RenterGirl in the Guardian

Yes, it's another "Manchester blogger makes good" post. Y'all are just so darn talented these days. Our MBA best new blog awardee RenterGirl has a nice big feature on the front page of the Guardian's Society section today. Called "Lost in Neverland," it's about the perils of living in a rented new-build apartment in the city centre - essentially a short n' sweet version of her blog. Well done!

Curiously, the article never mentions Manchester - perhaps the Guardian wanted to help it appeal to urban nomads all over the UK? Or maybe they were trying to shield the actual location of Dovecot Towers to prevent reprisals from angry landlords?

Another interesting thing is that RenterGirl has dropped her anonymity for the article and used her real name, Penny Anderson. Penny's a freelance journalist based in the city whose professional writing experience clearly shows in the polished tone of her blog. It's interesting how anonymous bloggers find they can't keep their identities a secret anymore when they cross over to print (see Single Mother on The Verge/Maria Roberts) but I guess it's not surprising. Most newspapers, mags and publishers aren't down with anonymous bylines, at least not for stuff that's based on real-life experience.

Another Manchester blogger lands book deal

And we're back. I went by the ice rink in Piccadilly yesterday afternoon, which wasn't so festive. A few people were skating (and falling) through puddles in the rain, but the big screen made it all look very Blade Runner.

Some exciting news to report: Manchester freelance writer Maria Roberts, who (until now) has been anonymously writing Single Mother on the Verge, has just landed a deal with Penguin for a book based on her wry and funny semi-confessional blog. Maria has published several short stories and is a former City Life hack who has recently been working with Literature North West, and it's nice to see her hard work paying off.

And you may note that Maria is the second of this year's crop of Manchester Blog Award winners to get a book deal.(Not that the award had anything to do with Chris Killen's, but still.) Maria credits the award with raising her blog's profile and boosting her own confidence in her writing, both of which helped her land the publishing deal. And I've heard something about a third blog award winner being commissioned to write a blog-inspired column in one of the nationals... sheesh. Do we know how to pick 'em?

Santa's sack is bulging with new blogs for me to add to the blogroll, so stay tuned.

Two things

Those folks at the Guardian just love Manchester blogs: MBA best new blog winner Renter Girl is the latest to be featured in its hallowed pages. An excerpt from her blog appears on Page 2 of today's Society section - a really nicely-written bit about the cleaner at her infamous abode, Dovecot Towers. Well done!

Another Blog Awards winner, Chris Killen of Day of Moustaches, has embarked on a very interesting project: The Cat Boat.

There are some cats on a boat. The boat is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There are some cats on it. The cats are in charge of the boat. There are one hundred and fourteen cats on the boat. The cats have given the boat a name. They have called the boat ‘The Cat Boat’. The boat is like a pirate ship, but with cats on it instead of pirates.

The cats take it in turn to ‘man the rigging’ and ‘carry the Christmas pudding’ and ‘play the record album’. The cats are listening to Tunnel of Love by Bruce Springsteen on repeat. This is their favourite album. It is somehow easier to take songs about low-down American drifters and transmute that experience into the experience of some cats on a boat, than it is, for instance, to take some songs about gangs or about love and transmute those.


Here is the list of 114 cats on the boat. Killen is inviting writers to send in each cat's story, which he will then post on his blog. Lots of good stories there already, but lots of good cats left. There is also a "Tunnel of Love" drawing competition (see the example above.) Go write about cats! My favourite cat is whatthehellamidoingwhyaminotworkingonmynovel?, which really sums up this whole post perfectly.

Manchester Blog Awards: 2007 Winners

And the winners are...

Best Personal Blog: Single Mother on the Verge

Best New Blog: Rent Girl

Best Arts and Culture Blog: Mancubist

Best Political Blog: Politaholic

Best Writing on a Blog: Day of Moustaches



The blog awards event was a roaring success. Some 80 people packed out Matt and Phred's to hear wonderful readings from Day of Moustaches' Chris Killen (pictured above), Airport Diaries, A Free Man in Preston, the end of Elizabeth Baines' Manchester Blogstory (which I've just posted here,) and a reading and chat with author and blogger Caroline Smailes. Not forgetting the dj stylings of music blog stalwarts Black Country Grammar and Yer Mam!

