Flaming Nora

At one of my recent author talks, many in the group had read my books and some  hadn't.  The group was made up of mainly ladies and there were two men... and both men asked me the same question.  "I'm a man, will I enjoy your books?" The answer is of course, yes. While the books are in the saga genre, traditionally marketed to women, there's no reason at all why the stories I write can't appeal to both men and women. They're strong stories, dramatic, with fantastic characters - men and women - who leap off the page to stake their claim in your thoughts, your heart. Here are some snippets from Amazon reviews which have been posted by men, which I hope you might enjoy reading.   Martin the Manc. 5 stars: " As a middle-aged man, I am possibly not the typical reader either the author or the publishers had in mind for this saga of life in a Sunderland village around a century ago. But Glenda Young's debut novel is so well-written and her...

 I'm exhausted, done in, mentally beaten up and worn down.  I've loved every minute of writing my novels over the last few years - every single minute.  I'm about to turn in my current novel to my publisher at the end of this month, well ahead of schedule, due to having more time than usual on my hands due to lockdown.  My next novel - my second cosy crime - isn't due with them until the end of this year. And so this gives me space to breathe, to think, and I've decided to take the whole of the month of March off.  Or, more correctly, I should say I'm taking the whole of the month of March "off." For I'll still be working, you see.  There's the paperback launch of my novel The Paper Mill Girl taking place in March.  There's an online launch at the Word, the national centre for the written word. Want to come? It's free and all details are here .  There's lots of publicity arranged too and a wonderful competition in conjunction with ...

It's been another busy week and I've made good headway writing my novel, of which I can't reveal details. I'm waiting for a big announcement to be made by my publisher Headline via The Bookseller magazine. Until then, I have to keep quiet about what I'm working on and what else is in the pipeline. It's killing me holding all this good news inside, I'm bursting to tell.  However, there has been lots of great stuff happening this week! . My novel  The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon  was featured in Sunderland Vibe magazine, where there's a competition to win a copy.  All details here . The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon also took centre stage in the Christmas window display at Waterstones in Sunderland , which just about made my day! And in a review in  NorthEast Lifestyle  magazine this week, they described the book as 'Wonderfully uplifting... highly recommended'.  You can read the full review here. This week, the Christmas episode of my weekly soa...

It's been quite the week. My new novel The Paper Mill Girl   was released this week in ebook, hardback and audiobook by Headline. The paperback is due out in March 2021. A beautiful bouquet arrived from my publisher along with a card and I've been floating on air all week.  The novel was reviewed in The People's Friend magazine and given a glowing review, which made me even happier. I joined new online bookshop Bookshop.org as a way for readers to buy my books online without using Amazon.  And I did something I thought I'd never do in a million years, but it's something I've taken to during lockdown - I made another YouTube. I've been uploading these short videos weekly, talking about the heroines in each of my books.  I signed up for the #SignForOurBookshops initiative, which means you can buy one of my books and I'll sign it for you. Find out more here. I was also longlisted for the Exeter Story Prize. And there's more exciting news to come very ...

My name's Glenda Young and  I’ve always loved writing, ever since I was a child. However, it’s only been in the last five years that I’ve been writing fiction seriously. I started by sending a short story to The People’s Friend magazine and was overjoyed – and shocked – when they took it. I kept submitting to them and they loved my stories so much that they asked me to write their first ever weekly soap opera, Riverside, which is an absolute joy to write.  I started submitting stories to other women’s magazines too and then decided to start writing a novel. It was a huge leap from short story to novel writing, difficult at times, but I’m so pleased I persevered. I found an agent who took me on and she sold my debut novel Belle of the Back Streets on a three-book deal with Headline.  Belle of the Back Streets is set at the end of WW1 which was a period of much change for women, especially, and for society in general. I wanted Meg, my heroine of the book, to have an unus...

I’ve been a fan of Coronation Street since before I can remember. It was the show I used to watch with my mum and grandma, all three of us huddled on the sofa. My grandma and I used to love Elsie Tanner, the wicked woman of Weatherfield, no better than she ought to be. She had a string of men in her past and I loved the naughtiness of Elsie, the cheek of her. I went on to write TV tie-in books about Coronation Street , commissioned by ITV. I also contributed to the official ITV Corrie website, to their official magazine and to various one-off ITV publications about the show. I have also written unofficial fan books.  In addition, I set up and now edit the Coronation Street Blog , a fan site written by and for fans. It’s been online since 2007 and remains unique, a real labour of love. And I’ve been writing online Corrie weekly updates since 1995 . So being a fan of the show and writing about it is in my blood. It comes naturally to me. You could say I’m steeped in soap opera. I kno...

