Graduate lands 3 book deal

A Sunderland Journalism graduate has signed a three book deal with major publisher, Headline.

Since 2007 Glenda Young has run two Coronation Street fan websites, and has authored a number of books based on the soap. She graduated BA Journalism Studies in 2001, and recently made history when she created the first ever soap opera 'Riverside' for weekly The People's Friend.

In Glenda's first novel, Belle of the Back Streets, 15-year-old Meg finds herself taking on the rag and bone business in Ryhope to protect her family from an unscrupulous rent collector. Headline will publish in paperback in March 2019.

Glenda says: "Ever since I was a girl all I have ever wanted to do was write and tell my own stories. I am extremely grateful to Headline for finally making that dream come true and I am very excited to be working with them."

Graduate Glenda Young in Ryhope, where her first three novels will be set (photo by Emily Pentland)

Senior commissioning editor at Headline Kate Byrne said: "I knew Belle of the Back Streets was something very special right away. Glenda has a gift for portraying a fantastic sense of period with vivid historical detail and creating engaging, nuanced characters – Meg is a wonderfully strong and resourceful heroine and I know readers will be rooting for her amidst the drama, tragedy and romance of her page-turning story."