M. Randolph Mason, author, artist, and musician, stands at the helm of a sailboat against a backdrop of stormy clouds.

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.

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.

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

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.