Canny coincidences, putting podcast and looking for locations - My Writing Week

Huge thanks to crazy golf podcasters Putt Cast for including my crazy golf novel set in Scarborough - Foul Play at the Seaview Hotel - in their reviews of mini-golf books! Find out what they think of the book, at 26 mins 27 secs > https://youtube.com/live/tx9i-ErBp-Q

Celebrating 10 years of my writing life with a look back at my first short story which was accepted for publication in The People's Friend magazine on March 26, 2016... 

...then an amazing thing happened. I was featured in The People's Friend magazine about my writing life, and the article went into the edition published on March 26, 2025. Such a lovely coincidence.

If you're reading this on Friday 28 March, come along tomorrow, Sat 29 March to the Crafty Gift Shop in Chester-le-Street, County Durham. I'll be there from 12-2 signing books for Mothers Day, any other day, or if you'd just like a chat about the books, I'd love to see you there.

Elsewhere this week I popped into Waterstones Sunderland to sign their stock of copies of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls. While there I chatted to a lady who was being served at the till and buying two more of my other books. I love it when things like that happen.

And a friend of mine in Ryhope spotted these four lovely people from Grimsby who were wandering around looking for locations in my books! How wonderful is that?

I crafted another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside for The People's Friend magazine. I've been writing Riverside weekly since 2016 and you can find out all about it here.

I also kept the Coronation Street Blog ticking over with news and editing the team of 16 bloggers. 

Sign up to receive my free, monthly email newsletter with competitions, events and news  
__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Competition: Enter to win Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls with a box of toffee

Would you like to win a signed hardback copy of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls, plus a box of Toffifee toffee?  Be in with a chance to win by entering the competition below and answering correctly. All correct entries will go into a draw and a winner drawn at random.

UK entries only, please.

Deadline for entries is Friday 25 April 2025 at 5pm. Winner will be announced on this blog.

Good luck, everyone!

 


__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Winner announced in Signed Book and Toffee Competition

Congratulations go to Tracey Taylor who has been drawn at random to win a signed copy of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls and a box of Toffifee in my latest competition.

Thank you all for entering. 

Find out more about the book here

__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Signed books, Scarborough and taking a breath of sea air - my writing week

I'm currently on a break from writing for a few months, taking a well-deserved breather before starting to write again later this year.  

But not writing doesn't mean I'm not busy - far from it. 

I'm filling my time with some wonderful projects.

But first I went to my happy place of Scarborough for a very long weekend, and a rest.   While there, I signed books in Scarborough Waterstones. And I was over the moon to see my books on the counter by the till alongside one of my favourite books by Andrew Martin - The Last Train to Scarborough.

My books were in the shop window too, what a treat!

And here I am, signing books in-store.

Also this week my email newsletter went out for Mothers Day and if you'd like signed books, get in touch.  Read my Mothers Day newsletter with details of how to buy signed, dedicated books. All details at https://glendayoungbooks.com/so/adPMeOaFw?languageTag=en #mothersday

I've also had a few meetings this week about different writing projects, none of which I can yet reveal. But I will when I can, I promise. 

I crafted another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside for The People's Friend magazine. I've been writing Riverside weekly since 2016 and you can find out all about it here.

I also kept the Coronation Street Blog ticking over with news and editing the team of 16 bloggers. 

Sign up to receive my free, monthly email newsletter with competitions, events and news  
__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Front page news and three talks - my writing week

It's been a very busy week with three talks to large groups. 

First, I travelled to the beautiful city of York to speak on Monday.

On Tuesday I gave a talk to Ryhope Heritage Society.

And on Wednesday I gave a talk to another large group in Low Fell, Gateshead.

I also starred on the front cover of the Sunderland Echo, what a joy!

And appeared again in The Sunderland Echo's list of wonderful Wearside women for International Women's Day. You can see the whole list here.

I celebrated International Women's Day at The Word in South Shields  as guest speaker at their Women's Words Creative Writing session and received a beautiful journal from the group.

The Word is a library that offers so much more, and they have a wonderful shop which stocks my books for sale!

I crafted another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside for The People's Friend magazine. I've been writing Riverside weekly since 2016 and you can find out all about it here.

I also kept the Coronation Street Blog ticking over with news and editing the team of 16 bloggers. 

Sign up to receive my free, monthly email newsletter with competitions, events and news  

__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Signing, Chatting, Smiling, Enjoying and Firing up my Writing Life

I'm very proud to be featured in the spring edition of Menopause Matters magazine. How hot flushes fired up my writing life! You can read my feature and the magazine online at https://pressreader.com/9jk3/20250305/281548001644277 and pick up a mag at high street shops inc WHSmith, see https://menopausematters.co.uk

My author newsletter for March is out now with a new competition to win a signed book and a box of toffee! Read it all here https://glendayoungbooks.com/so/2ePKiziWo?languageTag=en&cid=fea2ea73-

I popped into Sunderland Waterstones to sign stock of books, both my sagas and cosy crimes.