Half of a year is a milestone and time to look back at my writing year so far.  It's important to me to write these blog posts as a reminder of what I've done as I tend to take my skills for granted. And also, if I don't make a song and dance about my achievements, no-one else will. Have trumpet, will blow! And so, here we go.  As well as all of the achievements listed below, each week I write my  soap opera  Riverside   for  The People's Friend magazine . I've also regularly written  short stories which have been published in women's magazines including The People's Friend and The People's Friend Fiction Special, My Weekly and Take a Break's Fiction Feast. I also blog  daily for the  Coronation Street Blog  where I edit a team of 16 bloggers and during lockdown have been engaging with fans more than ever. I s et up a twice-daily quiz for Corrie fans to join in with at the  Coronation Street Blog  Twitter  @CoroStreet...

Strange times, eh? Just a couple of weeks into lockdown , I was sitting in our garden thinking how quiet the world was without traffic. How peaceful. Then I stood up from where I was sitting and twisted my ankle. As my brain scrambled to make sense of what was happening, I did what I realise now was absolutely stupid and pathetic but at the time seemed to make sense. I put the foot that I'd just twisted back onto the ground to steady myself, and went over on it again. Yup, twice-sprained in a couple of seconds. My foot swelled up, it hurt, and when it wouldn't improve after a week of (NHS111 recommended) rest, ice, compression and elevation, I was advised to go to the fracture clinic at the local hospital. The good news is my ankle wasn't broken. The bad news is that it was a soft tissue injury that turned my foot black and blue. I was sent home from hospital, given a moonboot to walk in (not a good look) and instructions to rest. I'm not the sort of person wh...

Absolutely delighted to be one of 20 writers longlisted in the Limnisa Short Story Competition 2020.  No mean feat as there were over 500 entries received. It does my confidence the power of good! The winners are online here. __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter: @Flaming_Nora Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

My author interview with Tina of the fab TripFiction website . It's the first author interview I've ever done on Zoom so there are lessons I can learn. Number 1? Stand closer to the camera! Thank you to Tina and to TripFiction for hosting me.  I hope you might like to watch the video, it's below and just 15 minutes long.  For more on the books mentioned, click here. __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter: @Flaming_Nora Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

This morning I woke up a message from a stranger. And, in the parlance of the day, it's giving me all the feels. It's a message from a reader who enjoyed reading The Tuppenny Child, my second novel set in 1919 in a northeast pit village and published by Headline.  The C word (Cookson) is mentioned again and, again, I felt nervous. Why? Find out here.  The comparison to Maeve Binchy sits more easily with me and I can only hope that I write with as much warmth and compassion as she did, she was one of my favourite authors. Although I never claim - or try - to write like anyone else, it's absolutely fantastic that the reader saw a connection. I'm made up. __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter: @Flaming_Nora Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

Very grateful to all at New Writing North for including me in their latest newsletter.  I'm under the People section here . __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter: @Flaming_Nora Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

It's day 1,489 of lockdown and 7 days since I sprained my ankle. I have been confined to the sofa with my foot up with a bag of iced peas. It's recovering, I'll be fine, but I'm a very impatient patient. I'm not the sort of person who can sit still. But I have to, for now. I went over twice on my ankle in the garden last Tuesday and a call to NHS 111 confirmed it wasn't a fracture. I have to sit and wait this out. And while I do, I write. And what a joy it is. I was already scheduled to begin writing novel 6 (as yet untitled) before lockdown began.  It's another gritty saga set in a northeast mining village in 1919. I'd planned to do three weeks of research in museums and archives ... and then lockdown began. My research plans were scrapped, changed. I bought a pile of books from ebay and I did three weeks of research by reading instead. A friend of mine gave me his access to an historical research site, which has helped a great deal. Historia...

Today I've been out for my daily walk, baked a chicken pie and cleaned the kitchen. And I've also plotted my novel. It's a rough plot and plan at this stage, nothing more than the synopsis broken down into plot points and spread over 16 chapters. Why 16 chapters? Because 16 sheets of A4 fit perfectly onto the carpet in my writing room leaving me enough space to walk around them, and in and out of the room while the chapter plans remain where they are while I think. I'll be doing a lot of thinking in the coming days because plotting and planning is about more than making lists and spreadsheets and sticking post-it notes onto bits of paper. It's about thinking and creating and seeing where your characters will face obstacles that will hinder them or where they meet characters who might help them. Or kill them.  It's about making sure that your plot points work, that they're dramatic or emotional enough to carry the reader through, involving them in ...

A few weeks ago I was a guest blogger at the Women's Magazine Writing Blog (Womag Blog) which is run by Patsy Collins.  The blog is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in writing for women's magazines. Patsy keeps it updated with all of the subsmission guidelines for the different mags and tells you which mags no longer accept open submissions, so you don't waste your time submitting stories when they won't even be read, for instance. You can read my guest blog post here. Today, Patsy invited me back on to the blog to answer readers' questions. You can find out all about why I think writing novels is a lot like writing short stories, how I come up with ideas for my weekly soap opera Riverside that I write for The People's Friend magazine and why my husband does most of the housework! All this and more at the Womag Blog. __ Glenda Young Author of historical novels with Headline Twitter: @Flaming_Nora Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

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 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...