Archives for category: Goodreads Book Review

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

June 29, 2020 //

From Goodreads came 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 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
“I truly loved Alexa. The homage to Solzhenitsyn was wonderfully well done. Your concept and characters were on the mark and very timely. Bravo!”
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.
So there you have it, my friends. The novel is short, but I took a long time researching and writing it.
One Day in the Life of Alexa is in Print in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Japan.
Now an ebook on BarnesandNoble, Kobo, Apple, and Smashwords!
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.
Join my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=23011206 and help me while I recover from the Attack. I’ve posted delightful new stories, previously published stories, book excerpts, movie critiques and recommendations, and more exclusively for my patrons.
Visit me at www.lisamason.com for all my books, ebooks, stories, and screenplays, worldwide links, beautiful covers, reviews, interviews, blogs, round-tables, adorable cat pictures, forthcoming works, fine art and bespoke jewelry by my husband Tom Robinson, and more!

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, Lisa Mason's Patreon Page, literary science fiction, Longevity, Longevity Drug, mainstream, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Patreon, Print Book, Published Book, reviews, Speculative Fiction, War Refugee

Categories 2020, About My Patreon Page, Aging, author, Bast Books, Book Distributors, Book Marketing, Book Reviews, Booksellers, Bookstore, bookstores, Children and Parents, Ebooks, Families, Family in Fiction, Five Star Review, Futuristic Fiction, Goodreads Book Review, health nut, Librarians, Libraries, Life, Lifestyle, 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, Lisa Mason's Patreon Page, Literary science fiction, Longevity, Longevity Drug, mainstream, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Patreon, Print Book, Published Book, Refugees, Science fiction, War Refugee, War story

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!

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!

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

May 2015 to May 2018: Magazines of Fantasy and Science Fiction in which I’ve Published Stories Plus the New Novella and Flash Fiction in the Dystopia Anthology Lisa Mason #magazinestories #anthologystory #novella #sciencefiction #fantasy #nearfuture #speculativefiction #publishedstories #publishednovella

May 3, 2018 //

If you’d like to subscribe The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, now in its 69^th year of continuous publication, please go to https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/subscribe.htm. There is an online edition, and you can probably acquire these back issues (or any recent back issue), too.

From the top left:
“Teardrop” May-June 2015
“Tomorrow Is A Lovely Day” November-December 2015
“Anything For You” September-October 2016
One Day in the Life of Alexa (Bast Books) May 2017

“Riddle” September-October 2017
“Aurelia” January-February 2018
“The Bicycle Whisperer” May-June 2018
“Dangerous” Welcome to Dystopia (ed. Gordon Van Gelder, O/R Books) January 2018

So there you have it, my friends. I’ll be doing an interview with the magazine regarding “The Bicycle Whisperer” in May or June. In meantime, enjoy the issue. If you’ve got a kind word to say about my story, please review it on your blogsite, review site, Facebook, Twitter, or wherever else you roam online.

Your participation really matters. Thank you for your readership!

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/

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 "Aurelia", "Dangerous" in Welcome to Dystopia, "The Bicycle Whisperer", "The Bicycle Whisperer" in May-June 2018 Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Anything For You, 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, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Riddle, Riddle by Lisa Mason, Riddle in the September-October 2017 Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Teardrop, Teardrop by Lisa Mason, Tomorrow Is A Lovely Day, Tomorrow Is A Lovely Day by Lisa Mason

Categories "Aurelia" by Lisa Mason, "Aurelia" in the January-February 2018 of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, "Aurelia" in the January-February Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, "Dangerous", "The Bicycle Whisperer", "The Bicycle Whisperer" in May-June 2018 FandSF, 2018, Aging, Anything For You, Anything For You by Lisa Mason, Authors, Bast Books, Bicycles, Books, Booksellers, Bookstore, bookstores, Contemporary Fantasy, contemporary women, Dark modern fantasy, dystopia, Erotic Horror, Facebook Author Page, Facebook Personal Page, Fantasy, Futuristic Fiction, Goodreads Book Review, Goodreads Review, Gordon Van Gelder, 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, Longevity, Longevity Drug, Magazine Story, Magazines, modern fantasy, Near Future, New Story by Lisa Mason, Novella, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Print Book, Published Book, Published Stories, Published Story, Published Worldwide, Refugees, Review of "Anything For You", Review of "Teardrop", Reviews of "Tomorrow Is A Lovely Day" by Lisa Mason, Riddle, Riddle by Lisa Mason, Riddle in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Runaways, San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book, Science fiction, Speculative Fiction, Stories, Teardrop, Teardrop by Lisa Mason, The Bicycle Whisperer, The Bicycle Whisperer in May-June 2018 FandSF Magazine, Tomorrow Is A Lovely Day, Tomorrow Is A Lovely Day by Lisa Mason

