Emma Warria
Author
Romantic Fantasy
Courage, Love, and Connection in a Shifting World
About
Emma Warria was born in Salt Lake City, Utah.
A lifelong insomniac, she began drafting novels on her phone in the quiet hours while her husband and three young sons slept. Inspired by fiction from an early age, she has rarely been without a book in hand and considers her smartphone’s most important role to be carrying her library.When she isn’t writing, she works as a nurse practitioner. Bonds of Shadow and Light is her publishing debut, blending the things she loves to read most:
slow-burn romance, accessible fantasy, and deep family ties — escapism with both heart and teeth.
Books
Bonds of Shadow and Light
Leryn has a rare ability to see emotional bonds as threads of light. Yet she cannot see her own bonds to others, and she yearns for friendship and love. Serving her country within her family of spies is a lonely burden for a wolf shifter who thrives on connection. Then her family’s greatest secret surfaces — she wasn’t being groomed to follow in their footsteps, but to become the next queen of the wolf Packs.War has been brewing within the Prides, Dens, and Clans on their borders, and Leryn learns the current queen has never possessed the power to defend their people. Without Leryn’s long-hidden dominance to unite wolf warriors, their nation will fall.She will never allow that. To take the throne, she must secure a mate. Though she only has seven weeks before blood bonds must be made at the Choosing ceremony, she's determined to find more than a purely political mating.Within the palace's training center, she meets Slate, the only person her gifts cannot read. His opacity unsettles her, but his quiet integrity draws her ever closer. Just as their fragile trust kindles into something more, a long-planned coup unfolds, sparking a multinational war.On the front lines, Leryn's gifts reveal a single chance of averting war — but to seize it, she must risk every bond she has fought to build. Her gambit will doom her people or save all four races plummeting toward ruin.
Upcoming:
Book Two:
Take a closer look at the fox Skulks, revel in a budding romance, and walk beside strong women who rise above their dark pasts — with the help of their mates.
Updates
Reflections on writing, editing, and the strange journey that is storytelling
12/24/2025It is astounding how much the human heart can do. It can race, pound, stutter, flutter, and drop. It can twist, ache, burn, and break. Its very versatility lends itself to writing in a way no other organ can.I have a personal aversion to writing about stomachs twisting, chests tightening, and breaths catching every few chapters. While some authors do it very well, the visceral reaction pendulum has, in my opinion, reached its zenith. Instead of a simple 'she was nervous,' we happily drown in shaking hands, trembling lips, and sweaty palms.Beautiful, but not my style. Which is how I found myself writing a lean dozen references to the stomach, a handful of tight or trembling fingers, and a whopping 152 heart references in a single book.To be honest, I was amazed at my heart-related creativity, because I had 53 unique expressions! And I hadn't used a thesaurus for a single one of them.In a 100,000 word novel, it's not as excessive as it sounds, but I have definitely discovered what speaks most to me as an individual.And while I work on diversifying a bit, I can marvel at the sheer magnitude of the heart's capacity.It reflects, teaches, and breaks down barriers. It amplifies fears, beliefs, and hopes. It can be both shield and weapon.The heart is limitless, and I hope we all choose to use ours to raise and bolster ourselves and our fellow men.***12/20/2025Writing is both a left- and right-brained endeavor. Creativity and editing can work hand in hand, but sometimes switching back and forth can be difficult.The most successful people have learned this skill. For example, some authors can toggle between the two phases lightning-fast, whipping out a book every six months, and some take years to produce masterfully done works (I will always and forever be waiting for your next book, Andy Weir).The need for both sides of our brains holds true for the rest of life's challenges: relationships, parenting, problem-solving, and even everyday tasks like cooking and home repair, to name a few.But people don't come by the ability to utilize both creativity and control seamlessly.Creativity requires a great deal of self-permission. Permission to fail. Permission to be messy. Permission to completely destroy things and build again with the debris.It's discomfort. It's rage and frustration. It's fits and starts and blissful stretches of getting 'in the zone' on a project only to be interrupted after ten minutes by kids, the career that keeps the bills paid, or the need for a couple hours of sleep — knowing you won't get back to it for a few days and the flow will be long gone by then.Control requires drive. Practice. And heartless analysis.It's putting on your running shoes even when you have no desire to go. It's playing that piano piece until you never want to hear it again. It's reviewing game footage and analyzing just where you went wrong in that tackle.So what does this boil down to?Persistence. I'll skip the inspirational Instagram blurb and just say that stubborn persistence is what I think bridges the gap between vision and endpoint when you haven't yet mastered the leap between zones.I'm diligently channeling my inner mule (or, as my husband would claim, I'm simply letting her out to graze). Regardless of your current challenge, I wish everyone the best of luck in doing the same.***12/16/2025Who out there likes to save a book you haven't read but know you're going to love for a rainy day?Word to the wise: rainy ≠ dark.A couple years ago, I spent a week at my son's bedside in the hospital. I'm no stranger to healthcare, but it was nonetheless a haze of fear and waiting and uncertainty. The darkest days of my life, bar none.I reached for whatever joy was at hand, including my phone's library.I pulled out a book by an author I've followed for years. It was the start of a multi-book series I had saved as a pick-me-up.I read it. And now I can never read it again, nor its sequels.Some weeks ago, I reflected that different books meet different needs. I am now convinced more than ever that all book reviews should be taken with a grain of salt.The reader may be having the worst day of their life. They may have gone into a book with expectations that were never meant to be fulfilled. That does not always mean the book is bad. It just wasn't right for the reader. If you're going to leave a less than favorable review, try to inform a potential reader of what to expect (without spoilers, please) rather than just trash the author.And my dear readers, learn from my mistakes. If you know you're not in a good place and want to pick up a book, please, take my advice — and note that this will be the only time I will ever recommend this — turn on a screen instead.