J. D. Mason is the national bestselling and award-winning author of the novels Don't Want No Sugar, One Day I Saw a Black King, and And on the Eighth Day She Rested. Her short fiction appears in the Zane anthology Blackgentlemen.com. She lives with her family in Denver.

"It’s a huge secret that I graduated high school by the skin of my teeth, and my last report card consisted of 4 Ds and 1 B. The B was in art. Needless to say, I absolutely loathed school, but given a second chance, I know I could do better. LOL!

I self published my first book five years after I started writing it and it sold a whopping 117 copies! Then I published it again, and it sold ten thousand copies. And finally, it was picked up by Monique Patterson at St. Martin ’s Press and published for the third time in 2003, and the rest is history. Becoming a writer is the one thing in life that I set my sites on, and saw it through to the end. It’s the one thing I know I’ll do until I take my last breath, whether I continue to get published or not." —J. D. Mason on SORMAG's Blog

You Gotta Sin to Get Saved
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Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312326580

"If you only read a few books a year, make this one of them!"
—Mary Monroe, New York Times bestselling author

Charlotte Rodgers has always wanted too much. Too much love, too much attention, and had too many big dreams. It was how she ended up abandoning her two daughters, Connie and Reesy to chase after a man and the promise of a dream life. But Charlotte never anticipated how her world would be irrevocably changed. Now, twenty-seven years later, her whole world shifts yet again with a letter from one of her daughters. And the past is about to bust wide open.

Reesy has always been obsessed with something. Obsessed with finding her birth mother. Obsessed with her sister’s life. Obsessed with her own adopted daughter never finding out that Reesy is really her aunt. With a neglected husband, who is unknowingly drifting further and further away, a sister who is trying to escape her well-meaning clutches, and a daughter becoming more and more curious about her true parentage, finding the mother she always dreamed about seems to be an answered prayer to Reesy. That is until Reesy is brought crashing back to earth to find that her perfect life is in tattered pieces.

Connie has always expected too little. Too little from the man she’s been living with for years. Too little from her modest jewelry business. And too little from her relationships, or lack thereof, with her daughter, mother and sister. And too little from herself. Until she discovers she is pregnant again and decides that this time she is keeping her baby, sending her life and her relationship into a tailspin. And rediscovering the mother who left them behind is the last thing she wants.

Thrown back together again, in a maelstrom of shocking truths, Charlotte, Reesy and Connie will discover on their journey to forgiveness and redemption that you just might have to sin first in order to be saved.

Sleep Don't Come Easy
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by Victor McGlothin & J.D. Mason (Author)

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Dafina (June 24, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758213794

National bestselling authors J.D. Mason and Victor McGlothin combine their literary talents to deliver a double dose of intrigue...

"The Lazarus Man" by J.D. Mason
When a young female city employee is murdered, the case brings together an unlikely team: an investigative reporter whose career is on the line, a lead detective who would rather work alone, and an elderly, delusional homeless man named Lazarus who frequents the shelter where the victim volunteered. Lazarus claims he witnessed the killing--though his hold on reality is questionable. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and with the detective at the helm, the trio soon unearths a shocking truth no one would have ever suspected...

"Tomorrow's Edge" by Victor McGlothin
Smart, sexy P.I. Vera Miles is an expert at finding people who don't want to be found. But her latest client is a rare, and possibly dangerous, exception: a handsome drifter with amnesia who believes he's killed someone--though he can't remember who or why. Is the man guilty of murder or innocent and in big trouble? With no clues, Vera takes a shot in the dark that sends her on a trail from the local diner to the medical examiner's office to the seedy digs of a street informant, all the way to the FBI. But as she gets closer to solving the mystery, Vera wonders if her client is better off without his memory...

This Fire Down in My Soul
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Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (January 8, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031230157X

When Faylene Watkins begins counseling women of her husband’s congregation atHope Filled Christian Center church, three women teach her the perils of love, sex and obsession.

Choir girl Elise thinks she’s found a good man in Jay, a truck driver who came blowing into her life. He’s caught up in romancing Elise, however, when she’s ready for happily ever after, Jay realizes that he can’t just walk away from his family.