Another New Five-Star Review for One Day in the Life of Alexa In Print, Also An #Ebook on #Kindle worldwide, #BarnesandNoble, #Apple #Smashwords #Kobo Lisa Mason #SFWApro #longevity #aging #geneticengineering #refugees #sciencefiction #mainstream

November 16, 2017 //

Another new Five Star review from November, 2017:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1546783091/
“When her home is bombed by Serbs Alexa Denisovitch flees Kosovo with her mother. She meets the obnoxious Marya who joins her family emigrating to the US. Living in NYC in poverty Alexa and Marya’s infant child are accepted as a tester of Longeva, a life extending drug being developed by GenGineer Laboratories, so they can be paid. The treatments includes diet and exercise routines that must be followed to keep the payments coming. Bad political, environmental and personal events happen to and around Alexa yet she continues struggling to survive.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” about one man’s struggle to live one day at a time in the horror of a Soviet gulag. It is a great book, and very depressing. Ivan struggles to survive one more day finding internal resources that allow him to last another day of hopelessness.
Lisa Mason’s character Alexa is not imprisoned in a gulag, but she is caught in the conviction she must continue the life-extending drug regime to stay alive. She tries to make the world a better place for other refugees, but side effects of the drugs limit her. She 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 lay is not depressing but uplifting for this reader.”

And here’s another new Five Star review on Amazon:
5.0 out of 5 starsLisa Mason doesn’t disappoint us on that issue and gives us a look …
By R Bruce Milleron 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 from Goodreads:

One Day in the Life of Alexa, by Lisa Mason (Bast Books, 2017) 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. . . . 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. . . . [An] absorbing read with an appealing narrator and subtly powerful emotional rhythms.

So there you have it, my friends. I hope you’ll check out One Day in the Life of Alexa at BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo. On Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. Order on Amazon IN PRINT at https://www.amazon.com/One-Life-Alexa-Lisa-Mason/dp/1546783091 or direct from the Printer: https://www.createspace.com/7181096

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 in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. BACK IN PRINT at https://www.createspace.com/7257603 or on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Love-Travel-Lisa-Mason/dp/1548106119/

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 in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. BACK IN PRINT at https://www.createspace.com/7511748 or on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Gilded-Age-Time-Travel/dp/1975853172/

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 in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. NOW IN PRINT! ORDER at https://www.createspace.com/title/7675783 and on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1978148291/.

One Day in the Life of Alexa. On BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo. On Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. Order on Amazon IN PRINT at https://www.amazon.com/One-Life-Alexa-Lisa-Mason/dp/1546783091 or direct from the Printer: https://www.createspace.com/7181096

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. SOON IN PRINT!

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

Cyberweb (sequel to Arachne). is on US Kindle, BarnesandNoble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also 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.

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 in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands.

Shaken 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.

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

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, Five Star Review, 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, literary science fiction, Longevity, Longevity Drug, mainstream, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Refugees, science fiction, Scientific Experiment, War Refugee

Categories 2017, Aging, Authors, Bast Books, Book Distributors, Book Marketing, Book Review, Books, Booksellers, Bookstore, bookstores, Certified Reseller, Ebooks, Five Star Review, Goodreads, Goodreads Book Review, Goodreads Review, 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, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Refugees, Science fiction

“An appealing narrator and subtly powerful emotional rhythms” One Day in the Life of Alexa A Kindle Select Ebook Only Till Friday Also in Print #longevity #aging #geneticengineering

August 8, 2017 //

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.

1–Order in PRINT TODAY at https://www.createspace.com/7181096

2–Ask your local bookstore to order the book. Here is the ISBN: 978-1546783091. (We will publish detailed guidelines for certified resellers to order the book later this week.)

3–One Day in the Life of Alexa is also offered worldwide IN PRINT ON AMAZON at the following sites and on Kindle Select only until August 11, 2017 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.

4—Order in print on Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/One-Life-Alexa-Lisa-Mason/dp/1546783091/

5–Or Order Your Book Directly from Bast Books at http://www.lisamason.com/alexa.html

A contender for the 2017 Philip K. Dick Award

From Goodreads, the first review:
“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. ….. [A]n absorbing read with an appealing narrator and subtly powerful emotional rhythms.”

Lisa Mason has published nine novels including Summer of Love (a Philip K. Dick Award Finalist and San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book), The Gilded Age (a New York Times Notable Book and New York Public Library Recommended Book), Strange Ladies: 7 Stories (a collection of previously published short fiction), and thirty stories and novellas in magazines and anthologies worldwide. Her Omni story, “Tomorrow’s Child,” sold outright as a feature film to Universal Studios. Her dark modern fantasy, “Riddle,” will appear in the September-October 2017 68th Anniversary issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

From the author of Summer Of Love, A Time Travel (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 in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands.

The Gilded Age, A Time Travel (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 in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands.

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

Celestial Girl, A Lily Modjeska Mystery (Five stars) 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.

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 Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author, literary science fiction, Longevity, mainstream, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Refugees, science fiction, Scientific Experiment, War Refugee

Categories 2017, Aging, Authors, Bast Books, Book Review, Books, Bookstore, Ebooks, Goodreads Book Review, 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, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Print Book, Published Book, Refugees, Science fiction

First Review of One Day in the Life of Alexa by Lisa Mason. In Print! Also A Kindle Select Ebook! #SFWApro #longevity #geneticengineering #warrefugees #scientificexperiment #sciencefiction

July 3, 2017 //

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, 2017) 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. And youth, for she ages only very slowly (and Little Monster takes years to achieve what normal babies do in months) and in her mid-fifties still appears as a very young adult. Every so often, disaster strikes, whether the Moon fracturing into “lunettes” or a supervolcano eruption or a terrorist bombing, but Alexa always manages to survive. Although the Testers are carefully separated from one another, she manages to connect with one, the only man who can understand what her life is like; after a period of pastel, childless marital bliss, he falls over dead due to a “lethal gene.” 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

1–Order in PRINT TODAY at https://www.createspace.com/7181096

2–Ask your local bookstore to order the book. Here is the ISBN: 978-1546783091. (The book should distribute to bookstores worldwide in about five weeks.)

3–One Day in the Life of Alexa is also offered worldwide IN PRINT ON AMAZON at the following sites and on Kindle Select for a limited time only (until August 11, 2017) 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.

4–Or Order A Signed Copy of Your Book Directly from Bast Books at http://www.lisamason.com/alexa.html

A contender for the 2017 Storyteller Competition.
A contender for the 2017 Philip K. Dick Award.

Lisa Mason has published nine novels including Summer of Love (a Philip K. Dick Award Finalist and San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book), The Gilded Age (a New York Times Notable Book and New York Public Library Recommended Book), Strange Ladies: 7 Stories (a collection of previously published short fiction), and two dozen stories and novellas in magazines and anthologies worldwide. Her Omni story, “Tomorrow’s Child,” sold outright as a feature film to Universal Studios.

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, Genetic Engineering, 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, literary science fiction, Longevity, mainstream, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Refugees, science fiction, Scientific Experiment, War Refugee

Categories 2017, Aging, Authors, Books, Bookstore, Ebooks, Goodreads, Goodreads Book Review, 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, One Day in the Life of Alexa, Refugees

Goodreads Review of Hyperion by Dan Simmons Lisa Mason #SFWApro

November 14, 2013 //

I read this book when it was released to great fanfare and acclaim in the 1990s and gave it five stars. Recently, though, I reread the book to prepare for my new science fantasy, Chrome Cobra, and must revise my earlier assessment.

That’s life for a reader. Some works are better than you remember upon rereading years later; some are a little worse; some are huge disappointments.

Hyperion is hardly a disappointment, but not quite the book I remember.

Simmons expertly sets up the premise for the entire (very long) book in a concise Prologue. The Consul receives a communication from the Hegemony that he has been chosen to be one of seven pilgrims on a pilgrimage to the dreaded mysterious Time Tombs on the planet Hyperion. The Shrike, a bloody, invincible, supernatural entity defying all known laws of reality and connected to the Time Tombs, is stalking Hyperion once again. The pilgrims must go confront the Shrike, knowing full well that all but one will die a horrible death at the Shrike’s hands. Meanwhile, vicious pillaging aliens known as the Ousters are launching an all-out attack on the worlds of the Hegemony and may threaten the pilgrims’ ability to confront their fates.

Writers are always exhorted to “show, don’t tell,” and the Prologue is delivered in a Mission Impossible-style info dump that smacks of telling (and there is no “if you should choose to accept it”). Simmons delivers all this in such an engaging style, with shots of whiskey being poured, that the reader mostly won’t notice. Sometimes an author needs to deliver a complex setup in this manner. For writers, Simmons’ take is worth pondering.

