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This week, I thought I'd share with you the author quiz that I Heart SapphFic has on their website. The first time I took it, I only got 85 percent of the answers right, so I guess I don't know myself as well as I thought! The Janet Mason Challenge - I Heart SapphFic | Find Your Next Sapphic Fiction Read She stared straight at the viewer. The Lens of Eternity: Queer Lives from Two Pandemics, my hybrid memoir highlighting the life of noted

I am delighted to tell you about my new hybrid memoir that was just published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. The name of the book is The Lens of Eternity: Queer Love from Two Pandemics. The book reflects on my year of quarantining in 2020 with my partner. This was an interesting year for us because we had just gone to a vegan, plant-based diet so that was new and interesting to us in the midst of the devastation of the pandemic. I combine our lives with those of the noted phot

Since it is Labor Day weekend, I thought I would repost this Labor Day Unitarian Universalist service, which I did years ago, in which I read from my book Tea Leaves: a memoir of mothers and daughters (Bella Books; 2012). The You Tub video is below and the text is pasted below that. Enjoy! keeping our dreams intact when we are forced to work mind-numbing jobs Good morning. Today on Labor Day weekend our theme is labor. I immediately thought of this section of my book Tea L

I occasionally do book reviews and thought I would share this one of the story "The Romance Bet" by the lesbian author who goes by Jae. The review is below, recorded for Book Tube, and the text is below that. I was delighted to find that, now and then, you can read a piece of fiction that completely changes your perception. That was my experience when I read the short story titled “The Romance Bet” by the lesbian author who goes by Jae.In this story, a female reporter (named

I thought I would post a very short excerpt from my novel CINNAMON, a dairy cow's (and her farmer's) path to freedom (Adelaide Books--New York & Lisbon). This excerpt, which in many ways speaks for itself, is told from the point of view of Cinnamon, a dairy cow, who is in the field talking to Spice, her best cow friend. I recorded a YouTube video (below), and under that I've pasted the text. We both stood for a moment in silence. We were tired of being defined by humans – of

Today, I thought I'd post a reflection I did for a Unitarian Universalist service that I participated in -- in which I reflect on my pilgrimage in the past that I took to the birthplace of the lesbian poet Sappho, who lived on the island of Lesvos in Greece and my forthcoming memoir LOST, A Daughter Navigates Father Loss and Discovers What It Means to Belong. The YouTube recording of the talk is below and beneath that is the text. When I first heard that Cathy was planning a

I wanted to share a brief excerpt from CINNAMON, a dairy cow's (and her farmer's) path to freedom a novel that I wrote that is near and dear to my heart. Perhaps the reason for this is that I have known some cows personally and they have told me their stories. This excerpt features Cinnamon, a dairy cow, as she learns about something called money. I recorded the excerpt for YouTube, and the text is below that. “Don’t be silly. There’s always a pecking order – even among cows,

Today, I'm sharing a review I wrote of my late friend's book Why Is That Goddamned Radio On? essays and stories Jim Cory. The Book Tube review is below, and the text of the review is posted below that. I became acutely aware while reading the late Jim Cory's last published book, Why Is That Goddamned Radio On? Essays and Stories Jim Cory by Radiator Press, that Jim wrote about loss, about people, places, and things that no longer exist. Then I realized that this is true of mo

This week, I thought I'd post a short excerpt from my novel CINNAMON, a dairy cow's (and her farmer's) path to freedom (published by Adelaide Books in Lisbon and New York). In this excerpt, Cinnamon is chewing her cud as she converses with her cow friend Spice and thinks things over. Suddenly, her predicament is beginning to make sense. The short piece is recorded below on YouTube and below that is the text. I shook my head in amazement. I saw an orange butterfly flit by out

This week, I participated in putting together and leading a Unitarian Universalist service on the topic of taking care of the brain and forgiveness. I mentioned climate catastrophe in my talk (in the best way to eat for the environment), and it just so happened that the air quality was the worst it has ever been this week. Right on time, as usual. The video of my talk is below, and the text is below that. I don’t need to tell you that we’re living through a difficult time. Sh

