her in. That first night Chiron saw an eye symbol by Ruby’s shop, decided to hang around there and Ruby let him sleep on the couch. He’s not sure that Starbright is the Axis, but there is a high probability.
Without being preachy major themes in the book include the environment, population control, women’s rights and addiction. These were put into the setting of real life 1967. Street names referenced in the book exist and the Grateful Dead did have a concert there on August 22. I enjoyed the story without any nostalgic feeling, other than references to old Star Trek episodes and other SF works.
I really enjoyed the book. It was a little icky when Starbright was staying at the Double Boogie house, but after that it was excellent and that first chapter or two set up encounters throughout the rest of the book. I loved all three of the main characters, Starbright, Chiron and Ruby.” By John Loyd

The year is 1967 and something new is sweeping across America: good vibes, bad vibes, psychedelic music, psychedelic drugs, anti-war protests, racial tension, free love, bikers, dropouts, flower children. An age of innocence, a time of danger. The Summer of Love.

San Francisco is the Summer of Love, where runaway flower children flock to join the hip elite and squares cruise the streets to view the human zoo.

Lost in these strange and wondrous days, teenager Susan Bell, alias Starbright, has run away from the straight suburbs of Cleveland to find her troubled best friend. Her path will cross with Chiron Cat’s Eye in Draco, a strange and beautiful young man who has journeyed farther than she could ever imagine.

With the help of Ruby A. Maverick, a wise and feisty half-black, half-white hip entrepreneur, Susan and Chi discover a love that spans five centuries. But can they save the world from demons threatening to destroy all space and time?

A harrowing coming of age. A friendship ending in tragedy. A terrifying far future. A love spanning five centuries. And a gritty portrait of a unique time in American history.

The cover, hand-drawn by Tom Robinson, is styled to look like a 1960s psychedelic poster.

What the professional book reviewers say:

“Captures the moment perfectly and offers a tantalizing glimpse of its wonderful and terrible consequences.” San Francisco Chronicle

“A fine novel packed with vivid detail, colorful characters, and genuine insight.” Washington Post Book World

“Remarkable. . . .the intellect on display within these psychedelically packaged pages is clear-sighted, witty, and wise.” Locus Magazine

“Mason has an astonishing gift. Her chief characters almost walk off the page. And the story is as significant as anyone could wish. This book will surely be on the prize ballots.” Analog

“A priority purchase.” Library Journal

5 stars From the Readers

Calling All Fans
Amazon Verified Purchase
‘Summer of Love is an important American literary contribution that may very well have a strong and viable fan base. Where are you? Join us!
This novel is loads of fun to read. The majority of the characters are hippies from the 1960s who meet a stranger from the future who’s looking to save his world. This fellow, Chiron, needs to find a troubled adolescent teen named Susan (a.k.a. Starbright) for a very compelling reason. The book has a great deal to offer: swift action, lovable characters, spiritual insight, and well-chosen primary documents such as essays, poems, and news articles which round out the reader’s understanding of the worldview of the novel.
I think Summer of Love has excellent potential for a wider audience. I hope it continues to enjoy a healthy amount of sales in the used books market on this site. I wish even more for it to be in wider circulation. Some books talk about the sixties. This novel IS the sixties, thanks to the spirit and scholarship of its author. And, as one reader aptly put it, ‘the sci-fi stuff is just plain off the hook.’ Get a copy. Most people who have read it seem to respect it and enjoy it every bit as much as I do.”

New Reader Review! “Just checked to see if this book was on Kindle. It has been many years since I’ve read it but I remember it as one of my very favorite books. Time to go back and re-read it!”

In 2010, the ebook revolution took the publishing business by storm, and I was able to get Summer of Love before new and long-time readers alike as an ebook.

Now, eight years later in 2018, you will find the PRINT BOOK today at https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Love-Travel-Lisa-Mason/dp/1548106119/ and at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/summer-of-love-a-time-travel-lisa-mason/1104160569.

