Flaming Nora

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 h...

Would you like to know more about the locations I use in my novels? I hope that if you read the book, 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. The Paper Mill Girl   is available in paperback, hardback, e-book and audiobook and  you can buy it here  Here we go with my top 5 favourite locations in    The Paper Mill Girl 1. Hendon Paper Mill The setting for most of the drama and action in the novel, focussing on the women who work there and three friends in particular, Ruth, Edie and Jane.  The dangers of their work are laid bare and I researched thoroughly but in the story, the real danger doesn't come from machinery, it comes from someone the girls are forced to work with inside "the cutting room". This was where the girls cut up rags brought in as raw material to make paper. 2. The Guide Post Inn A canny little Ryhope pub run by Keith and Julie who ki...

Would you like to know more about the locations I use in my novels?  I hope that if you read the book, 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. The Sixpenny Orphan  is available now in hardback, e-book and audiobook.  You can buy it here.    It comes out in paperback in May 2023. The book is about two orphan sisters torn apart in tragic events. Ten years later they reunite but they lives are drastically different.  The top 5 locations in this book are as follows: 1. The shop on the village green .  This is where my heroine Poppy works and where jam tarts are baked, to a secret family recipe.  This gorgeous picture of what was a cafe originally on the village green inspired the shop in my novel. 2. Bellevue House on Gray Road in Sunderland . This plays a pivotal role when Poppy finds her sister Rose after ten years apart. 3. The farming commu...

Would you like to know more about the locations I use in my novels? I hope that if you read the book, 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. The Tuppenny Child is available now in paperback, hardback, e-book and audiobook and  you can buy it here Here we go with my top 5 favourite locations in  The Tuppenny Child      Ryhope East Railway Station Ryhope used to have two railway stations; Ryhope and Ryhope East. And it's the railway that brings the heroine of  The Tuppenny Child  to Ryhope. Sadie Linthorpe escapes a violent life in Hartlepool and arrives at Ryhope East train station alone, with no money. She knows no-one in the village. It's pouring down with rain when she arrives... and her new life and adventure begins. The Railway Inn The Railway Inn is one of two Ryhope pubs that feature in  The Tuppenny Child . ...

Would you like to know more about the locations I use in my novels? I hope that if you read the book, 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. Belle of the Back Streets  is available now in paperback, hardback, e-book and audiobook and  you can buy it here  Here we go with my top 5 favourite locations in    Albion Inn The Albion Inn is where Sally Sutcliffe works in  Belle of the Back Streets .  Sally is Meg's mam and Meg is the heroine of this book, our belle of Ryhope's streets. I created fictional Hetty and Jack Burdon to run the Albion Inn and loved the character of Hetty so much that I brought her back for almost all of my other novels where she appears as a background character. My books aren't a series, they're stand alone and can be read in any order, but some background characters like Hetty Burdon and local gossip Lil Mahone, we...

Would you like to know more about the locations I use in my novels? I hope that if you read the book, 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. Pearl of Pit Lane is available now in paperback, hardback, e-book and audiobook and  you can buy it here  or if you'd like a signed copy and some free bookmarks, you can order  direct from me here . Here we go with my top 5 favourite locations in  Pearl of Pit Lane. The Colliery Inn The Colliery Inn is a Ryhope pub that always used to be the last pub on the colliery bank before Ryhope turned into Tunstall Bank and then Silksworth. And because the pub was at the top of the bank, it was nicknamed The Top House, the name by which it's now known.  The Colliery Inn plays a pivotal role in  Pearl of Pit Lane   for the main character Pearl and her aunt Annie. It is where landlord Bobby Mac grieves the d...

Would you like to know more about the locations I use in my novels? I hope that if you read the book, 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. Here we go with my top 5 favourite locations in The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon .  The book is available now in e-book and audiobook. The paperback is out on October 1st 2020. During July 2020 the e-book is available for just 99p, download it here. The Uplands The Uplands is the family home of the ruthless McNally family.  I based the Uplands on a beautiful building in Ryhope called the Wilderness. It's a gorgeous building in Ryhope village, tucked away in Church Ward.  The picture at the top of this blog post shows the front door of the Uplands where a baby is left in a basket. A scarlet ribbon is tied to the basket's handle. And so begins the adventure of The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon! Grand Hotel, ...

Would you like to know more about the locations I use in my novels?  I hope that if you read the book, 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. A Mother's Christmas Wish  is available in hardback, e-book and audiobook. You can buy it here.  It comes out in paperback in November 2022. 1. The seaside village of Lougshinny in Ireland Loughshinny is a small seaside village in Ireland, between Skerries and Rush. It is where the heroine Emma Devaney begins her story when she is forced to leave her beloved mother and her village. She is sent overseas to England to live with her aunt Bessie in Ryhope.   Find out more about Loughshinny here. 2. The Forester's Arms pub in Ryhope Emma arrives in Ryhope in 1923. Now, I know the picture above isn't 1923 but it's the only old photograph of The Forester's Arms pub that I have. If you have an older one, I'd love t...