Emma Denny
@emmadenny.bsky.social
740 followers 290 following 270 posts
Award-winning author of queer historical romances. Dagger enthusiast. My gender is Knight. They/she. One Night in Hartswood (m/m) & All the Painted Stars (f/f) out now! emmadenny.com
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emmadenny.bsky.social
Hello new people!! I suppose I ought to do one of those introduction threads I've been hearing so much about 😅

I'm Emma, I'm a queer & genderqueer writer publishing queer historical romances! Right now I'm in my ~medieval period~ ⚔
emmadenny.bsky.social
I am terribly ill and dying today (I have a cold) so I treated myself to this and as expected, it's LOVELY. What a cute idea, and gorgeously brought to life. I'd read a whole graphic novel about these two 😍
nooskadraws.bsky.social
🌹 A Rose by Any Other Name. An MM inktober comic. A victorian gentleman falls in love with the portrait of a medieval knight. The gentleman summons the knight's ghost for a dance, but gifts him something far more precious. 🖤

nooskadraws.gumroad.com/l/UuKm
An inked page from my old inktober comic. It has 3 panels. 
1. A close up of the gentleman and knight smiling.
Gutter: Knight says "He is my secret and all that I hold dear."
2. The gentleman and knight hold hands as they walk down the hall.
Knight: "It has been too long since I danced!"
Gentleman, mutters fondly with a smile: "I hope I am not a disastrous partner!"
3. The Knight and Gentleman keep talking as they make their way through the corridor, past framed portraits and framed landscapes. An inked page from my old inktober comic. It has 5 panels. 
1. Unlit candles in a candelabra.
2. The Gentleman reaches out for the Knight with a wide smile. 
3. Framed portraits, and the Knight's ghostly tendrils swirl. 
Knight: "Oh!"
4. A vase of flowers, a bust of an unnamed noble. Music notes begin to drift across the panel.
Knight: "I hear music!"
Gentleman: "Isn't it wonderful?"
5. The Knight and the Gentleman stand next to each other before a closed door. The Gentleman rests his hand on the Knight's shoulder. Music drifts from the door.
Gentleman: "Hmm." "It appears as though they started the party without us."
emmadenny.bsky.social
oH this sounds very up my street 👀
nooskadraws.bsky.social
🌹 A Rose by Any Other Name. An MM inktober comic. A victorian gentleman falls in love with the portrait of a medieval knight. The gentleman summons the knight's ghost for a dance, but gifts him something far more precious. 🖤