So there you have it, my friends! Whether you’re a longtime reader or new, I hope you enjoy this classic!

From the author of Summer Of Love (a Philip K. Dick Award Finalist and San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book). On BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo. On Kindle worldwide in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. BACK IN PRINT! Find the beautiful trade paperback at https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Love-Travel-Lisa-Mason/dp/1548106119/ or IN PRINT at Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/summer-of-love-a-time-travel-lisa-mason/1104160569.

If you enjoy a title, please “Like” it, add five stars, WRITE A REVIEW on the site where you bought it, Tweet it, blog it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

Your participation really matters.
Thank you for your readership!

Tags 1967, Feminist, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Twitter, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, mainstream, Philip K. Dick Award, Philip K. Dick Award Finalist, Rock and Roll, San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book, science fiction, Summer of Love, Summer of Love A Time Travel, teenage girls, teenagers, teens, the far future, time travel, Time Travels to San Francisco

Categories 2018, Amazon.com, Authors, BarnesandNoble.com, Bast Books, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Booksellers, Bookstore, bookstores, Ebooks, Facebook Author Page, Facebook Personal Page, Families, Feminist, Futuristic Fiction, Historical Fiction, James Tiptree Award Nominee, Librarians, Libraries, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author On Facebook, Lisa Mason Official Website, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, Literary science fiction, Literature, New York Public Library Recommended Book, New York Times Notable Book, Philip K. Dick Award, Philip K. Dick Award Finalist, Print Book, Print books, Published Book, Published Worldwide, Rock and Roll, San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book, Science fiction, Science Fiction and More, Speculative Fiction, Summer of Love, Summer of Love A Time Travel, Teenage Girls, Teenagers, Teens, The Gilded Age, The Gilded Age A Time Travel, Time Travel, Time Travels to San Francisco

Arachne, Published by William Morrow, Debuted on the Locus Hardcover Bestseller List, Back in Print and an Ebook Worldwide! New Review! I’ll Take the Comparison to William Gibson and Philip K. Dick! Lisa Mason #SFWApro #SFWAauthor #cyberpunk #sciencefiction #artificialintelligence #womenssciencefiction

November 27, 2018 //

It’s been four months since a man violently attacked me as I was walking around Lake Merritt in Oakland, California in the afternoon, fracturing my hip. Now I’m up and walking, using a quad cane sometimes, but mostly unaided around the house. Feeling much, much better and much more energetic. So I’ll be blogging here again after a period of recuperation (if you like the British spelling, include an “o”).

I can’t think of a better way to begin again than with a new review at the Libreture Website, as of October, 2018, of ARACHNE. I found this on Twitter at https://twitter.com/libreture/status/1052661778436505603. The reviewer was kind enough to tag me.

“Arachne is a unique entry in the cyberpunk genre. It steps between the dystopia of William Gibson and the otherworldliness of Philip K. Dick.
Full of ‘almost’ body-horror, corporations so mega that they transact court cases in nanoseconds, and AI characters with more spiritualism in their circuits than the humans that inhabit this post Big-One San Francisco.
A must-read for cyberpunk fans!”
https://www.libreture.com/library/kevin/book/arachne/

And this on Twitter: @nate_smith I loved Cyberweb 🙂 Do you think you’ll write a sequel, ever? I’m an unabashed Pr. Spinner fanboy. To which I replied @lisaSmason Thank you! I appreciate your readership! Yes, Spyder, the third book in the Arachne trilogy, is in the works.

ARACHNE is my first novel, an expansion of the short story, also titled “Arachne”, which I published in OMNI magazine. The book was published in hard cover by William Morrow, reprinted in trade paperback by Eos and in mass market paperback by AvoNova. The book was also published in Japan by Hayakawa, and the short story was translated and published in various foreign anthologies. ARACHNE debuted in the top ten books on the Locus Hardcover Bestseller list. Here’s the review and the reviewer’s website link. The book links—print and ebook—follow below.

