My Young By Name Blog

group shot from a previous HULF
Posted in Events, Writing

Celebrating Words at Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival

Posted on by Debbie Young

“Hello, Debbie, how are you? Busy with – whatever it is you do?”

This greeting from a neighbour the other day made me smile. It’s true that I do a lot of different things besides writing books, and even I have trouble keeping up with myself sometimes.

So I thought it might be a good idea to start sharing on my blog some of my various activities, just in case anyone else is wondering how I fill my days.  

This week, I’m going to tell you about the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival, which I founded in 2015 as an affordable, accessible and fun bookish event for my village.

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detail of Farrow and Ball paint card showing four greens
Posted in Personal life, Reading, Writing

My Ears Are Alight – and other Mondegreens

Posted on by Debbie Young

Decades ago, when I worked for a PR firm in an old banana warehouse in the shadow of Southwark Cathedral (but that’s another story), my colleague Rob was keen to improve his vocabulary.

Perhaps he was hooked on the old Readers’ Digest column, “It Pays to Increase Your Word Power”, a motto I’ve always admired. He designated a new word to learn every day, which he shared with us all. I worked alongside him for only a few months, but if I’d shared his office for the rest of my career, I reckon he’d have increased my word power too by around 10,000 words.

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banner promoting World Book Day
Posted in Events, Personal life, Reading

Why Every Day Should Be a Book Day

Posted on by Debbie Young

As anyone with a school-age child cannot fail to be aware, Thursday 2nd March will be World Book Day. This annual event was founded by UNESCO to promote reading. While almost all schools do something special to celebrate books that day, they work hard to foster a love of reading all year round, and quite right too.

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Image of "A Mirror Murder" with Sherlock Holmes teddy bear
Posted in Reading, Writing

An Interview with Helen Hollick, Author of Cosy Crime and Much More!

Posted on by Debbie Young

In this week’s post, I’m pleased to share an interview with my author friend Helen Hollick, who during lockdown took to crime! Cosy crime, that is (or cozy, if you’re on the other side of the Atlantic from us).

cover of latest Sophie Sayers audiobook Also new this week: an interview with me has just gone live on the website of Saga Egmont, the award-winning audiobook publisher currently in the throes of publishing audiobooks of the first seven Sophie Sayers Village Mysteries. Click here to read my interview on Saga Egmont’s website. (Link will open in a separate window.)

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