Flaming Nora

This week I gave an author talk to a book club at my local council, in our brand new city hall. Not only that, but the book club are now reading my Scarborough cosy crime Murder at the Seaview Hotel. Popped into Sunderland Waterstones to sign more books on 'my' table with my sagas and cosy crimes. Always wonderful... always!  They are SO supportive and I can't thank them enough. Been gathering my thoughts and planning the second in the trilogy of The Toffee Factory Girls. Used the library at Sunderland University to do this, a perfect, silent place. Very proud and honoured to announce that I have a short story in The People's Friend Annual 2024. I t's a Christmas story and it's called   The Empty Chair.  It's a story about a family who take in a Polish student for six months and soon learn he's become part of the family.  I hope you really enjoy it.   You can order the annual here . I had a stall to sign and sell my books at the 17nineteen Play Fair last...

Very proud and honoured to announce that I have a short story in The People's Friend Annual 2024.  It's a Christmas story and it's called The Empty Chair. It's a story about a family who take in a Polish student for six months and soon learn he's become part of the family. I hope you really enjoy it.   You can order the annual here . __ Glenda Young Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor Website:  GlendaYoungBooks.com

This week I've been gathering my thoughts.  Thinking about the end of the summer when I'll start researching and writing again. This time I'm writing the second book in my trilogy of The Toffee Factory Girls. It's the first time I've written a trilogy of sagas, although I've done the same with my cosy crimes, which are a series.   I've blocked out dates in my diary for research visits, and am now re-reading the first book. This ensures that I know each character inside and out, again, before I bring them back to life in book two.  I was featured on the Sunderland Council website with a wonderful headline. Read the full article here . My talk last week to the history group of Sunderland U3A resulted in a wonderful quote being received. "One of the best talks we have had".  Thank you very much indeed! The Word at South Shields is one of my favourite buildings in the northeast. It's a library, exhibition space and cultural venue. I'm honoured ...

An early adopter, that's what they call people like me. I joined the internet in 1993. The first two words I typed into what passed as a search engine were Coronation Street . Well, I was a huge fan of the show. There was no ITV site, no social media, nothing at all, just fans on noticeboards posting comments, linking up around the world. And so I joined in, posting comments, and writing the Coronation Street  weekly updates  from 1995. I met other Corrie fans around the world, in person at fan events, it was fun while it lasted.  I also set up and still run the Coronation Street Blog . Then the internet began to change.  It became commercial. As a user I was targeted by ads for things I neither understood, liked or wanted. However, I persevered with the internet. It was Groundbreaking! Exciting! New! You could find out what you wanted to know, at the touch of a key, a button, an app! Who wouldn't want that? Well, not me, anymore. Things started to go bad with Insta...

Thank you to everyone who entered June's competition  to win a signed copy of one of my historical sagas.  A winner has now been selected at random. Congratulations to Julie Hill who chose a copy of Pearl of Pit Lane Here is July's competition to win a signed book - enter now! __ Glenda Young Twitter: @Flaming_Nora Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Enter to win a signed book of your choice. Good luck! Deadline for entries is  Friday August 18 2023 at 5pm Loading… __ Glenda Young Twitter:  @Flaming_Nora Facebook:  GlendaYoungAuthor Website:  GlendaYoungBooks.com

There's an amazing feature about me on the Sunderland Council website!   Read the full article here . __ Glenda Young Twitter: @Flaming_Nora Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

This week I gave a talk to Sunderland University of the Third Age (U3A) History Group, which went down really well. Thank you for having me! It was such a lovely group and I really enjoyed givinthe talk. I was featured in The People's Friend magazine online as one of their short story authors who has gone on to become a novelist. You can read the full article here. I was also featured on the Sunderland Council website.  Local lass does good - Glenda Young award-winning short story writer and novelist   You can read it all here. I visited Seaham Library (where I'm giving a talk in August, all welcome) and found the talk being promoted at the front desk. When I asked, confused, why none of my books were on their shelves, the librarian told me that my books go out as soon as they come back in, they're so popular. Speaking of libraries, Swansea Library got in touch to tell me my cosy crime Murder at the Seaview Hotel  is one of their current Quick Choice books.   T...

Now available to pre-order - kindle, paperback, hardback!   Published by Headline.  The first in my new trilogy, The Toffee Factory Girls , inspired by the Dainty Dinah toffee factory in the northeast.  Order now at  bit.ly/ToffeeFactoryGirls   My advice for anyone entering writing competitions. Don't write to impress the judges, write to impress yourself. Write from the heart. Write the story that only YOU can. Watch the video below and my full interview on the link provided. Writing East Midlands interviewed me about winning the  2nd place prize in their 2017 Aurora writing competition & I now share my advice for this year's entrants. To enter & for the full interview  visit bit.ly/AURORAPRIZE Read my author newsletter for July - competitions, giveaways, news, events and more!   It's all here!   My books are on sale in the beautiful shop at the National Glass Centre, Sunderland. And my saga The Sixpenny Orphan is onl...