The seven chosen ones are ordinary folk from all walks of life, not sworn inductees into a military. Though Simmons tries hard to convince us they have no choice, you have to wonder why any or all of them don’t flee to the farthest planet and wait for the kindly Hegemony to track them down and punish them. What are the sanctions of refusing? Upon rereading, I saw this as a huge logical hole. I wasn’t convinced the chosen ones had no choice the way Dune’s Paul Harkonnen is the chosen one who must fulfill his destiny.

Like Dune, Hyperion is deeply concerned with religious philosophy and spiritual mysticism, in this case Christianity and Catholicism in particular.

The literary conceit of Hyperion is taken from the classic Canterbury Tales, in which seven pilgrims tell their tales en route to their destination. You don’t usually find such literary references in science fiction, and this places Hyperion a cut above the rest. But Simmons plunks each pilgrim’s tale amid the complex melodramatic background of Shrike and Ousters in more lengthy info dumps for which I began to have less patience. To Simmons’ credit, he invents each pilgrim’s tale in a voice to fit the character: the drunken poet, the serious priest, the hard-boiled woman detective, and so on. I’m a huge admirer of authors who give characters their own voices, rather than stamping them all out in the author’s voice.

Precise SFnal details about interstellar travel and the resulting time distortions round out a deeply conceived world.

So there you have it, my friends. Hyperion is one of the science fiction masterpieces of the twentieth century. My early five stars went down to four, but that’s just me.

New! Visit me at Lisa Mason’s Official Website for books, ebooks, stories, screenplays, forthcoming projects, adorable pet pix, and more.

Visit me on my Facebook Author Page, on Amazon, on my Facebook Profile Page, on Goodreads, on LinkedIn, on Twitter at @lisaSmason, at Smashwords, and at Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

If you enjoy a work, please “Like” it, add five stars, write a review on the site where you acquired it, blog it, Tweet it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

Your participation really matters.

Thank you for your readership!

Tags authors, books, Goodreads, Goodreads Book Review, Hyperion by Dan Simmons, 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

Categories 2013, Authors, Books, Goodreads, Goodreads Book Review, 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

Goodreads Review of The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly Lisa Mason #SFWApro

November 14, 2013 //

I’m not a huge fan of crime fiction but pick one up now and then. I write an urban fantasy series (The Garden of Abracadabra) and will launch a science fantasy series (Chrome Cobra) in 2014, both of which employ crime fiction tropes. So I like to verify my own research into police procedure with books that inhabit the nitty-gritty realm of cops and crime.

In The Concrete Blonde, Michael Connelly expertly sets up a killer premise: On a hot tip, Detective Harry Bosch bursts into a seedy apartment of the serial killer he’s been tracking down and shoots him, an unarmed naked man, dead. Flash-forward four years, and Bosch has been sued by the wife of the decedent for excessive police force. Just as he’s going to trial, a note identical to the notes left by the dead serial killer is dropped off at the police station indicating where a victim has been buried in concrete. The police collect the body, which has all the identical signatures of the dead killer, but the victim was murdered after Bosch shot him. Did Bosch kill the wrong man? Is the Dollmaker still out there?

How can the reader resist?

Be forewarned: We swiftly slide into the sordid underworld of prostitution, pornography, and psychopathic sexual killers. Everything you ever wanted to know about this world, Connelly shares in abundant detail.

Like Raymond Chandler and Sue Grafton, Connelly grounds the realistic story in precise details about the fascinating complex city of Los Angeles. A crime journalist before he embarked on fiction, the author has got the police vibe nailed down. And what could be a hard sell—Bosch is a numbed-out laconic cop obsessed with apprehending evil, defending himself for doing his job, and defensive about his own sordid past—is nicely tempered by his lover, a sunny, demonstrative woman who endures his silences.

I have a few niggling complaints. Connelly is capable of lovely insights (“Hope was the lifeblood of the heart”) but sometimes trots out awkward jarring sentences that feel careless. He sometimes loses control of a scene, such as when the psychiatrist-expert in sexual deviation delivers long info dumps to the unresponsive Bosch.

So there you have it, my friends. Four and a half stars. If you like to relax with murder and depravity and the brave damaged souls who fight it, you can’t do much better than Michael Connelly.

New! Visit me at Lisa Mason’s Official Website for books, ebooks, stories, screenplays, forthcoming projects, adorable pet pix, and more.

If you enjoy a work, please “Like” it, add five stars, write a review on the site where you acquired it, blog it, Tweet it, post it, and share the word with your family and friends.

Your participation really matters.

Thank you for your readership!