But, as usual, the best part was seeing old friends and actually meeting in the flesh people I've only previously known on the internet. Many thanks to everyone who came and helped make the night such a good time.

(If anyone posts pictures of the night on their blog, let me know and I'll link to them. I got so busy that I forgot to take more than a few!)

Manchester Blog Awards Tonight

Just a final reminder that the blog awards is happening tonight at Matt and Phred's. The whole thing kicks off at 7, though the actual announcement of the awards will be happening around 7:50 or so, after readings from some of the city's most lovely and talented bloggers.

I'm really looking forward to having a pint and a chat with my blogging brethren. It's been far too long since we've all gotten together. And there will be lots of new folks to meet as well. I predict a late night.

blog awards venue change

Newsflash: The Manchester Blog Awards will be happening at Matt and Phred's Jazz Club on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter. NOT at MOHO Live, which isn't done yet.

The good thing about the new venue is that, if you're so inclined, you can stay on and groove on some live jazz after the blog awards wrap up.

Same bat time: Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 7pm.

2007 Manchester Blog Awards: Shortlist

Here's the shortlist for the 2007 Manchester Blog Awards - it's now with the other judges, Richard Fair of BBC Manchester and Dave Carter of MDDA.

Many thanks to everyone who nominated and was nominated; we had well over a hundred nominations this year, many of them very strong, and it was really difficult to choose. The winners will be announced October 10 at the awards event, so if you've been shortlisted you may want to reserve tickets and save the date. More details on that event as we get closer to the time.

The shortlists (in no particular order:)
Best writing on a blog:
Untitled Supermarket Nightmare/Day of Moustaches
Airport Diaries
A Free Man in Preston
Community Fair

Best political blog:
The Asparagus
Normblog
Politaholic
Skipper

Best personal blog:
Gooseania
Notebooks
Single Mother on the Verge
Crinklybee

Best arts and culture blog:
Fictionbitch (aka The Tart of Fiction)
Mancubist
The Ring Modulator
The Console (music and visual)

Best new blog:
The Shoe Project
Get Weird Turn Pro
Words Dept.
Renter Girl

Manchester blogstory chapter two

...has just been posted here. Please read this week's chapter and vote on what you think should happen next.

Now off to look at blogs, blogs and more blogs. The shortlist for the blog awards should be up in the next couple of days.

Act now!

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is the deadline for submitting your picks for the 2007 Manchester Blog Awards. We've had more than 80 separate nominations, which is a scorching hot response! But if you haven't sent yours in yet, email 'em to mancblogawards AT googlemail.com by midnight tomorrow.

Also, while we're on the subject of deadlines, reader voting on what happens next in What Would You Do, our Manchester Blogstory, closes at 8pm tonight. Eeek! Tune in on Tuesday morning for the next installment.

What would you do?

Check it out... The first chapter of Manchester Blogstories went live this morning. The story is called "What Would You Do?" and starts out in a Chorlton apartment building. I'm really excited about the way its coming together.

I think I've posted about it before, but the idea behind this project was to set up an interactive fiction blog, set in real time Manchester. Every Tuesday for the next six weeks the writer Elizabeth Baines will be posting a new mini-chapter, and readers will have two days to vote on what should happen next. The final chapter will be performed live at the Manchester Blog Awards on Wednesday 10th October.

So please go read and vote! It is VERY short, and won't take long. The link is here:

http://manchesterblogstories.blogspot.com/

And check back next Tuesday...

Clarification on eligibility for Manchester Blog Awards

After getting a raft of nominations in already from far and wide, I feel like I should clarify the issue of what a Manchester blog is.

