Toffees, Yorkshire and two bouquets - my writing week

This week I began the background reading for my next Scarborough-set cosy crime. It's going to be a lot of fun!  No details yet... I'm such a tease!

After the hardback, ebook and audiobook publication last week of The Toffee Factory Girls I received two beautiful bouquets. One from my publisher Headline (thanks, everyone!) and the other from my husband who is also my chauffeur, bodyguard, roadie, counsellor and coffee maker!

The Toffee Factory Girls proof paperbacks were sent out by my publisher to reviewers, with free toffees!  Some pics already received are as follows:

This one from https://twitter.com/thebookmagnet

This one from https://twitter.com/Lindahill50Hill

This one from https://twitter.com/_chapter1_page1

This one from https://www.instagram.com/tamisreadingcorner/

I was featured in The Halifax Courier with my cosy crimes set in Scarborough, in a round-up of Yorkshire novels. How wonderful! Read the full article here.  It was also syndicated to a number of Yorkshire newspapers including The Scarborough News and the The Harrogate Advertiser.

There's a new competition to win one of my books, signed. Enter here.

My novel The Toffee Factory Girls is now available to book bloggers on NetGalley on request from Headline. Request it here.

I crafted another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside for The People's Friend magazine. I've been writing Riverside weekly since 2016 and you can find out all about it here.

I also kept the Coronation Street Blog ticking over with news and editing the team of 16 bloggers. 

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Glenda Young

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Competition Time! Win one of Glenda's books!

Enter to win a signed copy of any of my books shown below - sagas or cosy crime!

Deadline for competition is Friday 26 April 2024 at 12 noon.

Winner will be announced on this website. 

 Good luck, everyone! UK entrants only.

 

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Glenda Young

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Book launch, first talk, libraries and R&R in Scarborough - my writing week

Well, it's a big week this week with the launch of THE TOFFEE FACTORY GIRLS in hardback, audiobook and ebook / Kindle. (The paperback is coming in May).  Got your copy yet? Order it now at bit.ly/ToffeeFactoryGirls or ask your local library to order it for you.

The first review is IN and it's a whopping 5 stars from Booklover Bev who has been with me right from the start of my writing life. 

This week I visited my happy place of Scarborough for a few days R&R. While there, I called into Scarborough Waterstones where they have a table specially for my cosy crimes set in the town. I signed all of their stock so if you're after a signed book, they've got them!

Also this week I gave my first talk of the year. It was a last-minute request to cover a speaker who cancelled for Ryhope Heritage Society (of which I'm a member).  It was a pleasure to give the talk which went down well by all and to share my love of researching the history and heritage of Ryhope for my historical novels.

My Scarborough cosy crime Murder at the Seaview Hotel was featured in Durham Libraries Yorkshire books display, which made me very proud.

And I visited one of my favourite buildings in the UK, The Word in South Shields. It's a library - and much more. I was there for a heritage and history talk and was overjoyed to see my books on the library shelves - including large print copies too.

I crafted another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside for The People's Friend magazine. I've been writing Riverside weekly since 2016 and you can find out all about it here.

I also kept the Coronation Street Blog ticking over with news and editing the team of 16 bloggers. 

Sign up to receive my free, monthly email newsletter with competitions, events and news 

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Glenda Young

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Winner announced in The Toffee Girls signed book competition

Congratulations go to Heather Copping who was drawn at random to win a signed hardback copy of The Toffee Factory Girls, and a box of Tofiffee.

Thank you to everyone who entered the competition and if you'd like to order the book, it's here!

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Glenda Young

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

5 Real Life Locations in The Toffee Factory Girls

Would you like to know more about the real-life locations I use in my novels? 

I hope that if you read The Toffee Factory Girls or if you've read it already, that these pictures might give some context and background and add a bit of depth to the locations I've written about.

1. Horner's Toffee Factory, Chester-le-Street

The most important of all of the locations in this book. Horner's Toffee Factory and the Dainty Dinah toffee brand inspired the novel, story and characters.

2. Front Street, Chester-le-Street

A lot of action in the story takes place on Front Street, which remains the main shopping street in Chester-le-Street. On the right hand side of this picture can you can see a group of women, dressed in their overalls. They are workers at Horner's toffee factory.

3. The Lambton Arms pub, Chester-le-Street
The pub is where evil Frankie Ireland lives. Fortunately, Frankie's brother Jim and Jim's wife Cathy are good people who run the pub.  The pub will host the paperback book launch on Saturday May 23 2024, all day. All welcome.

4. Elm Street, Chester-le-Street

This is where Hetty, her mum Hilda and brother Dan live in the story.  I walked these streets many times, thinking about my characters and how they would have lived around the turn of World War 1.

 5. The lane at the back of the Toffee Factory

This is a modern picture of the lane that still exists on the site where Horner's Toffee Factory once stood. The lane was dark and therefore dangerous at the time of the story, it's a place where awful things happen. However, under the dark of night, it's also where courting couples met.

If you'd like to find out more about locations in my Ryhope-set novels, here you go: 

• 5 Locations in The Sixpenny Orphan
• 5 Locations in A Mother's Christmas Wish
• 5 Locations in The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon
• 5 Locations in Pearl of Pit Lane
• 5 Locations in The Tuppenny Child
• 5 Locations in Belle of the Back Streets
• 5 Locations in The Miner's Lass
• 5 Locations in The Paper Mill Girl

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Glenda Young

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

The Toffee Factory Girls now out in hardback, ebook and audiobook

Today's the day for the launch of my new novel, THE TOFFEE FACTORY GIRLS.  

It's out in hardback, ebook and audiobook and in all libraries too.  The paperback is coming in May.

Order your copy now at http://bit.ly/ToffeeFactoryGirls and I hope you really enjoy it!

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Glenda Young

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Waterstones Window, Re-engaging and Belgium - my writing week

This week I received this happy picture! It's Belgian journalist Dirk Musschoot who is involved with Birtley heritage society, who helped enormously researching the Belgian village of Elisabethville in Birtley, and he kindly allowed me to use his name in my book The Toffee Factory Girls. 

This week I was overjoyed to see my Scarborough cosy crime Foul Play at the Seaview Hotel in the window at Sunderland Waterstones, my local bookshop!  And not only was it in the window but...

... inside Waterstones they had lots of copies of the book (all signed now) with this wonderful sign.

My competition is still live to win a signed hardback copy of The Toffee Factory Girls with a box of Toffifee! Enter now at https://flamingnora.blogspot.com/2024/01/competition-time-enter-to-win-signed.html

Also this week I was announced as one of the speakers at this year's East Riding Festival of Words. It's held in Bridlington Library on Saturday 16 March 2024 at 10.30am. My session is 'Coastal Crime', a panel talk on my Seaview Hotel cosy crimes, set in Scarborough. I'll be with crime author Kate Evans, chaired by writer Nick Quantrill. Book your ticket here

And I'm overjoyed to announce that my novels have been chosen by Alfa Travel to be sold in their hotels nationwide with £1.50 per purchase going to Re-engage Charity. Read all about it here.

I crafted another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside for The People's Friend magazine. I've been writing Riverside weekly since 2016 and you can find out all about it here.

I also kept the Coronation Street Blog ticking over with news and editing the team of 16 bloggers. 

Sign up to receive my free, monthly email newsletter with competitions, events and news 

__

Glenda Young

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com