Discover my Cosy Crimes & Historical Sagas

Discover my Cosy Crimes & Historical Sagas

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Publication day for The Tuppenny Child


It's publication day for the paperback of my second novel - The Tuppenny Child - published by Headline.

The Tuppenny Child is set in the northeast coalmining village of Ryhope, in 1919. It's got a fantastic heroine at its core, who arrives in Ryhope with no money, no friends, no family. She is there to find her baby who has been stolen from her. 

And she's a kick-ass feminist icon too. She becomes the first woman in the village to wear trousers, to ride a bike, to set up her own business - and all the while she's searching for her stolen child. 

Not just that, she brings down one of the most powerful men in the village while she's on.  It's a rollercoaster of a ride and includes a fantastic Women's Christmas, the traditional Irish custom of  Nollaig na mBan, done in pure Ryhope style.

As in my debut novel BELLE OF THE BACK STREETS, there's another feisty heroine at the core of The Tuppenny Child and it's available here.

-- 

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Belle of the Back Streets walk around Ryhope


Saturday 14 September 2019 is a day that will stay with me for a very long time.  As part of Heritage Open Days, along with my friend Paul Lanagan, we led a guided walk around Ryhope taking in the locations from my debut novel Belle of the Back Streets.


I'm Ryhope born and bred and although I no longer live there I have family who do and I'm a member of Ryhope Heritage Society. I may have left Ryhope but it hasn't left me. And now, all of my novels with Headline are set in old Ryhope at the end of the first world war in 1919.

I'm a huge fan of Heritage Open Days, local history and heritage in general. So much so, that this year I was honoured to be invited to give the welcome speech at the official opening of Tyne and Wear Heritage Days. You can see some pictures of my speech and read more on that here.

Now then, I've never led a guided walk before and was very nervous indeed. But my pal Paul is a confident tour guide and entrenched in local history and heritage with his roles at Houghton Heritage Society and Houghton Feast. I knew I was in good hands.  The sun was shining too, which was a great start to the day. With our walking boots on, off we went!

We had 21 guests on the walk (25 including Paul and his wife Kristie and me and my husband Barry). I had to keep the group this size to be manageable but could easily have ended up with a group twice the size, such was the interest in the guided walk. I may well run another next spring when Pearl of Pit Lane comes out in paperback and we can look at the locations for Belle of the Back Streets, The Tuppenny Child and Pearl of Pit Lane too.

Anyway, back to the walk yesterday.  We all met outside of Ryhope Workingmen's Club and once I'd ticked everyone off my list, my husband Barry handed out a raffle ticket to each person on the walk. The raffle was to be drawn at the end of the walk and the winner would receive a copy of my second book set in Ryhope, The Tuppenny Child.


Here are some wonderful pictures from the work. They belong to a lovely lady called Beverley Ann Hopper who has given me permission to share the photos online.  At each stop, Paul asked me questions about Belle of the Back Streets, about my writing life and about Ryhope's history. I'm no expert on the latter but I (hope!) I did as well as I could. We had lots of photos of old Ryhope to show everyone at each stop. Paul even did a reading from the start of the book at our first stop, which was a memorial to the miners who had lost their lives at Ryhope pit.


At Saint Paul's church the vicar, Reverend David Chadwick, allowed us inside as a group, which was fantastic as the church and the vicar of 1919 - Canon Percival Young Knight (who I've fictionalised as Reverend Daye) - plays an integral role in my books.


And once inside the church, there was a coffee morning taking place in aid of Macmillan Nurses. We all had a welcome sit down, a cuppa and a biscuit.


Also on our walk, we visited the site of Ryhope's coal mine. Here is the group walking into the playing field which stands on the site now.


We also saw where the church, cinema, police station, rhubarb field, Co-op store, cattle market, railway station and various pubs are located that are mentioned in my books. All the while, the sun continued shining and it really was a day I will never forget.

Here are some of the group walking past The Railway Inn  pub which plays a huge role in my second book, The Tuppenny Child.  We were on our way to see what remains of Ryhope train station at this point.


And when we got to the train station, which was our last official stop on the guided walk, Paul did something that made me cry. He took out his copy of Belle of the Back Streets again and read the final paragraph. It made me cry when I wrote it. It made me cry every single time that I read it and when Paul read it in front of the group, I had a lump in my throat again. I also sang something, but it'd be too much of a spoiler to reveal what that was.

Thankyou, Paul.

Then, before it was time to head to the Albion Inn, another pub which plays a huge part in Belle of the Back Streets, I drew the winning raffle ticket and the lucky winner won a paperback copy of my second novel which hits the shops next week, The Tuppenny ChildUnbeknown to me, Paul had bought a runner's up prize on the walk - a stottie cake from the baker's shop on our walk. A lucky runner-up won the stottie.