Tags authors, books, Goodreads Book Review, 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, The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly

Categories 2013, Authors, Books, Goodreads, Goodreads Book Review, 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 Urban Fantasy Author

#Goodreads Review of My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (Lisa Mason #SFWApro)

October 21, 2013 //

If some genre authors don’t have much to say but craft lively stories employing genre tropes, then some mainstream authors employ their literary prowess to hold forth on significant themes and characterizations that in the end amount to shallow stories. (Full disclosure: I’m bored by family sagas, quirky dark secrets and all.)

This author brings her considerable literary prowess to a story that could have been ripped from the headlines: Anna, a young teen, who was purposefully conceived as a DNA match to provide blood and bone marrow to her beloved sister mortally ill with leukemia, files a law suit for her medical emancipation from her obsessive controlling parents.

Why? Because after years of emotionally draining and painful blood draws and bone marrow harvests, now her sister’s kidneys are failing and the parents want to harvest Anna’s kidney. Anna just can’t take it anymore.

The incendiary family drama unfolds in shifting POVs and time inversions with the compelling authenticity of technical names for medicines and medical procedures, causes of action and legal procedures, and a parent’s anguish over the pain of a sick child.

In an earlier day, the cancerous child would have died at age three, the grieving parents could have conceived another, and life would have gone on. I don’t know if the author intended this, but the modern medical technology that enables such manipulation of life strikes me as both miraculous and ghoulish.

I really wanted to love this book. *SPOILER ALERT* But I can’t. I don’t object to a dark, ironic end. Or a tragic end. Or an end with a twist. (Like Romeo and Juliet, for instance.) Or an end where the villain (or a villain) gets away with it. (Like Silence of the Lambs.)

But a story’s end should fulfill the inevitable logic of the story. We as readers, however surprised, should be able to say, “This is how the story had to end.” After four hundred pages plus, the end of this book struck me as perfunctory, arbitrary, and nothing less than horrifying, unfairly brutal, even punitive toward the one character we care most about. Four stars for the literary prowess (after the tight beginning, the round-robin of POVs tends to drift) and minus four stars for the end. That leaves me with zero. Sorry, Ms. Picoult, I love your writing. Unrated.

For urban fantasy, science fiction, fantasy, romantic suspense, humor, and a screenplay, visit the Virtual Bookstore! All Lisa Mason Titles, All Links, All Readers, Worldwide. NYT Notable Book Author https://lisamasontheauthor.com/2013/08/31/virtual-bookstore-fantasy-science-fiction-urban-fantasy-romantic-suspense-literary-screenplay-sfwapro/

Visit me at Lisa Mason’s Official Website for books, ebooks, stories, and screenplays, forthcoming projects and more, 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, and at Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

If you enjoy this 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 authors, Book Review, books, Goodreads, Goodreads Book Review, 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

Categories 2013, About Writing, Authors, Book Review, Goodreads, Goodreads Book Review, 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

#Goodreads Review of The Alienist by Caleb Carr (Lisa Mason, #SFWApro)

October 21, 2013 //

I love historical fiction, historical mysteries, and the 1890s in particular, and this book is a fine example of the genre. The author’s prodigious research underlies a harrowing tale: police in 1897 New York City are finding murdered children, an increasing number of them, in strange, out-of-the-way locations. They’re baffled. Is a serial killer on the loose?

But such jargon doesn’t even exist then, and the police lack the sophisticated forensic technologies we have today. Even fingerprinting is an iffy proposition. The traditional approach of motive and the likely suspects yields no results. Enter the eponymous Alienist, a detective pioneering a methodology we know today as “profiling,” analyzing the “who” as much as the “why.”

Carr’s flashes of wit relieve the grim story as he pokes gentle fun at the twenty-course, all-night feasts at Delmonico’s (one member of the team has to be “forcibly separated from the lamb”) and the terror of a street urchin who may possess crucial information as he confronts the cheerful circle of detectives eagerly quizzing him about his squalid life.

*SPOILER ALERT* The mystery is ingeniously solved, the psycho-killer is trapped and apprehended in an action-packed climax, and we the readers may close the book knowing there is some justice in the world. Recommended.

If you enjoy this 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 authors, Book Review, books, Goodreads, Goodreads Book Review, lisa, Lisa Mason, Lisa Mason Fantasy and Science Fiction Author on Facebook, Lisa Mason on Facebook, Lisa Mason Romantic Suspense Author, Lisa Mason Urban Fantasy Author

Categories 2013, About Writing, Authors, Book Review, Books, Goodreads, Goodreads Book Review, 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