BLOGWORDS – Thursday 17 April 2025 – NEW FEATURE - WRITING WEDNESDAY – ROBIN E. MASON

BLOGWORDS – Thursday 17 April 2025 – NEW FEATURE - WRITING WEDNESDAY – ROBIN E. MASON

NEW FEATURE - WRITING WEDNESDAY – ROBIN E. MASON

 

WRITING WEDNESDAY will be a weekly feature focused on my own writing, progress of my stories, my work in progress. Excerpts and anecdotes. And the occasional giveaway.

 

Today, I share the blurb from each of my previous books.

 

unsavory heritage

TESSA

 

One mother.  Two daughters.  One favorite.  One not. 

 

When Cassie Barclay is presented with an opportunity – or is it a curse – she jumps at the chance.  She takes on a new life, her sister’s life, and although at first, it holds appeal and promise, she soon realizes sometimes the fairy tale is tainted.

 

Assuming the name of Tessa, Cassie moves into the life that was her sister’s, and faces first one realization then another, one disappointment after another. Stepping into Connie’s life does not automatically grant her all that Connie had or was. But it does deny all that she had and was as Cassie. As herself.

 

Just when she believes her life is on an even keel, something comes along to ripple the waters and remind her of her secret. Until the day she gets a phone call that rips her world apart. Who is the mysterious caller? And who knows her secret?

 

CLARA BESS

Clara Bess wasn’t at all prepared for what she unearthed at the bottom of her mother’s keepsake box.  Not in with legal papers, not in her own baby book, not in the safe even.

 

On the day of her 50^th birthday, Clara Bess Caldwell was not with her family basking in the joy of a blissful Christmas Day winding down.  She was not enjoying eggnog or coffee by a fireplace, nor was she checking a goose roasting in the oven.

 

Clara Bess was at her mother’s house, going through her personal effects, something she had put off for several weeks.  Her children, her husband, her siblings, had all urged her to wait another day.  To not put herself through this ordeal on Christmas Day.

 “But it was her birthday, too.”  Clara Bess reminded them.

Clara Bess read, with shock and no small degree of confusion, the line on her birth certificate where her mother’s name should be.  It did not read Lily Isabella Mayes.

 

Clara Bess rode waves of confusion for several weeks, unsure what to make of the erroneous information.  Afraid it could be true, she couldn’t bring herself to go to the courthouse, or the hospital, to have it corrected.  Little things pinged in her memory, things that pointed to the unbelievable possibility.

 

Clara Bess was adopted.

Where, then, were the adoption papers?

 

CISSY

Evil words. Words that should never have been spoken. Words that she should not have heard.

But she did. And she believed them.

Everything changed when Cissy heard those words that day. She was five.

 

What torment is wrought when wicked words are spoken? Can Cissy’s ravaged life be redeemed? Or will she wreak havoc on all who love her?

 

Can the lie be undone? Is there a word powerful enough to break the curse and undo the unsavory heritage?

 

 

SEASONS

THE LONG SHADOWS OF SUMMER

Mercedes has always been an avid reader and devours each new Sherlock Holmes mystery as soon as she gets her hands on them. When one of her friends comes to her, Mercedes vows to keep Simone’s secrets and uncover the truth.

 

But Mercedes uncovers more questions than she does answers as she digs among the clues, among them one that unravels her own world and challenges who she really is.

 

 

 

 

THE TILTING LEAVES OF AUTUMN

Mercedes has always been an avid reader and devours each new Sherlock Holmes mystery as soon as she gets her hands on them. When one of her friends comes to her, Mercedes vows to keep Simone’s secrets and uncover the truth.

 

But Mercedes uncovers more questions than she does answers as she digs among the clues, among them one that unravels her own world and challenges who she really is.

 

 

 

 

THE SILENT SONG OF WINTER

Mercedes has always been an avid reader and devours each new Sherlock Holmes mystery as soon as she gets her hands on them. When one of her friends comes to her, Mercedes vows to keep Simone’s secrets and uncover the truth.

 

But Mercedes uncovers more questions than she does answers as she digs among the clues, among them one that unravels her own world and challenges who she really is.

 

 

 

 

THE WHISPERING WINDS OF SPRING

Mercedes has always been an avid reader and devours each new Sherlock Holmes mystery as soon as she gets her hands on them. When one of her friends comes to her, Mercedes vows to keep Simone’s secrets and uncover the truth.

