David Mason
David J. Mason, the owner and founder of HMG ePublishing, LLC, is an epublishing service provider, electronic book publisher, consultant, and author. Mr. Mason's eBook conversion, publishing and distribution curiosity began in 1997 during the very early formation stages of the digital publishing industry when he converted his previously published manual, the Environmental Compliance Tools Kit, into an electronic book. In subsequent years, he founded HMG ePublishing, an online do-it-yourself website service that allows users to build and launch a website for business and personal applications.
Today, HMG ePublishing provides individuals and businesses turnkey solutions to fulfill their eCommerce and technology needs. Its major solutions include electronic book (eBook) publishing and website design, eBook preparation, production and promotion services, ecommerce, web hosting, email marketing, domain registration, and electronic equipment sales. An advocate for digital publishing, he has perfected eBook conversion, publishing, and distribution to HMG ePublishing offerings. Before starting HMG ePublishing, Mr. Mason served as Vice President for the Hatco Corporation. He handled the Company's environmental affairs and safety programs, regulatory management, corporate imaging, and strategic special assignments such as environmental issues related to potential new acquisitions. Before this position, he served with Velsicol Chemical, ICI Americas, and Hercules Corporation, in a variety of positions, including director regulatory affairs, regulatory manager, regional environmental manager and environmental manager. An aspiring Civil War buff, he is the author of The Self-Liberation of Parson Sykes, a documentary novel based on a true story and actual historical events drawn from a variety of sources, including published materials and family chronicles. Mr. Mason holds a Master of Science degree in chemistry from Hampton University in Virginia, and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Norfolk State University. After attending Norfolk State University, he entered the U.S. Army and retired with the rank of Colonel. |
The Self-Liberation of Parson Sykes
Historical Fiction
The Self-Liberation of Parson Sykes is a documentary novel based on a true story and actual events and was drawn from a variety of sources, including published materials and family chronicles. The novel is the story of Parson Sykes’, a curiously enslaved teenager in Virginia, historic self-liberation followed by his enlistment in the Union Army. The story takes place in Southampton County, near the end of the American Civil War on the slave-holding Jacob Williams’ farm. During the 1831 Southampton Insurrection, the farm came under attack by Nat Turner and his insurgents, which still haunts Jacob. In the book, Parson and Jacob Williams are faced at opposite ends of the disputed points over the moral issue of slavery and secession, a political decision that led directly to war. The Self-Liberation of Parson Sykes also functions to draw attention to the important role Black soldiers played during the Civil War as members of United States Colored Troops (USCT). Though less heralded, the USCT regiments were the precursors to Black army units famously nicknamed as the Buffalo Soldiers, Smoked Yankees, the Harlem Hell Fighters, Tuskegee Airmen, and the Red Ball Express. |