Flaming Nora

Yesterday was a very special day. Sunday October 27th saw the Sketch for Sammy show at the Exchange Theatre in North Shields. I was there as a finalist, one of six whose comedy sketches had been chosen to be performed from all of those who entered.  The theatre  began to fill up. North-east celebrities were spotted at the bar. 'Is that him off the telly?' we whispered. Oh yes, indeed it was.  It's not false modesty to say that I never expected to win. I was gobsmacked at being shortlisted so winning was never on my mind. Well, okay, perhaps I allowed myself a moment when I thought it might be possible. But just a moment. That moment disappeared the instant that the first of the six shortlisted plays were performed. And then the second. It was clear that there was real comedy writers in the room, and I knew I wasn't one of them. But hey, I'd been shortlisted, so there must've been some merit to my sketch and I know I shouldn't do myself down.  All o...

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 Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor

A gorgeous package arrived today. It's the first time I've held this book in my hands. It's my third novel, called Pearl of Pit Lane and it's set in the northeast coalmining village of 1919. It's about a young girl called Pearl who lives with her aunt Annie, who earns money by selling herself on the streets. When Pearl comes of age, Annie is deep in debt. To survive, she needs Pearl to work the streets too. However, Pearl has other ideas. Rather than submit to life working the pit lane, Pearl runs away. She has nothing and nowhere to go, but Pearl is determined to survive on her own terms.  Follow Pearl's amazing journey. Pearl of Pit Lane is out on November 14th in hardback, audiobook and eBook (paperback March 2020). __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor

I love radio.  I love listening to it - and out of all the interviews and publicity I do when a new paperback is released, it's the radio interviews I love doing the most.  This week I went into my local station Sun FM to chat to Simon and Lauren on their breakfast show about my second novel  The Tuppenny Child which is out in paperback  now. The story is set in Sunderland in 1919. The interview is now online and if you'd like to listen to it, it's here. And if you'd like to read a blog post about my love for all things radio and wireless, it's here! __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor

I've a short comedy story in this week's The People's Friend magazine, out today (Wednesday 16 October 2019). The story is called Meet the Neighbours and it's about some new neighbours who aren't all they're cracked up to be - even if they ARE celebrities! __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor

The Bookseller is the trade journal for book sellers and authors. They compile the best selling charts each week.  Well, one of those charts has The Tuppenny Child featured in it.  The Bookseller's Heatseekers charts are compiled using titles by authors who have not appeared in the official UK Top 50 since Neilsen Bookscan records began. As such, they reveal books that are selling well, but not well enough to make the overall list in a seven day period. And here she is, my very own The Tuppenny Child, straight in the Heatseekers chart at number eight this week. This is very good news indeed. __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor

With thanks to Inside Soap magazine for including The Tuppenny Child in their Hot List this week - the pics of books and DVDs they're recommending to soap fans. The magazine is out in the shops now. It has a competition where you can even win a copy of The Tuppenny Child.  __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor

Sunday for Sammy's Ray Laidlaw with Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais Sharing some very exciting news today. I'm one of six finalists in this year's Sketch for Sammy  - The Clement and La Frenais Comedy Award 2019. The live final will be held on Sunday October 27 at 2pm at The Exchange Theatre in North Shields. All six comedy sketches will be performed by professional actors. It'll be great! All welcome, please come. I've never written anything like this before, so as you can imagine, am feeling a bit gobsmacked at being chosen as one of the finalists. A panel of celebrity judges comprising actress and comedy script writer Kim Tserkezie, (Balamory) comedy writer Elliott Kerrigan (Boy Meets Girl) and Chairman of the Sunday for Sammy Trust, Tim Healy, will choose the winning sketch which will be considered for inclusion in the 2020 Sunday for Sammy show. To obtain your free ticket, email julieclay@blueyonder.co.uk   __ Glenda Young Author of histo...

How do you imagine a writer's day to be? I always thought, perhaps hoped, it might involve lazing on a chaise longue, wearing a silk dressing gown while smoking a cigarette in one of those really long cigarette holders like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Alas, a writer's life isn't like that. Or at least, mine's not, so far. But then it's early days. Perhaps I should put the chaise longue on order? So as I'm not lying around smoking in a silk dressing gown, what the chuff am I doing with my writing life? Well, this week I was on the number eight bus to Beamish. I know, thrilling stuff. Actually, it really is thrilling and I couldn't be happier. It was a long bus ride, all 90 minutes of it from Sunderland interchange to Beamish museum. For those who don't know Beamish, it's a  world famous open air museum, telling the story of life in North East England during the 1820s, 1900s & 1940s - and it's a perfect place for res...

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 Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor

The Crack magazine is a north-east listings magazine that I rush to pick up at the start of every month. It covers gigs, events, museum exhibitions and so on in the area and I'm delighted to be included in it this month. I've got not one, but two, events listed in the literary pages and my thanks go to whoever sends these in to the magazine. The two events relate to publicity for my second novel  The Tuppenny Child   and you can find out more about it here. Saturday 5 October, book signing at Sunderland Waterstones. Saturday 12 October, talk at The Word in South Shields. One of my favourite places in the north-east. Tickets are £2 and you can book in advance here. --  Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline     Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor

This week I was invited into BBC Radio Newcastle to talk to award-winning DJ Lisa Shaw about my second novel set in Ryhope, Sunderland. The book is The Tuppenny Child and there's more information on it here. If you'd like to listen to my interview, it's short (about 6 minutes) and I start talking after ELO, a t the 1 hr 15 mins mark here. --  Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline     Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor

My local newspaper, The Sunderland Echo, are running a competition to win one of eight copies of my second novel set in Sunderland, The Tuppenny Child. All details are here. --  Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline     Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor

Just returned from a wonderful holiday in the sun. While there, I relaxed and read a great deal. Here are the books I read with a little sentence or two about each one.  The Testaments by Margaret Atwood My most favourite book, ever, of all-time is The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. And yes, I loved the TV show, up to a point. That point being at which the book ended and the fiction of TV took over. I stopped watching then. The Testaments is a fantastic follow-up to The Handmaid's Tale. Enjoyed it enormously, so much so that I've started reading it for a second time.  Can you ever forgive me? By Lee Israel I know of this book because of the 2019 film starring Richard E Grant. It's the memories of a literary forger and the film is a lot of fun, sad too in places. The book is as sarcastic and witty as you'd expect. It's a slender book, a thin volume and you can read it in an hour or so. Righteous by Joe Ide The second of Joe Ide'...