We recently had the chance to connect with Twila Mason and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Twila, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Writing and reading! One of my favorite things to do is to get lost in a good book. I’ve had a kid with me constantly for the past ten years, so my reading slowed down a lot during that time. Now that they’re both in school, I hope to make time to read a lot more. I’ve also been hoping to find a new routine that allows me to write more as well. I never knew that my lifelong dream of writing books would bring me so much joy. I still can’t believe that I get to write books that people actually want to read. Once I get started writing, the hours fly by. It’s the only thing that can make me forget to eat! I began writing during a very dark time for me mentally as a way to pull me out of my postpartum depression. It was something I could do just for me, and it really did help me find myself again. It gave me purpose outside of being a mom, which is something I truly needed to feel whole again.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am an award-winning contemporary romance author. My work explores raw emotions and the complexities of life while finding hope within every obstacle. Piece by Piece is my debut novel and features the friends-to-lovers and marriage of convenience tropes. It is book one in the Desperate Hearts series of interconnected stand alones. That means each story is complete by itself, but you’ll get to see the same places and familiar characters sprinkled in each other’s books. There are heavy themes like addiction, recovery, loss, mental health struggles, and some mild violence, but my characters overcome it all through determination and love. Having had some mental health struggles myself, I find it’s important for people to see those types of issues represented in literature. No one should ever feel alone or like no one understands them or what they’re going through. Step by Step, book two in the series, will be releasing February 2, 2026. Book three in the series, Dream by Dream, is currently with my editor and will release late 2026 or early 2027.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
As cliché as it sounds, it was my husband. We met when I was 17 and he was 18, and it was a whirlwind romance with us getting married a year later. We were young, and there were a lot of people who doubted our relationship’s strength, but here we are twenty-one years later still happily married. I’d never considered myself as bold and was always the shy, quiet girl, but I was the one that asked him out on a date. He was the one being shy. When we talked about it years later, he told me that I was so pretty and smart he had been intimidated. I was flabbergasted. My confidence had always been very low, and never would I ever have described myself as intimidating. Naturally, I asked him to elaborate. He painted a picture of a strong and intelligent young woman that knew what she wanted and took initiative to achieve her goals. That sparked something in me, and over time I slowly began seeing myself the way he saw me. I still haven’t gained the confidence he says I deserve, but I can finally admit that I am the intelligent and driven person he saw from the very beginning.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There have been several times I’ve almost given up. Graduate school was a really tough time for me, mentally. It was extremely rewarding, but also draining and stressful. During one of my lab rotations, the professor I was working with was very hard on me. Nothing I did was correct or good enough. I either asked too many questions or not enough. Every day when I got in the car, I would burst into tears and tell my husband I couldn’t do it anymore. He let me cry, then reassured me I always had the choice to quit but gently reminded me that I knew deep down I wouldn’t let myself. He was right! It was a similar situation when I tried to publish my first book. As anyone in publishing knows, rejections are part of the game. But after so many rejections, my shaky confidence began to crumble. One particularly harsh rejection made me stop writing and submitting for a month. Over time, the pull of finally publishing a book drew me back in, and I dusted myself off and got back to work. My second round of writing and submitting led to Red Adept Publishing accepting Piece by Piece.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
The public version of me is one hundred percent the real me. I like to say I don’t have the time or energy to be fake or have two personas. The real life me is the crazy cat lady, author, scientist, Girl Scout troop leader, and exhausted mom that I portray online. I talk freely about mental health struggles because I know what it’s like to feel completely alone and as if no one understands you. If I can be an anchor for someone else just by being honest and authentic, I will gladly post my lows along with my highs.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
When I’m gone, I hope the first thing people will say about me is that I had a big heart and cared about those around me. With everything I do, I hope to make the lives of others a little brighter. Beyond that, I hope to be remembered for my determination to follow my dreams, even if others don’t believe in me or those dreams. I want to instill a confidence in my kids that I never had so they can live their lives purposefully and freely. And of course, I would love for people to continue reading my books for decades to come.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.twilamason.com
- Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/twilamason_author
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/twila-mason-phd-3b824330
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/twilamasona
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twilamasonauthor/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TwilaMasonAuthor
- Other: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/twilamason_author.24
