Flaming Nora

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update  has just gone live here. This week in Corrie included a wonderful line from writer David Isaac. Emma to Seb: "You've got lovely hair, it's a like a waterfall of gravy." Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I'm over the moon to announce that I've got a short story on the shortlist for the Dorset Fiction Award 2018. I can't say which one is mine, as they were all judged anonymously, but I really am chuffed! Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Pre-research research Today I had the synopsis approved for the third novel I'm going to write. And before I set pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) there'll be two or three weeks of head-down, serious research to do.  Past experience tells me I'll enjoy every minute of this - and it's often hard to know when to stop because once I start, there are so many rabbit holes to fall into full of jewels and gems and things to make me go "Ooh!" (or in my case: "That's fantastic! I could wrap a whole chapter around that one paragraph/sentence/word!"). But before research proper begins in a couple of weeks' time, I'm doing a lot of reading right now. It's what I'm calling my pre-research research. This means that if you call round to see me and I'm sitting in the garden with my feet up on a lounger, iced lemonade by my side and sun-specs on, I'm not lazing around. I'm pre-research researching. Oh yes. And in this, ...

I'm given a (very) little mention in the summer newsletter of the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA). The RNA is an organisation I joined when I started writing my debut novel Belle of the Back Streets.   It's a powerful organisation offering support, advice and social opportunities to members. I'm proud to be a part of it. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update  has just gone live here. This week in Corrie included a baby battle - and a salon war began. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Christmas... too early to discuss? Well, I'm excited!  The 2019 annuals have just gone up online to pre-order from The People's Friend and My Weekly and I've stories in both. In The People's Friend annual 2019 I have a story called Next Door's Cat. And in My Weekly annual 2019 I have two stories The Queen of Cosy Crime  and Garden of Eden . You can order both annuals here. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I've a short story in My Weekly magazine which is in the shops now. The story is called Rainbow's End and it's written through the colours of the rainbow which every colour - red, orange, yellow - and so on, being given significance in the story. If you read it, I do hope you enjoy it. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

A list of nots to do A stream of words to keep quiet A lifetime to never discuss Half circle Without heart or mind Half squared that edges away Until Boxed in and silent And biting, biting the words Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update  has just gone live here. This week Corrie choked me with emotion in a way that it hasn't done in years. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

This month's Writers' Forum magazine features me in a double page spread: "From Blog to Book Deal". I'm really chuffed to be featured in this magazine, interviewed by writer Douglas McPherson. Of course, From Blog to Book Deal makes my writing life sound an incredibly easy one when it's been anything but.  All I can say is - excuse the cliche - if I can do it, anyone can. The full interview is a double page spread in this month's Writer's Forum magazine in the shops now. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

There's a black and white photograph,  curled with age. And there's a woman wearing a straw hat, cheap as chips, kiss me quick. Behind her the sea, the sands, a deckchair. There's no mistaking her face, a young girl, but it's gran. I see who grandad fell for, I see the warmth in her smile as she lifts her head to the man who holds her image in his hands. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

With thanks to north-east writer Victoria Watson w ho interviews me on her blog today. The theme of the blog post is 'Don't Quit the Day Job' and I explain why you should, right now. You can read my blog post here . Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update  has just gone live here. This week there was shameless ITV cross-promotion, again reminding us how much of a product Corrie is to the network. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Today I pressed the send  button and my second novel - The Tuppenny Child - is winging its way to my publisher. I know there'll be weeks of editing to get stuck into once my editor at Headline reads it. She'll come back to me with suggestions of how to make the book stronger, better. I may not agree with all of the changes she suggests. But the beauty of having an editor you get along with, I've found, is that this isn't a painful process, there's negotiation on both sides. It's an insightful process and I learned a great deal from the editing process with my debut novel - Belle of the Back Streets . I'm taking a breather from novel writing now, but just a little one. I've got a long list of short story ideas I'd like to get stuck into writing for women's magazines and I'll start on those next week. More importantly, I've got the synopsis for novel number three to firm up and submit to my publisher. Then I can then start the w...

I've a short story in Take a Break's Fiction Feast that's out in the shops now with this cover. The story's called Rock 'n' Roll Model and it's about a glamorous gran. It's a fun story and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora