Our Writer Of The Week is best-selling author Glenda Young and writer of “Riverside”. Her story “Three Wishes” is in our new issue.
Tell us about “Three Wishes”. Where did the idea come from?
“Three Wishes” is a modern story with a fairy tale twist. When I invented the main character of the story, I made her hardworking and self-sacrificing and I wanted her to be rewarded by wonderful opportunities and fantastic surprises . . . but without them being obvious.
What would your three wishes be?
1) For life to get back to normal for us all.
2) For my family and friends to enjoy good physical and mental health.
3) For my novels to be made into gripping Sunday night dramas!
Tell us about your typical writing day
When I’m writing a novel, my day starts around 7 a.m. and I write for a couple of hours four or five times a week.
Wednesday afternoons are sacred, no matter what else I’m writing, for that’s when I write my weekly soap opera “Riverside”.
I write this exclusively for “The People’s Friend” magazine and it’s the writing highlight of my week. It’s my chance to escape into a wonderful world I’ve created to spend time with some caring, kind, funny people.
No diary appointments go in for Wednesday afternoons, no phone calls, nothing. It’s “Riverside” all the way!
How do you switch your writing brain between short stories, “Riverside” and your novels?
I have to be very organised!
This comes quite naturally to me after spending most of my working life as a PA in higher education where I managed the workloads of academic Professors as well as my own.
In a nutshell, it’s mornings for novel writings, Wednesday afternoons for “Riverside” and any other free time for writing short stories between novels when a burning short story idea just won’t leave me alone.
Tell us about becoming a successful novelist!
It is beyond my wildest dreams, I can’t quite explain it. It’s all I’ve ever wanted since I was a little girl.
Now it’s here, my novels are successful and in bookshops, and supermarkets, and I have trouble processing it at times! It’s as if success is happening to someone else, someone better than me (with much nicer hair) and I’m standing on the sidelines cheering her on.
One deep regret, however, is that my parents never got to know about my success as a writer, as my dad passed some years ago and mum is in a care home with dementia.
I feel they would have been very proud of all I’ve achieved and I’ve dedicated my next novel — “The Miner’s Lass” — to them both.
Glenda’s new book “The Miner’s Lass” will be out on May 15th this year.
You can find out about all of Glenda’s books here.
For more from our Writer Of The Week series, click the tag below.
Tracey Steel Having worked on a number of magazines over the years, I have found my perfect place on the “Friend” as I’m obsessed with reading and never go anywhere without a book! I read all of our stories with a mug of tea close by and usually a bit of strong cheese too!
