Flaming Nora

I'll be giving a talk at Sunderland Creative Writing Festival on Weds March 28th on writing fiction for women's magazines. All details here.   And you can find out more about me here . Also, there is a full programme of really excellent writing events taking place during the festival.  Do check out the full list. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I've a short story published in this month's Take a Break Fiction Feast magazine. It's a comedy story called Tell it to the Birds and it's about a very talkative parrot who says a bit more than it should. My story even makes it to the front cover too! Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I've a short story today in The People's Friend magazine. It's a fun story, all about a husband who's preparing for the return home of his wife from a European business trip. He wants the house, kids and dog to be perfect for her return. What could possibly go wrong? Well, just about everything! And also in this week's magazine, as it is every week, is another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside. In this week's episode, Dave has a run-in with the grandson of the local gangster. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

This week I did something I've never done before in my life. Something that I've shied away from doing. Something that I thought I'd never do. And not only did I do it, but I did it twice. I stood up in public and spoke. Sunderland Libraries Literature Festival invited me to speak twice this week at local libraries as part of the festival. My first inclination on receiving the invite was to say no. I'm far too shy, too nervous about doing such things. But in my heart, you know, I wanted to say yes. And I did. Am I pleased I did so? Oh yes. I was there to talk about writing the TV tie-in books for ITV Coronation Street, running and editing the Coronation Street Blog and also about my foray into fiction via women's magazines and now, writing a novel too. The first talk at Washington Library on Monday 16 October was attended by my husband and a friend. Yup, just the two of them in the audience. Well, it was raining outside and that strange pink sunshine wa...

I've a short story in this week's The People's Friend magazine, which is on sale today. It's a fun story, about two Elvis impersonators. Planning the story made me laugh a lot and when writing it I kept chuckling too. I hope that it puts a smile on anyone's face who reads it. And also in this week's magazine is another episode of my weekly soap Riverside. This week there's war at the allotments as the residents take on the council. But can the council be bribed by Jenny's cheese scones?  Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Come with me now, if you will, on a stroll down memory lane for a look at my life through women’s magazines. The very first mag I ever read was a comic and I can vividly remember my mum bringing in Twinkle from the shops, just for me. I must have been under ten years old. From Twinkle I graduated to reading, greedily, both Bunty and Mandy each week and absolutely loving and taking delight in the wickedly subversive Blind Bettina comic strip. There's a fab woman here called Mel Gibson (yes, really) who did her PhD on girls' comics. Next, it must have been Jackie which became my bible for a few years, getting all the advice from Cathy and Claire that I never knew I needed. Oh, and then came the biggest leap of all. From Donny Osmond and David Cassidy pin-ups in Jackie I stepped up to My Guy, the magazine I had to hide from my mother because she didn’t approve. It was racy, was My Guy , it had snogging and girls on the pill. I learned a lot from My Guy , believe me, I...

Life is a writer, well, it's a bit like this right now. I've been a bit like this for some time. If it should change, I'll let you know. Find out more about me and my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Happy to report that I have two short stories in the current edition of Take a Break magazine's Fiction Feast which is in the shops today.  The two stories are very different, one is fun... And the other is much darker. I was surprised the magazine took, it if I'm honest, as I was a little concerned it was outside of their usual remit. I'm very pleased, for many reasons, that this short story, covering domestic abuse has been accepted and is available for all to read. Find out more about my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I've a short story in this week's The People's Friend magazine. It's called Meet The Neighbours and is about a new man in town, two comedy sisters and a load of old pies.  I'm well chuffed as it's made the front cover of the magazine too so it's really cheered me up today and is a great start to my writing New Year. In addition, my weekly soap opera Riverside continues this week inside the magazine with Ruby's hen party. But as Ruby and her friends sit down to celebrate, new girl on the block Jenny has a secret to hide... If you're at all intersted in writing for women's magazines, a good place to start gathering information is Patsy Collins' blog Womagwriter.  Also, I can't recommend highly enough Della Galton's book " How to write and sell short stories ". Find out more about my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

  I'm not just in, but also on the cover of, this week's People's Friend magazine.  There's an interview with me about being asked to write the magazine's first ever soap opera, Riverside...    And I have a short story in there too, all about a very special pair of shoes. It's in the shops today. Find out more about my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

This lovely little book has just arrived in the post today. It's my book of heartwarming, family stories, as previously published in The People's Friend magazine.  I'm particularly chuffed about the cover of the book as it's a photo I took of some of the sea glass I've collected over the last few years. The Sea Glass Collector and other short stories is available here in paperback and for Kindle. Find out more about my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I'm done with writing competitions. Done, I tell you. Done. Done-diddly-done-done. Done. I'm new to this writing lark. This is the first year of my (rather advanced) life that I've earned my living as a writer. I mean, as a serious writer. Yes, this is the first year of my life that I've Become Someone who gets up in the morning and walks ALL THE WAY along the landing to go to work.  I KNOW. I've had success and I couldn't be more proud of myself for the way things have turned out this year.  The way I've engineered things to turn out. I'm well chuffed. I am, finally, A Writer. I earn my living through writing words. It's everything I wanted it to be. It's everything I dreamed it would be, ever since I was five.  Mind you, in my dreams there were always meetings in that London with an agent or a publisher. The meetings would be lunch, always lunch and always held in a high-class bistro or cafe, and the agent or the publisher would pay...

I've been locked away for a few days, writing. And I love it. Every single minute of it. I'm working on something for ITV - there's a teaser at my website which you can see by clicking the image of my books, below. Find out more about my books. Click on the image below : I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

I'm featured today on the Woman's Magazine writer's Blog. If you'd like to read it, it's here. Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here. I'm on twitter @flaming_nora

Like writing in your spare time? Want to learn how to get paid properly for it? Then, my friend, you need to buy Linda Jones' new book. It's not called The Greatest Freelance Writing Tips in the World , for nothing, you know. It's dead helpful, and is a tactile book of the exact shape and size that will make you want to keep picking it up and reading it. It's excellent and I highly recommend it. Linda also blogs about freelance writing here too.