Flaming Nora

I am very happy to announce that posters for my novels are now on display inside the wonderful Sunderland Empire Theatre.   If you spot one of them, take a selfie as I'd love to see your pics!  The posters will be in the theatre until March 2020.  Sunderland Empire is a very special place to me as it's where my dad proposed to my mam and where my graduation ceremony took place when I graduated from Sunderland University as a (very) mature student.  What a great way to end a wonderful year! __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter: @Flaming_Nora Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

I've a short story called Karaoke Queen in this week's The People's Friend magazine. It's a fun story about a woman gaining her independence back after her marriage falls apart - and it's all told through the medium of karaoke. A smashing little story, if I do say so myself. Also in the magazine is the New Year episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside in which Mary gives Mike some food for thought. __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter: @Flaming_Nora Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Yes, it's the end of the year and time for some reflection. Actually, I hate reflection but I've got an hour and a half to kill before a dentist appointment this morning and thought I'd write a blog post while I wait. So here are my two favourite book reviews that I received this year. Honest and to the point. No faffing, no chatting, these reviews just tells it like it is. Both reviews were for Belle of the Back Streets , my debut novel. __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter: @Flaming_Nora Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Before writing my novels I always set aside two or three weeks of dedicated research. I visit museums and libraries, archives and records offices and most importantly of all, I walk around Ryhope with my ‘writing head on’. I try to look at the buildings and roads and imagine them as they might have been a hundred years ago. I peer over doorways, walk down cobbled lanes and breathe in the sea air. I imagine alighting from a train at what is left of one of the two train stations and try to catch a glimpse of old Ryhope through a fresh pair of eyes. It was while researching for The Tuppenny Child , that I learned of something new and unusual. But it wasn’t something I discovered in a museum or old book, it was something I read, of all places, on Twitter! My friend Emma lives in Dublin and on January 6 2018 she tweeted this. I am copying it below with Emma’s permission: We’re celebrating #NollaignamBan (Women's Christmas) today i n Ireland. Traditionally a day when men would t...

I am not the sort of person who gives talks. To say it doesn't come naturally to me is something of a massive understatement. In all my 25 years working in University admin I turned down promotions and job opportunities if it meant, in any way, shape or form, that I'd have to stand up in front of people and talk. I was not that person who could give a, gulp, presentation. I still shudder at the mention of that word. But I'm doing it now. Speaking with a passion about my writing and my books. However, it doesn't come easy.  After each talk I give I'm exhausted. I feel mentally and physically done in. Once the adrenaline leaves me, I crumple. I feel like I've been beaten up. It takes a lot out of me. But I've come to love talking about what drives me to write, about my research, characters, stories and more. If you'd like to come along to any of my talks in 2020, there's a list on my website which I update regularly too. __ Glenda You...

2019. It's been quite a year. As well as having 29  short stories published in women's magazines including My Weekly, Take a Break's Fiction Feast, The People's Friend and The People's Friend Fiction Special... ... plus  50  episodes of my weekly soap opera Riverside each week in The People's Friend magazine, here's a quick recap of some of the major milestones in my writing life this year. Click on the links beneath each picture to find out more. January  I'm invited to talk to pupils at my old junior school and to officially open the school library.   One little girl was so taken by my talk about my debut novel set in Ryhope, Belle of the Back Streets, that she dressed up as the main character of the book, Meg Sutcliffe, for World Book Day at the school. Invited to The People's Friend magazine's 150th anniversary party. March  My first gritty novel set in Ryhope, Sunderland in 1919, Belle of the Back Streets, i...