Emma Golding
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emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Emma Golding
@emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
120 followers 150 following 100 posts
Writing the romances I'd want to read
Banter + spice + pretty prose + women who never settle
Author of ROOTED, 1600s pirate romance, available on KU!
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emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
My August writing/lifestyle challenge officially starts tomorrow, where I’ll tell my perfectionism to F off, but I snuck in a few test days to work out the kinks. Because I’m still a perfectionist. Read the post on my Substack ⬇️

#writingcommunity #writingchallenge #perfectionism
July 31, 2025 at 7:33 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Some reactions to Rooted:

"Fans of slow burn, this is your book."
"This book was so good I devoured it in a single sitting."
"When you need a long story to dig into, and know a glorious ending awaits with characters you understand and enjoy, give it a read."

Readalong with us on The Storygraph!
June 23, 2025 at 1:51 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Tons of music references in this WIP! In this scene, the FMC gets a dose of mood-enhancing music from a flute player. 10 points if you can name the opera/character. 100 points if you can guess the other musical reference in this passage! #WIPSnips #amwriting #fantasy #opera #writingcommunity
Text reads: The music was angular and unexpected, but clearly competent. She had heard plenty of bad musicians butcher good music, and this wasn’t like that. She might not understand the harmonies, and none of the phrases cadenced the way she wanted them to, but their musicianship was flawless. It drew her toward them, and she meandered among the gathered villagers to get closer. When she had a good line of sight, she stood for a while watching the hurdy-gurdy player sway, watching the flute player tap his feet—which had, in fact, three long toes in front and one for stability behind, like a giant bird. Apparently the feathers weren’t a costume. The realization didn’t even faze her. She was too busy imagining the music rising out of their instruments like heat waves, oozing through the air, settling on her shoulders and sinking into her chest.
April 18, 2025 at 6:27 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
It was SO HARD not to post a kissing scene for today's #WIPSnips, but then I remembered this one from near the beginning. This automaton might not have a voice, but she definitely has a sense of humor. #writingcommunity #writesky #amwriting
Text reads: Olimpia turned back to him and grabbed his arm with her unyielding fingers, pointing up at the place where Monica had been. He nodded. When she let go of him, it was to bring her hand toward her hinged mouth and motion up and away, as if showing a stream of music from her lips. “Yes, it’s her, but she doesn’t—” The girl cut him off with a held-out hand, then pointed emphatically to the ground before rushing to the front door. The two gestures were as clear as the unspoken words: stay here. He meandered along the side of the house, keeping half his attention on the surrounding woods and the other half on the sounds from the workshop. When Olimpia came back out, she met him at the corner with an armful of clothes and jerked her head in Monica’s direction. “Fine, but remember: she doesn’t know you.” A nod. “And she can’t know who I am.” She swiped one finger in an X over her carved lips.
April 13, 2025 at 3:23 AM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
I went with the verb for this one to prove that I have actually written action sequences. Well, "sequence," singular. And this is it in its entirety. Hey, some of us are all about the feels. 😅 #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #writesky #fantasy
Text reads: A click, a twang, and something whizzed past her ear and thudded into a tree on the other side of the pool. She jerked sideways in a ludicrously delayed reaction. At the same time, he lunged forward, holding the crossbow aloft. “Go!” he bellowed. He was going to smash her skull with it. She ducked and sidestepped at the same time, confused and off balance, and the combination had her tripping on the stone edge of the pool. She went down hard on her hip bone, and pain shot through her wrist from trying to brace her fall. He loomed over her, silhouetted in front of dozens of curious wisps, and all she could see were his eyes reflecting the cold light.
April 11, 2025 at 1:03 AM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
The characters in my WIP are pretty stoic, and not all by choice, so the majority of the weepiness comes from my overwhelmed MMC, Max, and the 5-year-old he's trying so hard to return to his mom.

#WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting
Text reads: Disgusted, Max stalked toward the river, leaving Baba and her unfinished dessert on the picnic blanket. He had to pass near the cart, where Jon and the servants gaped at him, and the boy’s face crumpled as soon as Max’s gaze landed on him. Of course the outburst would have scared him. Max groaned and changed direction. Kneeling, he swept Jon’s soft brown hair off his face, which was red as an apple as he sniffled and sobbed. “Don’t cry,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. It’ll be all right. Just be brave a little longer.” Jon’s breath hiccuped as he wailed, “I want my mommy.” “Just a little longer. She’s coming to get you, I promise.” Max’s heart broke as he wiped the tears off Jon’s hot little face with one hand, then the other. “She’s coming to take you home.”
April 9, 2025 at 4:49 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Have you ever been introduced to someone and no matter how hard you try, their name eludes you? So awkward. But if your new friend is a fairy, it might not be your fault their name keeps slipping your mind.

#WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting #fantasy
Text reads: The dead woman in the river called out a cheerful goodbye as Monica followed the fairy back into the woods, and it felt wrong to ignore her, but the hand at her back was insistent. If he had given her time, she might have tried to justify to the woman why they were both being so rude. He’s my guide, and he promised to help me. He’s been right so far, so I’m going to stick with… Strangely, when she tried to supply his name, it eluded her. Something with a G? It hadn’t been that unusual a name, certainly one she’d never heard back home, but not impossible to pronounce. And she’d been with him for hours now. That was the worst part, of course, because she couldn’t very well ask him to reintroduce himself at this point.
April 8, 2025 at 2:37 AM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Names carry magic in my WIP. Anyone who knows a fairy's "true" name can command them. An error in judgment in the past makes the MMC beholden to the villain for most of the book, and he has to find loopholes to save his people and the woman he loves. #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting #fantasy
Text reads: He glared at her, that hateful pinched face, the smattering of black hairs on her chin quivering with the defiant set of her jaw. She called herself Baba Yaga and claimed to be a witch, but she only knew one real spell. It was the most powerful and cruel magic known to his kind: by uttering his true name, she made him her obedient puppet. Every step and breath he took was calculated to appease her so she wouldn't use it.
April 6, 2025 at 2:42 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Did you know one of the ways to check if someone is a fairy changeling is to try to make them laugh?

#WIPSnip #amwriting #fairylore #fantasy #writingcommunity
Text reads: He shrugged and gave it an affectionate pat. “Just part of the uniform.” First she nodded, because it was less tiring to take people at their word, but when he didn’t say anything, when he glanced sidelong at her as if waiting to see how she would react, she hesitated. Was that a joke? “Was that a joke?” “Only if you laugh.” “Oh, don’t measure humor that way. I don’t laugh at most jokes.” “Maybe they’re not good jokes.” “I don’t think that’s why.”
April 4, 2025 at 5:45 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
This #WIPSnip is about a magic trick the MMC can do. The FMC definitely didn't expect to hear the O'Jays, Temptations, and Roberta Flack in the fairy realm, but it helps with the homesickness!

Sorry, did you say it's a cheap gimmick to get them to dance? Can't hear you over the music.

#amwriting
Text reads: “What were you thinking about?” I ask, because I seem to have a death wish. “Nothing. Just a minor case of homesickness. It’ll pass.” What I can do for you? How can I alleviate your pain? There’s a trick I learned as a boy, a silly one that comes from my ability to summon things, and I focus on it now, reaching for the waves and pulling them out of the sky for you. Strains of music appear in the air, between and among the molecules, as if carried in on a breeze. The volume increases as it solidifies, and you say, “Is that ‘Love Train’?”
April 1, 2025 at 4:42 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
There's a lot of "touching" in my romantasy, of course, so it was tricky to pick my favorite! #WIPSnips #amwriting #fantasy #writingcommunity
Text reads: “Are you all right?” “Yeah, fine. Why?” “Before, you seemed pensive.” “Before when? Before you came out here?” You arch your eyebrow. “Were you watching me?” “Were you intending to not be seen out here in an open garden?” “Whatever.” It sounds callous, but there’s a smile hiding behind your mask. “It’s polite to make your presence known instead of spying on people.” “Is it?” I stretch out my legs and cross them at the ankle. “Then I’m afraid I’ve been very rude.” What am I doing? I can’t flirt with you. If you flirt back, I’ll touch you, and if I touch you, I’ll bleed out.
March 29, 2025 at 7:27 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnip is from when Monica ditches her fairy guide and instead seeks help from the very creepy River Wife, which... may prove to be ill-advised. #amwriting #fantasy #writingcommunity
Text reads: “Hi,” Monica said, still breathless from the jump scare. “Sorry, we were sort of rude to you before, but I was hoping you could tell me how to find that picnic you were talking about?” The woman smiled, but Monica wished she wouldn’t. “It’s all water under the bridge. I’ll gladly tell you.” Her cloudy gaze flicked over Monica’s shoulder, then back. “Has your friend had a change of heart? Shame he couldn’t tell me himself. Men are so stubborn, aren’t they?” “We’re… parting ways,” Monica replied. “Frankly, I’m doing most of the parting, so I’d like to get moving.”
March 24, 2025 at 5:47 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
When preparing to travel to a fantasy realm, make sure you pack all the essentials:
✔️flashlight
✔️snack
✔️Girl Scout pocket knife
✔️prescription
#WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting #fantasy #beprepared
Text reads: The woman rotated the bottle and watched the pills slide. “Do you eat them?” “You swallow them. Well, I swallow them. You really shouldn’t take any.” “Why not?” Monica shrugged. “It’s… poison, basically. I take just enough to help me, but if I take too much, it’s dangerous. And I have no idea what it would do to you.” For a moment, the river lady regarded the bottle with a curious expression, then she tried to open it. Her hand slipped on the white plastic lid, and she furrowed her brow. “It’s child-proof,” Monica pointed out. “You have to— Here, let me.” As she took the bottle back and pressed her palm down on the top of the cap, she wondered why she was making lithium accessible to a magical creature.
March 24, 2025 at 1:30 AM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
No "polish" today, but I do have "gleaming" to describe Olimpia, an automaton my MCs meet early in their journey. #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting #fantasy #opera
Text reads: The rustle came again, then a snap as if of wind in a sail. Edging around the side of the house, he peered around the corner. A skirt and boots appeared under a white sheet hanging from a clothesline. The sheet quivered as the shadow of hands smoothed out the wrinkles. More wet laundry sat heaped in the wicker basket a foot away. When the figure leaned down to pick up another item, her profile appeared in the gap between the sheet and the man’s shirt next to it. A small nose, youthful cheeks, smooth brow, all carved from gleaming brown-gray walnut and half-obscured behind the tight coils of black horsehair that fell forward when she bent down. This was Olimpia, whom Spalanzani’s adopted father built. She was once just for show, a glorified music box, but it appeared she doubled as a housemaid now.
March 22, 2025 at 9:02 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
I don't have "skate," but I have a villain who moves with an unusual amount of grace for being an old hag.

#WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting
Text reads: “It’s fine!” She waved a gnarled hand. “I don’t know what you’re so upset about. I took care of everything.” Baba moved forward as if to brush past him, her fluid grace at odds with her hunched back. Before she could float out the door, he grabbed her frail arm and spun her to face him. “How?” He searched her face, desperate to know what was going on inside that head, but it was useless. She could only smile or frown, and no emotion ever lit her cruel, empty eyes. “You think I’m impulsive. That I can’t plan ahead.” She adopted a tone like molten sugar, sweet and dangerous. “But you don’t have to worry. Jon is safe with me, and no one will ever know I have him.” “What did you do to her?” “Who?” “Monica,” he growled through gritted teeth as he dug his fingers into her arm.
March 17, 2025 at 8:14 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Raise your hand if your mom is as infuriatingly out of touch as my FMC's mom. #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting
Text reads: “We’re not talking about him.” “Not talking? We talk about who, then? You don’t like Suzy because you don’t like Nathan. It’s like a child in the schoolyard. When you gonna grow up, ha? You make a mistake, you live with mistake.” “I made a mistake? He left me for another woman!” “Happy husbands, they don’t leave their family. You were too busy worrying about yourself, of course he gonna look for someone else to take care of him.”
March 14, 2025 at 2:49 AM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Lots of women, human and otherwise, in my #fantasy WIP, but my secret favorite is the River Wife! She's a creature inspired by a creepy aria from Menotti's THE MEDIUM. #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #opera
Text reads: “Why are you helping me?” she asked. The woman drifted to the end of the pier and rested her folded arms on it. The puddles under her elbows stained the wood. “I don’t much like the Baba Yaga.” “Why? What did she do?” “Nothing to me. Not yet. But she is a threat to our kind, and I’d like to see her stopped.” “Well, I’m not here to stop anybody. I’m just getting my kid back.” Her bony shoulders sagged. “Oh. Are you sure?” “Yeah.” The woman frowned and drummed her fingertips on the pier, then brightened like a light turning on. “Well, think about it. Could be fun!”
March 13, 2025 at 1:30 AM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Share is a great word for my WIP, because both my main characters have a bad habit of keeping things to themselves. Monica, for example, doesn't want to admit that she's paranoid her kid isn't her kid. #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting #fantasy
Text reads: "Yeah, I'm just... I guess I'm just tired." She turned to open the silverware drawer, glad for any excuse to hide her face. Gloria was well-meaning, and intellectually, Monica acknowledged that she would understand better than anyone, but it wasn't something she could idly share. Italicized: I'm just convinced my son is an imposter kid, no big deal.
March 11, 2025 at 9:14 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips word felt like an intervention. Does anyone else overuse "before"? #writingcommunity #amwriting
Text reads: You lunge, and I react, flinging up an invisible shield between us and summoning a length of white rope to tie itself around your wrists. It hardly requires a thought. You bounce off the shield, blinking, stunned, and fall backward to land hard on the ground. I flinch as if I can feel the impact, but why should I care about your pain? You are miles beneath me. To prove it, I whip up a glamour to silence the birdsong and insect chirping. The air around us darkens, thickens, and I wrap my head in a crown of sunlight as I tower over you. “Kneel before the Erl-King,” I snarl.
March 8, 2025 at 3:47 AM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
A little lore about Spalanzani, the eccentric doll maker in my #fantasy WIP. If you're a fan of German literature or French opera, you might have a guess how he "winds up" on the MMCs bad side. 😉 #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting
Text reads: Monica didn’t argue, didn’t say a word as he angled them in the direction of the clockmaker’s new workshop. For as long as he could remember, the Spalanzanis had lived and worked less than a mile from the palace, but the last of them, rescued as a child from the human realm, always struggled to stay afloat. He became a brilliant craftsman, but fairy prejudice was fierce—it had to be to keep Afye insulated from the human realm at large—and the family’s reputation dwindled along with any hope the last Spalanzani would produce an heir to the legacy. A year or so ago, he was forced to pack up and move to a secluded valley with his creations. They tended their little farm, kept each other company, and stayed out of everyone’s way. It would strike him as a bittersweet tale if he didn’t have a very particular, very recent reason to hate Spalanzani.