When Renee starts her latest interior decorating project, she thinks her client’s husband is hot, and together, they’re on fire. Meanwhile his wife wants to be best friends.
Tess’s life has long revolved around her unfaithful husband and their two sons. But now the kids have left the nest and she wants to spread her wings. She meets a new man who rocks her world off its steady axis.

All the while, counselor Faye is keeping a secret of her own and much deeper than any one of them could ever imagine.

Don't Want No Sugar
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Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (November 29, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312348991

Everyone knew that Eula May had lost her mind over loving a married man. It was what drove her to kill herself and leave her only daughter, Roberta, in the care of the local midwife. So it was no wonder that Roberta became obsessed with Charles Harris the very first time she laid eyes on him. And she was willing to do whatever it took to make sure she was the only woman in his life. So when he is forced to marry her because of her unexpected pregnancy, Roberta feels that she has everything she ever wanted.

Women have always come easy to Charles, so he’s wondering how he got saddled with a wife he doesn’t love, two beautiful children, and a longing for something grander. Then he meets the stunning Sara Tate and discovers a love almost as consuming as the one Roberta feels for him. This deadly love triangle will result in deception and murder, leaving a legacy for generations to come.

One Day I Saw a Black King
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Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (August 12, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312306199

Read an AALBC.com Review

Ever since he was fifteen, John King has been on the run from the ghosts of his past. Drifting from place to place, John never settles down in one place or with one woman. That is, until he rolls into Denver, Colorado, grooving to Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" and meets Connie Rogers. Having grown up on the mean streets, Connie has pain and battle scars of her own. Yet, it is her beautiful and lonely face that inspires John to think, "If indeed there was a home for the perfect kiss, it would be on her lips." Though he's reluctant to admit it, John soon realizes that Connie is the only woman who just may understand his very soul. Now, they both must face their pasts if they ever hope to build a future together.

And on the Eighth Day She Rested
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Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (March 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312309899

Four different women come together under the sometimes tenuous but always unbreakable bond of friendship.

Ruth Johnson has finally left her abusive husband of fourteen years and jumped feet first into “What the hell do I do now?” oblivion. Then into her life come three unforgettable women who turn her world upside down. Feisty, outspoken Bernice, a.k.a. “Bernie,” has been there and done that when it comes to love and marriage. Her ex-husband is settled down with his much younger wife and her kids are grown, and Bernie is looking to enjoy her fellow man—in more ways than one—no strings attached...or so she thinks. Sweet Southern belle May has it all: a beautiful home, two wonderful children, and a fine husband who worships the ground she walks on, yet a shadow hangs over what should be her equally perfect life, threatening to shake up her happy home. The older, wiser Clara is their guiding force, and when disaster strikes, all three women rally around her, determined to see her through it. Life is just getting interesting, and if they hold on to each other, they just might make it

Have a Little Faith
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Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Pocket (June 6, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 141651676X

Faith, family, and forgiveness are at the heart of this powerful story collection from four bestselling African-American authors. Meet a group of unforgettable women in these tales of hope and inspiration and discover how doors can open if you just

ReShonda Tate Billingsley: Faith Will Overcome

Determined to leave her small town and broken family behind, Faith Logan believes finding a man is the solution to all her problems. But a chance meeting with Darius Williams helps her realize that all she needs is faith to find true happiness.

Jacquelin Thomas: Signs of Light

Businesswoman Lorna Hamilton has always looked down on unemployed single mothers, but she learns a valuable lesson when she befriends devout single mom Brittany Spencer and finds the family she's been praying for.

J. D. Mason: Maybelline

Olivia Phillips's world is falling apart, and the last thing she needs is her elderly neighbor knocking on her door. But kindly Maybelline won't take no for an answer, and an uplifting friendship takes hold thanks to a little persistence and some homemade pie.

Sandra Kitt: Survival Instincts

Even after an attempted mugging, librarian Lynn Hayes is devoted to her work in the bad part of town. Her rescuer, reporter Davis Manning, isn't so forgiving, and it's up to Lynn to show him that it is possible to save a community, one person at a time.
 

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