Ridgewood graduate publishes two new books
RIDGEFIELD, WA – In 2015, Ridgewood graduate Heidi Mason published her first book, “Investigate the Heart”. To her surprise, the book ranked number two on amazon.com in its genre, romantic suspense.
“I was pretty pleased about that,” said Mason. “It’s been exciting for sure.”
Recently, Mason published two new books. Last October, Mason published her second book in the “Follow Your Heart” series, “Goodnight, Sweetheart”. The story begins four months after the last book and follows the main characters, Liam and Emma O’Reilly, who are now happily married. The couple believes that they are destined to live happily ever after, but fate intervenes and has other plans for the newlyweds.
The second book will be released as an e-book on Nov. 26 and in print a couple of weeks after. The book, titled “Always Hope”, follows the story of recently-divorced Hope West who lives in New York. At the young age of 18, she left home vowing never to return until she receives a mysterious phone call that pulls her back to her roots. As she goes through her mother’s attic, she discovers a box of letters that may contain the identity of her father, whom she never knew. With a chance run-in with her first love, Samuel, Hope may finally be able to find peace.
“The stories are just there,” said Mason. “They’re always bombarding me. I feel like I don’t have a choice. I have to write them down to get them out of my head. As a mom of three who homeschools, this is the thing that I have that’s completely mine. It keeps me in balance and it’s my stress relief.”
Mason said she has been interested in writing since junior high.
“I’ve always been shy,” she said. “I’m the kind of person who would rather listen than talk. I’m much better at putting my thoughts onto paper than articulating them. As long as I can remember, I’ve been writing something.”
In the past, Mason has written for newspapers and magazines, but she said it’s one thing to write a news article and something completely different creating an entire novel.
Mason’s stories start as a character in her mind that shows her just a piece of the story.
“The character comes first and the plot builds itself around the character,” she said. “It’s like meeting a new person and it’s like, Okay here you are. Let’s find out more about you.”
Mason said she thinks about a lot of scenes in her head before putting thought to paper. First, she begins a chapter by chapter outline and writes two or three sentences that summarizes what that chapter will be about. After the story is created as an outline, she sits down and starts typing to fill in the blanks.
“I feel like I’m watching a movie in my head and all I’m doing is putting the words I hear on the screen to paper,” said Mason.
After the final rough draft is finished, the book is shipped to her editors in Australia and read by at least six different people at the agency.
“It’s funny because I love the editing process because every time I see it, it gets better,” said Mason. “It’s fun to see what I started with and what the finished product looks like. The basic concept is there, but it’s a lot more polished.”
The 1994 Ridgewood graduate is currently working on her next novel that is based on a short story she wrote.
“I wrote a short story for Passion in Portland and it had a good reader response,” she said. “I’ve decided to take that short story and write a novel. It’s been tough because in my mind, it was already a full story. The story has already been told. But it’s been fun.”
All three of Mason’s books are available on amazon.com, Walmart.com, barnesandnoble.com, and anywhere you can buy e-books.
Category: People & Places
