M. Randolph Mason, author, artist, and musician, stands at the helm of a sailboat against a backdrop of stormy clouds.
An artist's hand paints vibrant fruits on a paper while a cup of tea rests nearby, indicating an ongoing creative process.

M Randolph Mason’s Literary Works in Progress

Check out M Randolph Mason’s literary works in progress. These in-development manuscripts offer contemporary literary fiction with emotionally complex characters and carefully observed human challenges. Get an early look at these stories currently underway.
A person in a boat surrounded by grass, wearing a blue raincoat, appears to be navigating through a rain shower under a green tree.

Rowboat

A contemporary literary fiction manuscript is complete.
To read an excerpt from Rowboat, click here. Overview How can a right-brained, emotionally insecure watercolor artist with an obsession for rowboats promise to save the life of a man crushed in a freak accident? Hunter, a totally left-brained engineer, underestimates Morgan's determination. Rowboat is a story of persistence and family relationships. The cover is original art by the author.
A person in a boat surrounded by grass, wearing a blue raincoat, appears to be navigating through a rain shower under a green tree.

Moonie

A contemporary literary fiction manuscript is complete.
To read an excerpt from Moonie, click here. Overview Moonie fled from her husband… and he caught up with her. She escaped at least one more time. He violently… and maliciously… destroyed her. She would be fit for no man. For thirty years she ran from him. The thirty years were just a head start… but not enough for her. Mutilated and barren and disillusioned… and terrified. No phone. No credit cards. No address. Just rags. She was trying to catch a break outside the seafood joint where she waited tables. With a stream of epithets, the man managed to break his ankle… compound fracture… in the midst of her quiet time in the sunshine. She advised her boss that she was leaving to drive him to the hospital. He fired her. The stranger… Richard… recovered from the broken ankle. But Moonie would never get well. Violence… slavery… flight… and fear… the repair of such is a fool’s errand. Unless you stir in love, compassion, and self-sacrifice… and friends and family. Cover art is by the author.
A person in a boat surrounded by grass, wearing a blue raincoat, appears to be navigating through a rain shower under a green tree.

Painted Sailor

A contemporary literary fiction: manuscript is complete. To read an excerpt from Painted Sailor, click here. Overview Lily choked on the odor of her vocation. She summed it up as Stench! Breathing air that reeked of gutted catch… despite last night’s hosing down by teenaged boat hands. She ignored the tourists… and they avoided her… the tourists… and the boat hands. Sitting on the dockside locker, she felt about as attractive as yesterday’s gutted catch. She too, could use a good hosing down. How had it come to this? There was nothing left. Lily was at the bottom. Her life’s barrel had been drained. Standing in the dregs of her life, Lily chose the quick exit. She looked up into the early morning sun. Her pupils contracted to mere pinpoints in deep brown irises. The intense sunlight melted whatever self-esteem she still possessed. Her left hand emptied its contents into her gapping, beckoning mouth. She swallowed. Matthew is a social disaster. A man acquainted with self-enforced loneliness; by chance, he sees a lone flip-flop at the edge of the dock… and then, on closer inspection, a girl lying in a small boat beneath the dock. Matthew and Lily haven’t met… yet… but they do need each other. The cover is orginal art by the author
A serene drawing of a woman gently touching her face, with long, wavy hair and a small bird nearby, symbolizing introspection and connection.

The Sanderling

A contemporary literary fiction manuscript in progress with a completed storyboard.
To read an excerpt from The Sanderling, click here. Overview Irene is a statistician for the government and the sole support for her mother. T. Phillip Jefferson has a few issues, which he stoically holds at bay. Did I tell you that beautiful Irene has been accidentally blinded in one eye? The Sanderling is a story of triumph over tragedy, pride, and stoicism. The cover is original art by the author.