nooskadraws.gumroad.com/l/UuKm
An inked page from my old inktober comic. It has 3 panels. 
1. A close up of the gentleman and knight smiling.
Gutter: Knight says "He is my secret and all that I hold dear."
2. The gentleman and knight hold hands as they walk down the hall.
Knight: "It has been too long since I danced!"
Gentleman, mutters fondly with a smile: "I hope I am not a disastrous partner!"
3. The Knight and Gentleman keep talking as they make their way through the corridor, past framed portraits and framed landscapes. An inked page from my old inktober comic. It has 5 panels. 
1. Unlit candles in a candelabra.
2. The Gentleman reaches out for the Knight with a wide smile. 
3. Framed portraits, and the Knight's ghostly tendrils swirl. 
Knight: "Oh!"
4. A vase of flowers, a bust of an unnamed noble. Music notes begin to drift across the panel.
Knight: "I hear music!"
Gentleman: "Isn't it wonderful?"
5. The Knight and the Gentleman stand next to each other before a closed door. The Gentleman rests his hand on the Knight's shoulder. Music drifts from the door.
Gentleman: "Hmm." "It appears as though they started the party without us."
emmadenny.bsky.social
Ohhh I love this one! All of @sebastiannothwell.bsky.social 's books are super good
emmadenny.bsky.social
Things the UK gov will let me see: a real person being shot in the neck
Things the UK gov will not let me see: a drawing of a penis
emmadenny.bsky.social
Our neighbours did the same for us, and afterwards one of the kids asked why we had "a monster" in the house. There's like a dozen things he could have meant. Turned out he was concerned about a framed Everything Everything album we've got 😅
emmadenny.bsky.social
I've done a very brief check, and one of the trans surgeries subs also has this block. Obviously the new law around NSFW content is absurd, but this? This is dangerous. Let's restrict access to support for trans people OR force them to give their ID to some shady website. That'll end well, I'm sure.
emmadenny.bsky.social
just tried to access r/reduction - a subreddit I've been using regularly to get references and advice about the sort of radical reduction I'd like to get, for Gender Reasons - and now I can't see any photos without submitting my ID.
emmadenny.bsky.social
Starting to put feelers out re: finding an agent, so if anyone knows of anyone looking for some fun queer #historicalromance (medieval/regency) please do point me in their direction 👀
emmadenny.bsky.social
Oh my gosh YES I knew there was one I forgot!!
emmadenny.bsky.social
Yeah exactly!! Like two guys bein' dudes in the woods? Eh, whatever, that's fine.
emmadenny.bsky.social
ohh AMAZING, thank you! I'll check these out :D
emmadenny.bsky.social
Yeah I agree! I've come across a few people in my research who were probably trans (as we'd describe them today), and it seems like a lot of the time if you turned up somewhere new and gave your chosen name and just did work and wasnt a dickhead then no one cared or questioned you that much 😅
emmadenny.bsky.social
Also... The Marriage of Likeness by John Boswell, Seeing Sodomy in the Middle Ages by Robert Mills, Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography (@aspencerhall.bsky.social) and basically all of Leah DeVun's papers/The Shape of Sex. @goingmedieval.bsky.social is also amazing!
emmadenny.bsky.social
The biggest thing I get told is "this wouldn't happen!", when there's literally no reason why *not*. Most of sources we have are legal docs or from the church so you knowww what they'll be like. It's like saying no one in 2025 does drugs because drugs are illegal. Like. That's not how it works 😅
emmadenny.bsky.social
Aha yeah its fun digging into that! Its difficult, too, because you don't want to make it too grim 😅 also this may be totally over the line but LMK if you want any book/paper recommendations! Im always excited to share ahaha
emmadenny.bsky.social
Oh absolutely, it's such an interesting sandbox to play in. And yeah! It's one of those things where you can see how we've always existed just in different ways, its so interesting.
emmadenny.bsky.social
I spent so long researching medieval sex/gender for book reasons and it's fascinating. It just keeps going, and there's sooo much you can do with it as a creator, too. Also, personally, I quite like how it all exists outside of modern labels? For me that feels quite freeing!
emmadenny.bsky.social
oh I'm very glad it's not just me who does this 😅
emmadenny.bsky.social
*glares at Bananagrams*
nameshiv.bsky.social
need a support group for writers who hate word games
emmadenny.bsky.social
Final day of this sale!
emmadenny.bsky.social
One Night in Hartswood and All the Painted Stars are both $0.99 on Kindle/Kobo all month long!! Grab yerself some cheap medieval queers while you can ⚔🏳‍🌈
emmadenny.bsky.social
This is SUPER important. Additionally: if you're in the UK and don't have an agent, I REALLY encourage you to join the Society of Authors, who provide free legal advice and contract vetting for members. Don't sign anything before you're sure you're not being screwed over!
kjcharleswriter.com
In case you are one of the apparently many people who don't read their publishing contracts, a) don't be a bloody fool and b) IANAL but here is a blog post with a few things for you to look out for as a starting point.

kjcharleswriter.com/2017/03/24/t...
The Author’s Biggest Mistake – KJ Charles
kjcharleswriter.com
emmadenny.bsky.social
Thank you for including Hartswood! What a great idea for a reading list 🏳‍🌈
emmadenny.bsky.social
anyway now my passion for the Ash Prequel WIP is back - who knows how long it'll last this time 😅