And my book signing of the hardback version of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls went down so well that I sold out of books within the first 10 minutes. Happy to report there are plenty of books available to buy now at the Crafty Gift Shop inside Saint Cuthbert's Mall shopping centre in Chester-le-Street.

I crafted another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside for The People's Friend magazine. I've been writing Riverside weekly since 2016 and you can find out all about it here.

I also kept the Coronation Street Blog ticking over with news and editing the team of 16 bloggers. 

Sign up to receive my free, monthly email newsletter with competitions, events and news 

__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Toffee, talks, titles, donations and a VIP invitation - My writing week

It's been another busy week and I'm loving every minute.

First off, there's a new competition to win a signed hardback copy of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls with a box of Toffifee, enter here.

Also this week I revealed the title of the third book in The Toffee Factory Girls trilogy, this will be released in 2026. Haven't read the first two books yet? Catch up here!

A wonderful email arrived this week from the owner of the Spa Chalet in Scarborough. Now, I've had a picture of the Spa Chalet on my wall since I was a child so this was rather exciting. There is a group of ladies booked to stay there this summer and they're a book club, reading my Scarborough cosy crime Murder at the Seaview Hotel. How brilliant is that?  I was also invited to speak to the group in exchange for a night at the chalet. Find out more about the book at http://bit.ly/MurderAtTheSeaviewHotel

Elsewhere this week, I was at the Crafty Gift Shop in Chester-le-Street, near the site of the old Horner's toffee factory which inspired my trilogy of Toffee Factory Girls books.  I signed hardback copies of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls and ran out of books within the first five minutes, before I even had time to take off my coat.  More books are on their way to the shop as I type.  Chester-le-Street doesn't have its own book shop (apart from second hand books) so the Crafty Gift Shop provide invaluable support to me and my books. Discover the books here.

This week I donated copies of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls to local community libraries including Fulwell Library, Kayll Road Library,Back on the Map library at Hendon, Boldon and Cleadon Community Library.

I'm celebrating 10 years of my writing life with memories, achievements, awards and today it's a flashback to this day last year when my novel The Toffee Factory Girls was given a double-page spread in the Mirror!

I crafted another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside for The People's Friend magazine. I've been writing Riverside weekly since 2016 and you can find out all about it here.

I also kept the Coronation Street Blog ticking over with news and editing the team of 16 bloggers. 

Sign up to receive my free, monthly email newsletter with competitions, events and news 

__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Competition: Enter to win Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls with a box of toffee

Would you like to win a signed hardback copy of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls, plus a box of Toffifee toffee?  Be in with a chance to win by entering the competition below and answering correctly. All correct entries will go into a draw and a winner drawn at random.

UK entries only, please.

Deadline for entries is Friday 21 March 2025 at 5pm. Winner will be announced on this blog.

Good luck, everyone!

 

__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Hot flushes igniting a writing fire in my belly - my writing week

This week has been another busy week and I wouldn't have it any other way!  I've finished writing the third book in The Toffee Factory Girls trilogy and have sent this to the publisher. There's still a lot of work ahead but for now I can take a well-deserved break. However, I haven't been sitting back! 

In March it'll be 10 years since I left my day job to begin my writing life and so much has happened since.  There's a wonderful celebration of the last 10 years in the Sunderland Echo and you can read it all here.

Also this week I was invited to take part in the Festival of Local Authors organised by Durham County Libraries. I gave a talk at a library outside of Crook in County Durham and it was wonderful. Without libraries, I wouldn't be the writer I am and I owe them everything.  Thank you to everyone who came along.

And so, in celebration of 10 years of writing, I've been looking back at awards, achievements, memories. Here we go with this week's glance over the last decade of my writing life.

My debut novel Belle of the Back Streets in WHSmith in South Shields. One of my favourite pictures. it's hard to know who was most excited, me or the lady in the shop!  I popped in to sign stock, by the way, in my cycling gear.

A very special mention of my books from TV's soap queen Sharon Marshall.

And here I am on the site of the old Hendon paper mill with my novel The Paper Mill Girl.  It's my bestselling book, cracked the UK top 50 book charts and I received a commendation from the British Association of Paper Historians. 

And back to my debut novel Belle of the Back Streets, here is the first ever box of books I received from my publisher Headline.  And let me tell you, opening boxes of books from your publisher NEVER gets stale!  What a thrill to see this memory from February 2019. And so much has happened since... but what will happen next? It's going to be an exciting time ahead.

I crafted another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside for The People's Friend magazine. I've been writing Riverside weekly since 2016 and you can find out all about it here.

I also kept the Coronation Street Blog ticking over with news and editing the team of 16 bloggers. 

Sign up to receive my free, monthly email newsletter with competitions, events and news 

__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com