March 6, 2025 at 10:23 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
My character's favorite manipulation tactic is silence. Great for pumping other characters for information without being, well, annoying. #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting #folklore #folktales
Text reads: As soon as they were far enough into the trees that she couldn’t glimpse the river, she asked, “Who’s Baba Yaga?” “She’s… difficult to describe.” Monica waited. Her questioning always seemed to annoy him, so she didn’t want to piss him off by being pushy, but everyone hated silence. Eventually, he’d continue.
March 5, 2025 at 3:59 AM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips word for yesterday is "late," so I get a pass for submitting this one after the deadline, right? Here's the heroine getting swept up in a magical moment, and feeling not quite herself. #writingcommunity #amwriting
Text reads: “Do you want to dance?” His shoulders drooped with exasperation. “Another time.” “If I go home, there won’t be another time.” “There’s no if.” She shrugged, looking up at him through her lashes. That was how girls flirted, wasn’t it? “We could stay for a couple hours. Once I get Jon.” That sounded reasonable. She’d pick up her kid from the picnic, and they’d all troop back to the well together, her and Jon and… Asking his name probably wasn’t a very sexy thing to do. She’d figure it out later.
March 2, 2025 at 4:59 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
Not me writing a dancing scene between my human MC and her fairy captor solely as an homage to Labyrinth. #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting
Text reads: "“My mom was a fairly well-known coloratura. I didn’t really have a choice. She got me parts in the choruses of her productions, and then I started getting solos… Anyway.” She gave her head a shake and took a breath. “I only sing along with the radio now.” She tilted her head and returned her attention to the music. A bashful smile formed on her lips as the next line tumbled out of her mouth. “‘I never met her, but I can’t forget her.’ I love that part.” “So do I.” Whatever prompted him to say it also told him he could touch her waist. He used light pressure, as if too much contact would have her fragmenting, dandelion-like, and blowing away on the breeze of his grief."
February 25, 2025 at 11:02 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
When the villain has a dark definition of love... #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #amwriting #fantasy
Text reads: "“I carried him. I birthed him. I raised him. He’s my son.” “But you don’t love him, do you?” Baba quirked her round little head. “A little boy needs love just as much as he needs food and shelter. Here he has a palace to explore and a feast to enjoy, and a Baba who loves him more than anything else in the world.” “Didn’t you say you’d kill Jon before letting me take him?” The ugly REDACTED leaned forward, her beady glass eyes glittering with something akin to hatred. “That’s love, sweetie.”"
February 14, 2025 at 7:18 PM
emmagoldingwrites.bsky.social
A noblewoman’s abduction by a charming pirate captain lets her escape an unhappy future. A surprise reunion threatens to drag her back to her past. Follow Margaret's struggle for independence in this #slowburn #pirate #romance set in Shakespeare's England. Read about ROOTED at emmagoldingwrites.com!
Square ad for an ebook. On the right half, a phone screen displaying the book cover of "Rooted" by Emma Golding. The cover shows a red-haired woman in a corset with her back to the viewer. There are two shadowy men in the background and a sailing ship on the ocean in the foreground. Text at top left of the ad reads "why would the poets write of love if it never happened to normal people?" Below that, four stacked speech bubbles refer to the phone screen, each with five gold stars. The speech bubbles' text reads, from the top, "glorious, truly enjoyable, great slow burn pirate romance, a wild ride of emotions." In the bottom left corner of the image is an Amazon logo and text below that reads "Free with Kindle Unlimited." Below the phone is the text "emmagoldingwrites.com."
February 14, 2025 at 6:06 PM