***12/7/2025Writing is a balancing act.Today, I'm pondering the line between trusting the reader and ensuring clarity so nothing feels muddy. When blending genres, sometimes the lines blur.Storytelling is a tricky thing. Each reader has their own tolerance for pacing. Many of you can read pages of dense worldbuilding in the beginning chapters, trusting that you are being set up for an amazing story that will unfold beautifully over 100+ chapters. Some of you are book scrollers: you don't have the energy right now for long paragraphs or large sections of text without snappy dialogue, so you need to move on to the next book.Delivering on particular expectations can be daunting, especially when genres overlap.Traditional fantasy novels are complex and detailed, with themes around power, duty, and social systems. They have a larger cast of characters and are usually very plot-oriented.Traditional romance is emotionally rich with focus only on those characters falling in love. These books have intimate explorations of trust, vulnerability, and healing. The plot is only the scaffolding for the characters growing closer, and therefore these books are almost completely character-driven.So how does an author balance what seems to be opposite ends of the spectrum? (The source of much head banging in yours truly).Balance.Each author finds their own, and has their own voice. So if you aren't finding the balance that appeals to you, look for another author, another story, another genre.There are literally millions of stories out there, and over the course of human history, there are likely just as many authors.Somebody out there has the story for you. You just need to keep searching for them.***11/26/2025I took a short hiatus from crafting my next novel to do some market research: AKA read some books. Three 'hit' books later, I found myself disappointed in each of them, whether because the story relied on shock-factor appeal or the quality of writing seemed below the bar for traditional publishing.After letting all that marinate for a few days, I realized that it was my needs and expectations that did not fit the books, not the other way around.A few short years ago, I was burned out from graduate school, starting a new, high-stress career I felt completely unprepared for, and I had a brand new baby. I compounded the problem with another baby. And another. My brain could take no more.At that stage, I was absolutely in need of BookTok sensations: a low threshold of concentration, the tropes I enjoy, and quick emotional payoff. Little investment required for that quick hit to get me through the fourth feeding of the night.Now I am in a different phase of life, and that type of book just doesn't cut it. I have a little more time and energy to invest, and I expect a greater mental and emotional payoff for my time. This does not stretch my interest into classics or literary territory, granted, but more depth and craft quality within the romance and fantasy genres is necessary to satisfy me now.So if you're like me and dissatisfied with your latest book picks, it's time to break out of your current algorithm (and social media's). Find what you need in this season, and realize that the season will change and there will be books to fill the space you have.So never stop reading.***11/3/2025Symmetry.A lovely word, and an even lovelier concept in storytelling.Artful, intentional echoes provide weight:The same line, restated with a different tone to emphasize tension. A scene mirrored in later chapters, now bittersweet. And an action taken in the beginning, repeated at the story's pinnacle to emphasize the hero's full circle.The hero is the same. Yet changed. Hopefully by the end of the journey, so are you.My current project has brought home how very far I have come as an author, and how very rough the road was at times.But as I read my creation for the umpteenth time, I also see that my core as a writer stands strong.My voice has not been strangled, but strengthened.The same. Yet changed.Hopefully, at the end of the road, you will be as well.***10/31/2025It's Halloween, and to my great displeasure, I have seen not a single werewolf costume. Which brings me to the grain of sand I hope will become my pearl: though delightful in their own right, the fae and vampires have run away with the fantasy and romantasy genres.Someday soon, I hope to see a revival of the earthy, primal, yet more approachable things that go bump in the night.In the meantime, spooky holidays, everyone.***10/19/2025My favorite part of editing has to be challenging myself to ensure cohesion throughout a book. The story flows, the characters are consistent in voice and motivations, my individual voice shines through, and loose ends are tied in a satisfying way.But the editing process wreaks its own havoc — and leads to what I have discovered is my least favorite part of editing: proper names vs pronouns.My latest polish pass involves combing through each sentence to ensure that every she, her, him, etc. clearly points to the right person. I now have a true appreciation for copy editors, because this polish run is pure misery.***10/15/2025I never thought I would write a book.That was for creative people.But I had an idea that wouldn't let go. And the drive (my husband calls this obsession) to make it happen. Getting it down on the page, then rereading it in the dark of the night was a secret joy. Deciding it was good enough for others to read — a revelation.So I knuckled down to edit, then polish. But the more I learned about professional-grade writing, the more I realized how far I had yet to go.What a gut punch.I considered letting it go. But within 48 hours (the limit of my moping ability), I was back to the keyboard. Tough feedback, unhelpful beta readers, word processor issues resulting in the loss of chunks of writing (more than once, I might add), all have knocked me down. But every hit makes me stronger. Makes me love the writing process more.In the words of Steve Rogers: I can do this all day.
Contact
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