The blog awards are meant to recognise great online writing in the Manchester area. In the past "the Manchester area" has been described as anywhere within reasonable commuting distance of the city. But with high speed rail and all that this area could conceivably cover most of England. So I'll clarify further: You're eligible if you live in a place where Manchester is considered the nearest big city. The place that you mean when you say "should we drive into town or take the train?" The place you go when you need to do school shopping, see a concert, or do something annoying involving government offices and forms in triplicate.

In other words, if you live much closer to another fairly big city (like Liverpool, Stoke, Nottingham, Leeds...) than you do to Manchester, you won't qualify unless you work in Manchester, or go to school there, and/or you blog mainly about the city. Yes, I know that's horribly unfair. But it would be great if some of these other places started their own blog awards, wouldn't it? Then bloggers could take over the world.

Manchester Blog Awards 2007: details

The nomination period is now open for the 2007 Manchester Blog Awards

Cash prizes will be awarded in five categories: political blog, personal blog, arts and culture blog, best new blog (open to blogs begun since September 1 of 2006) and a new category recognising the best creative writing on a blog.

To nominate blogs, send URLs for one entry in each category to mancblogawards at googlemail.com by Sept. 7. Please also specify where the blogger is based, if you know. I'll draw up a shortlist after the close of the nominating period, and the winners will be selected by a judging panel TBC.

(In order to qualify, writers of the blogs must live within reasonable commuting distance of Manchester. And yes, you can nominate your own blog. Respond in comments with the seventeen questions I haven't anticipated, and I'll do my best.)

Also, save the date, for the winners will be announced here:

Step away from the computer, it’s the MANCHESTER BLOG AWARDS 2007

Moho Live, Oldham Street
7pm Wednesday October 10, free

We’ve organised a star-studded gala affair in the brand new Moho Live venue on Oldham Street (it's the building that used to be a health club, between Sascha's Hotel and Affleck's Palace. Not open yet.) The evening will be a riotous celebration of new and engaging online writing, with readings from Manchester bloggers and music from the city’s mp3 bloggers.

We’re delighted to be able to host a reading from Caroline Smailes, whose debut novel, In Search of Adam, was recently published by Friday Fiction, the new fiction imprint from The Friday Project, the innovative publishing company that specialises in putting blogs in print. Caroline’s blog was hugely instrumental in getting her book published, and we’ll talk to her about that too.

Manchester writer and blogger Elizabeth Baines will be reading the final installment of her Blog Story, What would you do? a tale set in Manchester that she’ll be writing in six sequential posts on a blog – with readers voting on what turn the plot should take. To find out more about this project, visit manchesterblogstories.blogspot.com

Also, the Decemberists suck.

Manchester Blog Awards 2007

I'm happy to tell you that the Second Annual Manchester Blog Awards are in the works, and they're going to be bigger and better than last year.

The judges will be picking winners in the same categories as last year (political, arts and culture, best personal blog and blog of the year) as well as a new category that recognises the best creative writing on a blog. And we're sorting out cash prizes for the winners this year. I'll let you know about how to nominate blogs closer to the time.

We're getting our own star-studded event where we'll have even more readings from bloggers, an exciting guest speaker, and the city's music bloggers are going to be asked to do some dj-ing (so don't even think about going to a gig that night. I'm looking at you, GirlonaTrain and JustHipper.)

The blog awards going to be happening during the Manchester Literature Festival on Wednesday, October 10, at around 7:30 in a new venue on Oldham Street called Moho Live (this is all tbc for now). Put it on the calendar.

We're also planning some blogging workshops during the festival - more info on that later.

So... does any one of you design wizards feel like whipping up a "second annual blog awards" logo? And if anyone has any ideas or strong opinions about this year's blog awards, speak up.

The MEN weighs in on blogging

The MEN has published an article about blogging today - local blogging superstar Geoff of The 43 is quoted, as well as Robin from the BBC Manchester Blog (Which I'm still writing weekly bits for, by the way.)