Lieutenant Colonel Ted Mason, USA (ret.) is “a retired Foreign Service and Army Reserve Officer, with overseas postings in Europe and in the Third World. As a political analyst for the Air Force and later the US European Command Headquarters, he covered the tumultuous events leading to independence in France's former colonies. As a Public Affairs Officer he directed American Cultural and Information activities at U.S. missions overseas. A graduate of Yale University” he is also the author of Tales Before Midnight and Hostage to the Future.

According to the book description of Hostage to the Future, “A mercenary invasion? A coup d’état? Civil War? Or maybe it's all an elaborate plot to discredit the American Embassy in the island republic of Sharqiya. Ambassador Hal Potter was once a professor, and an expert on French colonialism. Now he will need all his knowledge--and diplomatic skill--to hold his fractious team together in the face of the dangers that threaten to destroy them all.”

One reader of Hostage to the Future said, “I found the book to be very tight, although with a few errors easily fixed by a good copy editor. The author doesn't waste words, unlike so many "popular" writers - no wading through pages of unnecessary descriptions. Anyone who's been involved in diplomatic circles can easily recognize many of the characters and their motivations, and for those who haven't, you may see many aspects of some regular old people you know. The local color is indicative of the author's familiarity with his subject, and is very easily fit into the story. The plot is not a new one, but who's seen anything in the news lately which hasn't been there before? There are twists and turns, some anticipated and many not. It's overall a good, well written story with the ability to take you into the pages, and with an uncomplicated, un-Hollywood, plot - just like real life.”

According to the book description of Tales Before Midnight, “This remarkable volume of stories from the author of Hostage to Fortune has been produced over a lifetime of writing. Tales Before Midnight explores a wide range of human emotion and events, from a city terrorized by a wild beast to the amusing spectacle of a gang of tree climbers just trying to stay out of trouble. There's the wealthy merchant and his teen-age bride, the Malagasy totocaf in Beethoven's Vienna and the mysterious stowaway who witnesses the guilty deeds of his fellow voyagers - or does he? A young and imaginative writer gets an early lesson in prejudice and censorship. A columnist tries to blackmail a crusading senator, a doctor once convicted of euthanasia is asked years later to commit the same act again, and a forgotten French town is liberated by a deserter and experiences close calls in a satirical retrospective of Cold War Europe. Tales Before Midnight rewrites the old adage that "truth is stranger than fiction". Certainly in these stories, fiction is often truer than truth.”