And then it was time to end the walk and say goodbye. Some of us went into the pub for drinks and lunch while others headed home.


Thank you to everyone for coming on the walk yesterday, it really was a day like no other and I will never, ever, forget it. Thank you especially to Paul Lanagan, whose idea this all was. I have to admit I took some encouragement to agree to the idea because I am painfully shy and this was very much out of my comfort zone. But I think you can agree from the picture of me and Paul below that I really did enjoy it.


Thank you also to my husband Barry for being the raffle ticket man, the shopkeeper selling my books at the end of the tour and for keeping the walkers together by being "the man at the back".  Thank you to Paul's wife Kristie too, and especially to Janet Robinson at Sunderland City Council for all of her support with Heritage Open Days.

Shall we do it all again next year?

__

Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Corrie weekly update – Wedding woes and Addict Ali

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street has just gone live here.


And if you'd like to support the Coronation Street weekly updates (please),
you can donate here.

__
Glenda Young

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Two talks at Sunderland Libraries Literature Festival 2019


Very proud to announce that I'm giving two talks at the annual Sunderland Libraries Literature Festival. 

This year's festival takes place during October 2019 with an exciting programme, bursting with captivating local authors, engaging discussions and creepy Halloween kids' events for half-term. 

Explore this year's literary line-up in the brochure at Sunderland Libraries Literature Festival

And if you can come to one of my talks, please do!

__
Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

My opening speech at Heritage Open Days 2019


Last night I stood up in front of people, gave a speech and didn't fall down. I'd call that a result.

I also managed to get a few laughs out of the audience, which was great. I'm still buzzing from it all this morning and can't quite believe this shy, retiring author was being applauded and given flowers last night.

But the pictures are there, so it must be true.



I was speaking at a fantastic centre called The Land of Oak and Iron, which is just beside the Metrocentre shopping centre in Gateshead. And I'd been invited to give the welcome speech at the official opening of Tyne and Wear Heritage Open Days 2019.  What an honour it was. 

I've long been a fan of Heritage Open Days, as regular readers of my blog will know. I think it's the writer in me - you have to be nosy to be a writer, you have to want to know what goes on in buildings you're not normally allowed to go inside. You have to want to know about the people, the places, the history, the stories. 

To be asked to give the opening speech, well, I can't quite put it into words. I've never felt so nervous but also have never felt so proud and honoured too. Thank you to everyone involved. It was a night I will never forget.

Find out all about this year's Tyne and Wear Heritage Open Days. 

__
Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Monday, September 09, 2019

The Tuppenny Child, Waterstones book signing


Waterstones' website now have details of a book signing I'm doing at the Sunderland store. It's on Saturday 5 October 2019 from 11am to 2pm and I'll be signing paperback copies of my second novel, The Tuppenny Child.

It's set in the coalmining village of Ryhope, Sunderland in 1919 and is another rollercoaster ride of a family saga.

If you come along, it'd be great to say hello and to meet you.

All details here.

__
Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Corrie weekly update – Spanner Steve, moving Mary and mystery Fiz on the phone

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street has just gone live here. 



This week in Corrie, Maureen Lipman as Evelyn kept me interested during soap's summer slump.


And if you'd like to support the Coronation Street weekly updates (please),
you can donate here.
__
Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Sunday, September 08, 2019

Thursday, September 05, 2019

Brown paper packages tied up with bows


A wonderful surprise in the mail today from my publisher, Headline.  

Wrapped up with a blue bow and a congratulations card inside, what's not to like? It's an advance paperback copy of my second novel. This one's called The Tuppenny Child and is out September 19th. Available from all good book shops and Asda.

Or you can order it from Amazon here.

__
Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Tuesday, September 03, 2019

Shortlisted in Sunderland Short Story Award


I'm not allowed to say which story is mine, but I'm absolutely over the moon that I've been shortlisted in this year's University of Sunderland in association with Waterstones Short Story Award.

The awards ceremony takes place at the end of October in Sunderland Waterstones. Wish me luck!  It's the first time I've ever been shortlisted in this competition and I'm really, really happy.

All shortlisted short stories are here.
__
Glenda Young

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Monday, September 02, 2019

I'm in the news!


In the last few days I've been given a mention in various publications as follows. 

If you'd like to read the full story for each, simply click on each link.

Sunderland Echo
Take a Walking Tour of Sunderland Streets Featured in Best-selling Novels

Sunderland SeeitDoit newsletter
Ryhope 1919 - a talk on my three novels to date


Durham University English newsletter
What’s On: North East Literature and Book Events in September 2019


New Writing North

A full list of all my press and news items is available on my website, here.
__
Glenda Young

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor
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