Lior Samson

ALWAYS ME, my 14th novel, is a romantic mystery thriller and a new direction, following the release of EXIT PLANS, the stunning conclusion to The Homeland Connection novels that began in 2010 with my debut thriller, BASHERT, an ERIC HOFFER AWARD recipient that was included in the MIT class of 1967 50th reunion time capsule.

I write to get readers turning the pages and thinking about what they read. Readers and critics tell me I am succeeding. So who am I?

I am Lior Samson, although you won't find that name on my passport or my mailbox. I am frequently asked why I write under a pen name, particularly since my "real" name is hardly a secret. In this benign deception, I follow humbly in the footsteps of far greater writers, writers like the brilliant author of contemporary spy novels who publishes under the pen name of John le Carré, although his identity as David Cornwell has been known for decades.

Writing under a pen name serves several purposes, including marking out my fiction from all my other writing. In the half century since I sold my first technical article, I have had dozens of books and hundreds of papers and articles published. Along the way, I have garnered a handful of awards for both fiction and non-fiction.

My pen name also helps brand my fiction with a particular point of view that quickly becomes apparent to readers. I write, first and foremost, to be engaging and entertaining, to keep readers turning the pages. I also write from a perspective in which I want to challenge readers and, by challenging them, begin a conversation that will extend beyond the book to thinking and rethinking some of the issues that bedevil the modern world and modern society.

When I am not writing novels, I write serious choral and instrumental music, sing baritone wherever and whenever I can, cook gourmet meals for family and friends, and try to keep pace with my scientist wife and my four adult children. It's a full life.