Flaming Nora

I have some very exciting news... very exciting indeed!  Today, Wednesday September 28th 2016, The People's Friend magazine is on sale. And inside, for the very first time in the magazine's history, is the opening episode of a weekly soap opera. The soap is called Riverside , and I'm very proud to say that I've wrote it. Riverside is set in the fictional town of Ryemouth , an ex-industrial town undergoing regeneration. While most people welcome the changes, there are some who are resistant and like the old ways best.  It’s all about the old and the new and how the two interact. It’s funny in places; touching, dramatic and serious too. When I received the email from the fiction team at The People’s Friend asking if I’d be interested in writing a soap, I almost fell off my chair with shock. I went through every emotion possible. I felt enormously privileged at having been asked but at the same time I was terrified at the thought of creating my own charac...

Very happy, honoured and privileged to have been asked to write all the text for the first ever soap colouring book in the UK.  I chose all of the iconic images too. It's in the shops today! Or you can order here . Find out more about my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Last week I gave myself a bit of a bad time. It got so bad that I felt the beginnings of a panic attack while on a training course in a busy city centre. I made my way as quickly as I could to John Lewis because a) I thought the staff would be trained and would know what to do if I passed out, and b) I might get a nice new tea towel out of them. It started on Monday when I found out that a short story I'd crafted carefully and specifically for a local competition close to my heart hadn't made the short list. However, it had made the long list, so that's something, right?  ( Post-blog note: I've just found out that one of the two stories I submitted to this competition has been 'highly commended '). It continued on Wednesday when a short monologue I was really happy with was rejected from a national competition. And it ended on Friday when a short story I wrote - and absolutely love - didn't make the shortlist of the BBC National Short Story Award. ...

It's been a week of two halves already - and it's only Wednesday. On Monday this week I found out that the short story I'd submitted to the Sunderland Short Story Award hadn't been shortlisted.  I had my pet lip out all day. And today I have two short stories published.  One is in The People's Friend magazine on sale today, Wednesday 14 September. It's a story called The Bicycle Belles. And the other story is published in The People's Friend Fiction Special No. 129. It's a story called Summer Holiday. Find out more about my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I squealed like the girl that I am when the postman came to the door this afternoon. He had a mahoosive box in his hands and it was full of Coronation Street colouring books. I'm honoured to have been asked to work with ITV on bringing the book to life.  Working with ITV I helped choose all 45 pictures for the book, writing descriptions of each of the key scenes and I also wrote the introduction.  The new Coronation Street official colouring book is in the shops on Thursday 22nd September or you can pre-order it here. You might also like to have a look at my books website: glendayoungbooks.com Find out more about my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

As part of this year's Heritage Open Days, we visited the River Wear Commisioner's building, in Sunderland. It's a building that I've wanted to have a look around in for a very long time. And today was the day. The chap who showed us around the building, sadly, wasn't a tour guide as such and hadn't been briefed on what to say about the history, the context or the importance of the building. The River Wear Commissioners played a vital role in Sunderland's economic development. They transformed the Wear into a navigable river and supplied the infrastructure that allowed ship-building and commerce to thrive.  The building is a little-known gem, a monument to the River Wear Commissioners with the image of a sextant emblazoned above the doorway amid decorative mouldings. And the board room, well, can you imagine the decisions that were made in that room, around that table? Even the ladies loos were worth a visit although I wonder how many women w...

I've a short story in this month's Take a Break Fiction Feast (October 2016).   It's a story about a woman who finds out all about her brother, when she looks after his dog for the weekend.   The story makes it to the magazine front cover too. I couldn't be more chuffed. The dog in the story, as I was writing it, was big and black with a shaggy head. I imagined him to be something like this: But the magazine have inserted the word 'bulldog' as a descriptor into the story and the accompanying pictures show him as this.  It's strange how things don't always work out how you think! Find out more about my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

In advance of the official ITV Coronation Street colouring book coming out this month, there are some press interviews with me. Interview in The Sunderland Echo Interview in Sunderland Vibe magazine . Interview in The Sun Mention of the book on HeartNorthEast radio Published by Octopus Publishing Group, Coronation Street: The Official Colouring Book is on sale from September 22, and available to pre-order from Amazon at here . Find out more about my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora