Writing from Walsh Mountain

Why Goldilocks Has Always Stayed With Me

(And How She Became The Amber Locket)

There are certain stories that follow us through life, whether we realize it or not. For me, one of those stories has always been Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

I had many versions of it growing up. The sturdy hardback with thick pages. The small, bendable paperback that somehow survived my childhood bedroom. A version with soft watercolor illustrations. Another with bright, bold colors that felt almost too cheerful for a girl breaking into someone else’s house. And somewhere—tucked away in a box or album—I know there’s a photo of me at about three years old, sitting on the floor, completely absorbed in a copy of Goldilocks.

Even then, I was fascinated by Goldilocks.

Not because she was good.
Not because she followed the rules.
But because she didn’t.

She wandered where she didn’t belong.
She touched what wasn’t hers.
She made a mess of things and didn’t know how to fix it.

As a child, I think I sensed something in her that I couldn’t quite name. She wasn’t a villain, exactly. She wasn’t cruel. She was curious. Lonely, maybe. Searching. She wanted comfort, warmth, something that felt right—and she didn’t yet know how to ask for it properly.

Looking back now, I realize that’s probably why she stayed with me all these years.

When I began writing The Amber Locket it was because I simply wanted to pick a fairy tale that maybe no other author wanted to retell — trying to get published by Beyond the Bookery’s Fairy Tale Frenzy. (Guess what! It worked!) But as the story unfolded, this tale of a trespassing, nosy little blondie has become one of my favorite fairy tales!

A woman who wanders into a private wing of a lodge where she doesn’t belong.
A home that feels warm but guarded.
A child who has already lost too much.
A man who protects what little peace he has left.
And a moment of trespass that becomes the beginning of something deeper.

Mari doesn’t mean to disrupt anything. She isn’t careless or entitled. She’s simply trying to do the right thing—return a lost locket—when she finds herself in the middle of a life she never expected to touch. Like Goldilocks, she enters quietly, makes mistakes, and discovers that sometimes the wrong door leads to the right story.

What fascinated me most, even as a child, was that Goldilocks wasn’t punished in the way fairy-tale characters often are. She’s startled, yes. Maybe embarrassed. But she leaves changed. Wiser. More aware. And in some versions, even forgiven.

That idea stayed with me.

Because life rarely hands us neat lessons. More often, we stumble into them. We misstep. We sit in the wrong chair. We linger where we shouldn’t. And somehow, God’s grace meets us there.

The Amber Locket became my way of exploring that idea—of asking what happens after the door closes behind Goldilocks. What happens when a person realizes they want to belong somewhere, but aren’t sure they deserve to?

And maybe that’s why this story feels so personal to me.

Because I’ve been Goldilocks before.
Haven’t we all?

If you’d like to step inside the world of The Amber Locket—to visit the lodge, meet Mari and Orson, and discover what secrets the past refuses to let go—I’d love to have you join me.

Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself lingering a little longer than you planned.

Some stories feel… just right.

Here is an opportunity to get the book early by joining the Beyond the Bookery’s Bibliophiles Street Team https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgbJwLLFX8nsMhvZ99DRrbGY6-4jn45HlEF1cEU0rzW_YYvA/viewform

Here is the Amazon purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/You-Collection-Contemporary-Retellings-Frenzy-ebook/dp/B0F9NPTGPB/

Marigold Wilson meant to do one simple, sensible thing: return a lost locket.
She did not mean to wander into the private wing of a whimsical lodge, topple a small boy’s prized plastic-brick masterpiece, or fall asleep in his empty bed while hypnotized by a glowing solar system spinning across the ceiling. And she definitely didn’t plan on meeting the fierce glare of his very protective father.

Once Mari uncovers the truth behind the locket’s owner, she and Orson Barrett are drawn into long-buried secrets and unexpected family ties. Guarded and slow to trust, Orson never expected a second chance—or Mari. But some legacies refuse to stay hidden, and some hearts won’t settle for anything less than “just right.”

A Goldilocks retelling about misplaced keepsakes, complicated hospitality, and discovering a love that finally feels like home.