 

But Mercedes uncovers more questions than she does answers as she digs among the clues, among them one that unravels her own world and challenges who she really is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOURSQUARE

FourSquare. Four stories of four couples who also happen to be four sets of twins.

 

ONE FOR THE PRICE OF TWO

How identical is too identical?

 

Twin sisters Elizabeth and Meredith Elliott are so identical their own parents can’t even tell them apart. Two halves of a whole.

Elizabeth, the more cautious of the two, reining in her sister’s impetuous side. Meredith, the more daring, urging Elizabeth to step beyond her comfort zone.

Elizabeth and Meredith walked in each other’s shadow; it’s what they did. Filling in for one another, switching places to prank their friends and to cover for one another in a pinch.

But when heartbreak befalls one of them—while the other’s heart and arms are fulfilled—will it drive a wedge between them?

 

NOTE: This story deals with issues—miscarriage and infertility—that might be difficult for some readers.

 

CHRISTMAS AT BLUE HERON INN

How many disasters can one Christmas holiday survive.

 

It all started with old wiring and a fire.

The Elliott family had always enjoyed gatherings with extended family and friends. Especially at Christmas. They had discovered Blue Mountain Chalet, near Asheville, North Carolina; it became their venue of choice, and had hosted their crowd the past three years.

Until the wiring in the hundred-year-old inn sparked a fire, destroying much of the beloved inn. And two weeks before Christmas, too.

With no venue, it seemed their fledgling holiday tradition was a bust. Until Gigi called on a friend who ran a B&B at Heron Cove. All systems were go and their holiday was rescheduled for the last week of January.

Until eighty-four-year-old Gigi had a stroke. On New Years Day. But with Gigi’s free spirit, and three weeks of recovery and therapy, and all systems were go. Again.

One disaster follows another as the family and friends gather to celebrate Christ’s birth. But even with a lost aunt and uncle, muddy dogs, a jellyfish sting, and dogs eating the turkey, there is joy and peace and laughter at Blue Heron Inn. And love. Lots of love.

 

NOTE: There is a brief episode of racism in this story that might be offensive to some readers.

 

And next Wednesday, an excerpt from my current WIP,

 

DOUBLE DOUBLE, WHO’S IN TROUBLE.

 

It’s all fun and games until somebody gets caught.

 

Jeremy and Jordan Jernigan both had a chip on their shoulder. A chip their father left there when he walked out on them. They were five.

It was every man for himself. Rules didn’t apply. Punishment and consequences flew out the window. Life was a lark.

 

Until they met the one friend who wasn’t a friend. Who promised to take care of them and protect them. But rules did apply with Big Mac. And punishment was harsh.

 

Will Jeremy and Jordan be there for each other as they always had? Will Jordan be able to rescue his twin when Jeremy ends up in jail? Or have they gone too far this time?

 

NOTE: This story deals with issues—juvenile delinquency, gangs, and drugs—that might be difficult for some readers.

 

 Cover reveal Friday 4 July.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“I’ve always had voices—er, stories in my head. I once said I should write them all down so someone could write them someday. I had no idea at the time that someone was me!”

 

My stories are deep and dark, my characters raw and real, with a healthy helping of hope and joy, humor and laughter, and abiding and sustaining faith.

My characters struggle in some way for their identity. Their stories are their journey to know who God created them to be.

There is also a strong element of friends, family, and faith in all my stories, and the difference it makes to have such a support system.

 

• unsavory heritage series—seven generations, from Cissy to Connie, each with their own secrets, one of which is ugly and unsavory, and initiates the curse they all bear
• Seasons series—four friends, each one struggling to know the truth of just what happened when one of them plunged into the depths of the black waters of the Edisto River
• FourSquare – Four stories about four couples who also happen to be four sets of twins.

 

 

“Maybe you have to know the darkness to truly appreciate the light.”—Madeline L’Engle

 

“There is freedom waiting for you on the breezes of the sky. And you ask, What if I fall? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?” —Erin Hanson

 

 

 

#Blogwords, NEW FEATURE, Writing Wednesday, Robin E. Mason, unsavory heritage, Seasons Series, FourSquare Series