Here’s the book description:

High above the dangerous streets of post-quake San Francisco Island, mechanically modified professionals link minds in a cybernetic telespace to push through big deals and decisions at lightning speed. But unexplained telelink blackouts and bizarre hallucinations have marred mediator Carly Quester’s debut appearance before a computer-generated Venue—forcing her to consider delicate psychic surgery at the hands of a robot therapist, Prober Spinner. And suddenly the ambitious young mediator is at risk in a deadly Artificial Intelligence scheme to steal human souls—because the ghosts of Carly’s unconscious may be a prize well worth killing for.

Find the whole story behind the book and more photos at http://www.lisamason.com/arachne.html

“Powerful . . . Entertaining . . . Imaginative.”
–People Magazine

“In humanity’s daring to enter the cybernetic heaven (and hell) of telespace, Lisa Mason reveals the lineaments of all that is tragic and transcendent in our evolution. Once the journey into this vivid and terrifying future has begun, there is no returning until the infinite has been faced and the last word read.”
–David Zindell, Author of Neverness

“Cybernetics, robotics, the aftermath of San Francisco’s Big Quake II, urban tribalism—Lisa Mason combines them all with such deftness and grace, they form a living world. Mason spins an entertaining tale . . . She allows Carly’s robotic allies a measure of personality and sophistication beyond the stock role of a chirping R2D2 or a blandly sinister Hal . . . Her characters and their world will stay with you long after you’ve finished this fine book.”
–Locus, The Trade Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy

“Lisa Mason stakes out, within the cyberpunk sub-genre, a territory all her own.”
–The San Francisco Chronicle

“Mason’s endearing characters and their absorbing adventures will hook even the most jaded SF fan.”
–Booklist

“Arachne is an impressive debut by a writer gifted with inventiveness, wit, and insight. The characters face choices well worth reading about. This is cyberpunk with a heart.”
–Nancy Kress, Author of Brain Rose

“There is a refreshing amount of energy associated with Lisa Mason’s writing. The good old values are there: fun, excitement, drama—but served up with new and original twists. Lisa Mason is definitely a writer to watch—and to read.”
–Paul Preuss, Author of Venus Prime

“Lisa Mason must be counted among science fiction’s most distinctive voices as we rush toward the new millennium.”
–Ed Bryant

“Mason’s endearing characters and their absorbing adventures will hook even the most jaded SF fan.”
–Booklist

So there you have it, my friends. I’m delighted to announce that Arachne is Back in Print! Find the beautiful trade paperback at https://www.amazon.com/dp/198435602X and on Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/arachne-lisa-mason/1000035633.

Arachne (a Locus Hardover Bestseller) is also an ebook on US Kindle, UK Kindle, Canada Kindle, Australia Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. On Kindle worldwide in France Kindle, Germany Kindle, Italy Kindle, Netherlands Kindle, Spain Kindle, Mexico Kindle, Brazil Kindle, India Kindle, and Japan Kindle.

If you enjoy a title, please “Like” it, add five stars, WRITE A REVIEW on the site where you bought it, Tweet it, blog it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

Your participation really matters.
Thank you for your readership!

Tags A.I., Arachne the Novel, Arachne the Omni story, Artificial Intelligence, Computers, cyberpunk, Cyberpunk Classic, Cyberweb, Cyberweb the Sequel to Arachne, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Twitter, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, San Francisco, science fiction, Sequel to Arachne, Women Science Fiction Writers

Categories 2018, A.I., Amazon.com, Arachne, Arachne the Novel, Arachne the Omni story, Artificial Intelligence, Authors, BarnesandNoble.com, Bast Books, Book Review, Book Reviews, Bookstore, bookstores, Computers, cyberpunk, Cyberpunk Classic, Cyberweb, Ebooks, First Novel, Futuristic Fiction, Hybrid Authors, Independent publishing, Librarians, Libraries, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author On Facebook, Lisa Mason Official Website, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Screenwriter, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, Magazine Story, Published Worldwide, Science fiction, Science Fiction and More, Speculative Fiction