I was born and raised in the South where I was instilled with a love of football, dogs, and any food that’s been breaded and deep-fried.
I got the idea for GOLDEN BOY when what I assumed was a game of fetch with my golden retriever turned into a game of keep-away. If that dog were human, I thought, he’d be an amazing running back. I live with my family in Barnesville, Georgia, where the proceeds from my work will help keep several golden retrievers in the lifestyle to which they’ve become accustomed.
About the Book
Golden Boy
Coming Fall 2026
”Golden Boy is an instant classic!
Emma Branch has always been the odd one out.
As a stubborn and socially inept teen-genius, she’s had a hard time finding her place in her small, Southern town. But that’s okay, because Emma already has the only friend she needs: her golden retriever, Hudson.
So when Hudson falls critically ill, Emma can’t say goodbye. With her science smarts, she injects him with her latest experiment, a longevity formula she hopes will save his life.
And that’s when things go hilariously wrong. Emma awakens the next day to find she’s turned her dog into a human boy!
Before she can make an antidote, Hudson runs off and inadvertently impresses Emma’s father out on the football field. As a struggling head coach, he proposes a wild idea: put Hudson on the team.
Soon enough, everyone is talking about the mysterious new football star that’s catapulting the team to victory. And Emma, her father and the whole town discover how a good boy can change people’s hearts – but only after he causes a doggone mess!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Hudson was Emma’s best friend in the whole world. What would she do without him? He was the only one who cared about her at all. The only one who didn’t think she was weird. Or if he did, he didn’t mind. She had to save him. She just had to.
Golden Boy is a love letter to all the dogs we’ve loved during our lifetime that we wish could have lived forever.
Fifteen-year-old Emma Branch is the brilliant daughter of the football coach in a small South Carolina town where her talent for science is not appreciated. In the lush Carolina Lowcountry, where ancient live oaks drip with Spanish moss and the marshes teem with crawdads and oysters, Football is King.
Unfortunately for Emma’s distant father Wayman, his team hasn’t won a game in over a decade. If he can’t pull off a winning season this year, the whole family will be run out of town on a rail. With the school’s headmistress leading the charge.
When Emma’s golden retriever Hudson collapses, she brews up a serum based on her school science project — hoping to activate some of the genes dogs share with humans in order to extend his life. The next morning, Emma awakens to discover that she has apparently activated a few too many genes. Her golden retriever has become human overnight!
A human-canine hybrid actually. A Golden Boy. Hudson may look like a human teenager on the outside, but inside he’s pure golden. After witnessing Hudson’s extraordinary physical prowess, Wayman sees the miracle he needs to save his football team and his family. He recruits Hudson to first string, and Hudson soon becomes the town’s new football star.
But more than that, Hudson’s innocence and positivity changes the lives of everyone he meets. Crotchety alumni start dancing. Cynical bullies become defenders of the bullied. He inspires the football team to enjoy the moment, have fun, and roll in the mud every once in awhile. Wayman’s team finally starts winning. Hudson becomes a local celebrity. The whole world wants to know where this mysterious football star came from.
And through it all, Hudson helps repair Emma and Wayman’s damaged relationship, reawakening their ability to love. But just when things couldn’t get any better, the serum starts wearing off. Will this house of cards built upon Hudson disintegrate around them?
Golden Boy is a modern-day fairy tale about the transformative power of unconditional love.
And football. Because football is important, too.
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