Winner announced in Signed Book and Toffifee competition

Congratulations go to Andrew Taylor who was drawn at random to be the winner of the signed hardback copy of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls, along with a box of Toffifee. 

Thank you to everyone for entering and you can order your paperback copy of the book here.

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Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Easter break and relaxing with too much chocolate - my writing week

This week has been the Easter bank holiday weekend and I visited relatives in Yorkshire. I'm happy to say that Waterstones in Harrogate now have signed copies of my cosy crimes.

As it's been a holiday week I've been taking things slowly, reading a lot and thinking about my next cosy crime which I'll start writing at the end of May. I'm almost finished with research and planning, next step is plotting and writing up chapter plans.  I always use this book when I'm at this stage, almost ready to write:

In the meantime, have you entered my competition to win a signed hardback of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls along with a box of Toffifee? It's all here! Enter before 5pm on Friday 25 April to be in with a chance to win.

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

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Deadly Dancing, Birtley Belgians, Events, Competitions and Tesco - my writing week

It's been a big week!  Not only did I receive the wonderful cover to my next cosy crime, Deadly Dancing at the Seaview Hotel...

... but I also received the page proofs which meant I read it all over again, before it goes to be printed.  And what a joy it was to read it again!

Also this week, I'm gearing up to the launch of my saga Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls. There's a competition to win 1 of 3 copies with Living North magazine. Enter here.

And the best news is that the new book is now on sale in Tesco. Everywhere else will have it on sale on May 22.

I've also arranged a lot of talks, book signings and events and you can see them all here.

Last week I was on holiday in Belgium where I met writer and journalist Dirk Musschoot. Dirk helped me with the research into the Belgian village of Elisabethville in the northeast during WW1.  And in return, I named a character in the novels after him. What an honour it was to meet him at last.

I'm currently preparing the book launch for Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls. All welcome. Hope to see you there.

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

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Today in TESCO - Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls

My new book Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls is exclusively on sale in Tesco from today!  It's out in bookshops, other supermarkets and online from May 22.

Be the first to read my new book and buy it at Tesco today.  I hope you really enjoy it.

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Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Getting ready for the launch - My Writing Week

This week I received my box of author copies of my new book - Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls. It's so exciting!  Watch my little video below (no expense spared, no kittens were harmed).

There's exciting news about the book coming next week. Be the first to hear the announcement by signing up to my author newsletter here.

Speaking of newsletters, my author newsletter for April went out this week to a huge and growing reader list. Thank you everyone for all your support. You can read the newsletter online here.

And finally, I did a book signing after last week's writing week post went on my blog. It was a fantastic day, chatting to readers and meeting people, hosted at the Crafty Gift Shop in Chester-le-Street, near the site of the toffee factory in my books.  It's the only shop in town that sells new books.  Find out when I'll next be there by looking at all of my upcoming events.

Also the first copies of the paperback have been sent out by my publisher and received by first readers.

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

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Canny coincidences, putting podcast and looking for locations - My Writing Week

Huge thanks to crazy golf podcasters Putt Cast for including my crazy golf novel set in Scarborough - Foul Play at the Seaview Hotel - in their reviews of mini-golf books! Find out what they think of the book, at 26 mins 27 secs > https://youtube.com/live/tx9i-ErBp-Q

Celebrating 10 years of my writing life with a look back at my first short story which was accepted for publication in The People's Friend magazine on March 26, 2016... 

...then an amazing thing happened. I was featured in The People's Friend magazine about my writing life, and the article went into the edition published on March 26, 2025. Such a lovely coincidence.

If you're reading this on Friday 28 March, come along tomorrow, Sat 29 March to the Crafty Gift Shop in Chester-le-Street, County Durham. I'll be there from 12-2 signing books for Mothers Day, any other day, or if you'd just like a chat about the books, I'd love to see you there.

Elsewhere this week I popped into Waterstones Sunderland to sign their stock of copies of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls. While there I chatted to a lady who was being served at the till and buying two more of my other books. I love it when things like that happen.

And a friend of mine in Ryhope spotted these four lovely people from Grimsby who were wandering around looking for locations in my books! How wonderful is that?

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

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Competition: Enter to win Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls with a box of toffee

Would you like to win a signed hardback copy of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls, plus a box of Toffifee toffee?  Be in with a chance to win by entering the competition below and answering correctly. All correct entries will go into a draw and a winner drawn at random.

UK entries only, please.

Deadline for entries is Friday 25 April 2025 at 5pm. Winner will be announced on this blog.

Good luck, everyone!

 


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Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Winner announced in Signed Book and Toffee Competition

Congratulations go to Tracey Taylor who has been drawn at random to win a signed copy of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls and a box of Toffifee in my latest competition.

Thank you all for entering. 

Find out more about the book here

__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Signed books, Scarborough and taking a breath of sea air - my writing week

I'm currently on a break from writing for a few months, taking a well-deserved breather before starting to write again later this year.  

But not writing doesn't mean I'm not busy - far from it. 

I'm filling my time with some wonderful projects.

But first I went to my happy place of Scarborough for a very long weekend, and a rest.   While there, I signed books in Scarborough Waterstones. And I was over the moon to see my books on the counter by the till alongside one of my favourite books by Andrew Martin - The Last Train to Scarborough.

My books were in the shop window too, what a treat!

And here I am, signing books in-store.

Also this week my email newsletter went out for Mothers Day and if you'd like signed books, get in touch.  Read my Mothers Day newsletter with details of how to buy signed, dedicated books. All details at https://glendayoungbooks.com/so/adPMeOaFw?languageTag=en #mothersday

I've also had a few meetings this week about different writing projects, none of which I can yet reveal. But I will when I can, I promise. 

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

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

Front page news and three talks - my writing week

It's been a very busy week with three talks to large groups. 

First, I travelled to the beautiful city of York to speak on Monday.

On Tuesday I gave a talk to Ryhope Heritage Society.

And on Wednesday I gave a talk to another large group in Low Fell, Gateshead.

I also starred on the front cover of the Sunderland Echo, what a joy!

And appeared again in The Sunderland Echo's list of wonderful Wearside women for International Women's Day. You can see the whole list here.

I celebrated International Women's Day at The Word in South Shields  as guest speaker at their Women's Words Creative Writing session and received a beautiful journal from the group.

The Word is a library that offers so much more, and they have a wonderful shop which stocks my books for sale!

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

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com