Ask the Author …with Glenda Young
Glenda Young has published 4 wonderful saga novels set in the northeast coalmining village of Ryhope, Sunderland and she is very proud to be putting her hometown on the literary map. Her latest Pearl of Pit Lane was published in paperback in March and her next paperback The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon is due out in October.
Although these are Glenda’s first published novels, she has already built an impressive reputation as an award-winning short story writer.
She also has an unusual claim to fame – she is the creator of the first ever weekly soap opera Riverside to appear in The People’s Friend, the longest running women’s magazine in the world. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines including Take a Break, My Weekly and The People’s Friend. A life-long fan of the soap opera Coronation Street, Glenda has written TV Tie-In Books for ITV about the show. She is also creator of the Coronation Street Blog, which launched in 2007, and is still going strong.
What was on your lockdown reading list?
I’ve been reading Simon Reeves’ Step by Step and also Charles Cumming spy thriller The Spanish Game. Being locked down at home means my reading has turned to faraway places! I’m currently reading Idiopathy by Sam Byers and my reading list still has The Binding by Bridget Collins which I’m looking forward to getting stuck into.
The best spot for reading and/or writing in your house?
On a warm sunny day, the garden underneath a parasol. I’m lucky to live by the sea and can hear the ocean roar and the birds sing. If it’s not warm enough to sit outside, I have a conservatory overlooking the garden which is perfect for reading as it’s so light but also, it’s so cosy I often tend to let my book drop and fall asleep!
The one book you couldn’t put down?
Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments.
The one book you couldn’t finish?
I tend not to buy books unless I’m certain I’ll like them so I do tend to finish all I start.
Physical or Kindle?
Physical, always. As an author, I already look at too many screens when I’m writing so don’t want – ever – to have a Kindle.
The book or author which has most influenced your work?
I’m a huge Margaret Atwood fan and always have been, all of my writing life. I love her style of writing and can sometimes lose myself in the way she hangs a sentence together and I’ll go back and marvel over her choice of words. I love Maeve Binchy’s cosy style too which I think influences my own sagas.
Aside from reading and writing, how did you keep yourself busy during lockdown?
Daily exercise, 20 mins yoga and 20 mins Joe Wickes!
The strangest thing you found yourself doing as a result of lockdown?
Sadly I sprained my ankle, badly, in the garden. I had to go to the fracture clinic for an x-ray and once I knew it wasn’t fractured it was a relief but I have become oddly fond of my moonboot the NHS gave me to wear. It’s like having my leg cuddled. I think I’d like one for my body and another for my soul until lock down is over.
You can find out more about Glenda and her books on her website www.glendayoungbooks.com. She is also on Twitter @flaming_nora and Facebook @GlendaYoungAuthor
You can purchase copies of Glenda’s books from the Medina Books online shop here: Pearl of Pit Lane and The Tuppenny Child