Discover my Cosy Crimes & Historical Sagas

Discover my Cosy Crimes & Historical Sagas

Discover my Cosy Crimes & Historical Sagas

Discover my Cosy Crimes & Historical Sagas

Friday, February 28, 2025

Toffee, talks, titles, donations and a VIP invitation - My writing week


It's been another busy week and I'm loving every minute.

First off, there's a new competition to win a signed hardback copy of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls with a box of Toffifee, enter here.


Also this week I revealed the title of the third book in The Toffee Factory Girls trilogy, this will be released in 2026. Haven't read the first two books yet? Catch up here!


A wonderful email arrived this week from the owner of the Spa Chalet in Scarborough. Now, I've had a picture of the Spa Chalet on my wall since I was a child so this was rather exciting. There is a group of ladies booked to stay there this summer and they're a book club, reading my Scarborough cosy crime Murder at the Seaview Hotel. How brilliant is that?  I was also invited to speak to the group in exchange for a night at the chalet. Find out more about the book at http://bit.ly/MurderAtTheSeaviewHotel


Elsewhere this week, I was at the Crafty Gift Shop in Chester-le-Street, near the site of the old Horner's toffee factory which inspired my trilogy of Toffee Factory Girls books.  I signed hardback copies of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls and ran out of books within the first five minutes, before I even had time to take off my coat.  More books are on their way to the shop as I type.  Chester-le-Street doesn't have its own book shop (apart from second hand books) so the Crafty Gift Shop provide invaluable support to me and my books. Discover the books here.

This week I donated copies of Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls to local community libraries including Fulwell Library, Kayll Road Library,Back on the Map library at Hendon, Boldon and Cleadon Community Library.


I'm celebrating 10 years of my writing life with memories, achievements, awards and today it's a flashback to this day last year when my novel The Toffee Factory Girls was given a double-page spread in the Mirror!

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. 
__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com

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Saturday, February 22, 2025

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 21 March 2025 at 5pm. Winner will be announced on this blog.

Good luck, everyone!

 

__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com
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Friday, February 21, 2025

Hot flushes igniting a writing fire in my belly - my writing week


This week has been another busy week and I wouldn't have it any other way!  I've finished writing the third book in The Toffee Factory Girls trilogy and have sent this to the publisher. There's still a lot of work ahead but for now I can take a well-deserved break. However, I haven't been sitting back! 

In March it'll be 10 years since I left my day job to begin my writing life and so much has happened since.  There's a wonderful celebration of the last 10 years in the Sunderland Echo and you can read it all here.

Also this week I was invited to take part in the Festival of Local Authors organised by Durham County Libraries. I gave a talk at a library outside of Crook in County Durham and it was wonderful. Without libraries, I wouldn't be the writer I am and I owe them everything.  Thank you to everyone who came along.

And so, in celebration of 10 years of writing, I've been looking back at awards, achievements, memories. Here we go with this week's glance over the last decade of my writing life.


My debut novel Belle of the Back Streets in WHSmith in South Shields. One of my favourite pictures. it's hard to know who was most excited, me or the lady in the shop!  I popped in to sign stock, by the way, in my cycling gear.


A very special mention of my books from TV's soap queen Sharon Marshall.


And here I am on the site of the old Hendon paper mill with my novel The Paper Mill Girl.  It's my bestselling book, cracked the UK top 50 book charts and I received a commendation from the British Association of Paper Historians. 


And back to my debut novel Belle of the Back Streets, here is the first ever box of books I received from my publisher Headline.  And let me tell you, opening boxes of books from your publisher NEVER gets stale!  What a thrill to see this memory from February 2019. And so much has happened since... but what will happen next? It's going to be an exciting time ahead.


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. 
__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com


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Saturday, February 15, 2025

Winner announced in most borrowed book from libraries competition


My books were loaned from libraries a whopping 42,933 times between July 2023 - June 2024. 

I held a competition to guess which was the most popular with library users during that time, and the winner has been drawn from the correct entries at random today.

Congratulations to Susan Gibson who correctly guessed that my most borrowed book was my Scarborough crazy golf cosy crime, Foul Play at the Seaview Hotel.

Discover all of my books at glendayoungbooks.com
__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com
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Friday, February 14, 2025

Celebrating a new book release - my writing week


This week my new novel Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls was released in hardback, ebook and audiobook.  To celebrate I went to the pub with my husband then to an Italian restaurant. 


The book was given a mention in The Bookseller's Fiction Buyer's Guide, which is a seal of approval.
 

And my book was given a lovely half-page mention in a local magazine, with some great images 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. 

__

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com
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Thursday, February 06, 2025

Making News - my writing week


This week I'm away (far, far away) but so much has happened that if I don't put it all in a blog post there's a danger my hard work might go by the wayside. 

First off, my monthly newsletter was sent and you can read it online here

And now, here we go with the news:

This week I've been featured in a great deal of media, print and online, for various reasons... as follows:

New Writing North newsletter 

Sunderland University news

The Northern Echo 

The Northern Echo (again, on a different story)

Further Education News

Sunderland Business Partnership News

Newcastle Chronicle 

ESD Wales 

Thank you to everyone for all your support. It means the world to me.

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. 
 __

Glenda Young

X: @Flaming_Nora

BlueSky: @Glenda Young

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Website: GlendaYoungBooks.com
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