Mason McCann Smith

Mason McCann Smith fell in love with fiction at an early age -- the historical novels of Thomas Costain; the writing of Ray Bradbury, Anne McCaffrey, and Kurt Vonnegut; and Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow." His first historical novel, "When the Emperor Dies," was published by Random House in his mid-twenties. The London Times called it "a splendid first novel," and the El Paso Times said it was "historically sound, panoramic, and perfectly executed."

Living now in Portland, Oregon, he enjoys backpacking trips in the Sierras and the Cascades and sails his one-man dinghy on stormy days in the Willamette River. And, he writes. Three of his novels are available: the historical novels "The Stained Glass Virgin" and "March on Magdala," and the suspense-thriller "Oliver in Bronze."

About "The Stained Glass Virgin," Kirkus Reviews wrote: "The book churns with a brutal, lyrical physicality of bodies, torture and lust.... Thoughtful, well-researched and passionate."