Lowdham Book Festival (2) Blog-talk with Mike Atkinson

Although a now rather overdue admission for the Lowdham Book Festival, I thought this event was well worth recording. The event itself had been moved from the Women’s Institute Hall down the road, having fallen prey to the inevitable floods the village and surrounding area had been experiencing. On a damp and soggy day then, my partner and I skipped into the talk just a minute or two into proceedings

 

Mike Atkinson of the ‘Troubled-Diva’ blog gave an extremely informative, lively and humourous account of the world of blogging. Blessed with the light-hearted style his blog is written with, he recounted tales of this relatively new phenomenon. Notable was his tale of a serious blog stalker who was actually prosecuted for her misdemeanours towards a fellow female blogger. This talk however covered the subject most comprehensively and would have appealed to people who had an interest in beginning a blog, and expert ‘first wave’ blogger alike. Mike covered the thorny subject of book deals for bloggers and the jealousy that can arise between fellow bloggers due to this. He maintained that there was no easy way to achieve acclaim in this idiom as blogging is strictly a meritocracy.

The small group of people that braved the inclement weather to hear Mike talk will have been singularly impressed. It was unfortunate and no one seemed more perturbed than Mike himself that he finally ran out of time and had to abbreviate much of his prepared talk. I dare say that the majority of the audience will have been as disappointed as myself not to have heard the balance of the material in full. Mike did not disappoint however and, as promised, has posted up the notes he prepared on Troubled-Diva for all to peruse.

 

I can heartily recommend dropping by Mike’s blog, which has deservedly been nominated for an award or two. His main focus is music but if it isn’t yours don’t let that put you off as there is much in his several years of archives present to maintain your interest. For those of us who share the same city as Mike and myself, Nottingham, his entry series entitled ‘Nottingham, My Nottingham’ is a must-read. Rarely have I ever read such a comprehensive review of some of the lesser-know delights of the city which one would have to experience intimately to be aware of.

 

Troubled-Diva:

http://www.troubled-diva.com/

Shaggy Blog Stories. A collection of top blog entries compiled into a book my Mike Atkinson. All proceeds to Comic Relief.

http://www.lulu.com/content/739873