Today, I thought I'd post a short excerpt from my novel CINNAMON, a dairy cow's (and her farmer's) path to freedom. In talking to her best cow friend, Spacie, Cinnamon learns to speak up. It's important to remember that we all need to do this, especially when we are giving voice to the voiceless. I really did not know what to say. But I did have one thing to say about our previous conversation. In fact, I couldn’t help myself. I had almost interjected this when she was talkin

Imagine that you're a dairy cow trying to make sense of your world. This short excerpt from CINNAMON, a dairy cow's (and her farmer's) path to freedom, does just that. I shook my head in amazement. I saw an orange butterfly flit by I shook my head in amazement. I saw an orange butterfly flit by out of the corner of my eye. There must be some interesting flowers around here. Spice gave me a stern look that snapped me back to attention. “This land isn’t free – even though it fe

In honor of this last weekend of Pride Month, I've decided to post a brief excerpt from my novel THEY, a biblical tale of secret genders that involves the Bible, intersex twins, the Goddess Ishtar, and a story. After being harassed online for my novel THEY, a biblical tale of secret genders (published by Adelaide Books--New York and Lisbon--in 2018), I made a commitment to myself to keep getting the word out about THEY because the harassment said to me that the novel is still

I decided to post this brief excerpt from my novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage (from Thorned Heart Press) in honor of Pride Month. But I go to thinking that in my book (or books), Pride is every month. In this excerpt, my character Grace is taking the bus to the shopping mall in the 1970s when she is an adolescent and falls asleep dreaming about Art, a girl she knows from high school. The bus vibrated under her. She could feel the wheel

I was saddened to hear about the recent passing of David Hockney, a major artist and an openly gay man. To honor him, I thought I would repost this review I did of Life of David Hockney, a novel by Catherine Cussett. David Hockney is one of our pioneers: a well-known artist and a gay man. As a person – with his loves and inspirations —the two have never been separate. David Hockney hails from the working-class city of Bradford England, the same place that my mother’s ancest

Happy Pride! In honor of Pride Month, I thought I would repost this section of my novel, Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of love, revolution, and marriage (published by Thorned Heart Press). ____ My novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of love, revolution, and marriage (Thorned Heart Press) was featured by Jae this week in her Sapphic Book Bingo 2025 under her category of main characters who ride a motorcycle. This led me to post the ending of the novel. Enjoy! A

Recently, I was watching a vegan podcast that covered the response to Billie Eilish's comments that you can't eat meat and claim to love animals. I was surprised to hear so many young people on social media being so defensive and saying that "vegans think they're better than everybody." For the record, I don't think I'm better than anyone. I think I'm lucky. I came to veganism at sixty--late, because of a health issue, and shortly after experienced a consciousness-raising abo

In honor of World Turtle Day, I thought I'd repost this published excerpt from my novel in progress Dick Moby. The excerpt features a talking sea turtle! I was delighted to learn that a segment from my novel in progress is now being published by Adelaide Literary Magazine. The story is below. TRAPPED AND IMAGING (?) A TALKING SEA TURTLE by Janet Mason At first, I pretend that I’m not trapped. How could I be? Afterall, I named myself Dick Moby—after that thick book I found flo

This week, I thought I would post a brief excerpt from my novel, CINAMMON, a dairy cow's (and her farmer's) path to freedom, published by Adelaide Books in New York and Lisbon. The YouTube video of me reading is posted below. And the text is below that. Enjoy! “But they are right when it comes to the sacredness of cows. You’ve heard the saying ‘Holy Cow!’ – well that goes back to the cattle cults in Northern Africa. You may have heard of the goddess Hathor in ancient Egypt. S

I’m excited to share that my novel, The Unicorn, The Mystery, will be featured in an upcoming Author Spotlight with a Cincinnati-based LGBT book club. Note: This event was originally scheduled for May 9th and has been rescheduled for Date: May 25, 2026 The session on May 25, will begin at 12:00 PM Pacific Time, which would be 3:00 PM Eastern Time for you in Philadelphia. The session will bring together a group of engaged readers for a guided discussion exploring the themes an