This week’s Localmouth local blogger of the week is from Edinburgh. She goes by the name of “1st Lady” and is one half of the mother and daughter blogging team behind the wonderful Scottish Natterings Edinburgh Happenings.

Without further ado, please let me introduce 1st Lady…

How long have you been writing your blog?

I’ve been writing ScottishDiary since early 2007, along with my partner in crime, Lady Muck.

What first got you started?

Initially we started the blog to promote our holiday rentals in Edinburgh, however that became far too boring far too quickly and the blog ended up discussing goings on in Edinburgh and surrounding areas, and then headed down a slippery path to a tone similar to L.Muck and I’s emails, humour and nonsense.

Your blog is fairly unusual in that you write it in partnership with Lady Muck. Did you start out that way and do you think having multiple authors is a good arrangement in general?

We did start the blog together. Back when Scottish Diary was formed, I lived in the USA and L.Muck lived in Edinburgh, this was something L.Muck and I could do together, thousands of miles apart.

We’ve always laughed with each other, and some of our emails would be so funny that I thought we should also blog as a team.

Multiple authors works well if the writings are similar in style and nature, otherwise the blog may not flow so well. I’d also recommend blogging with someone you trust wont share awful photos or embarrassing stories (not that I’m saying I have any). The other concern with team blogs is that one of them may decide to stop writing, or get married (the nerve). If L.Muck ever tells me she needs maternity leave I’m firing her, she’s had a few written warnings for absences already but I’ll not mention them.

What are your favourite things about Edinburgh?

Edinburgh - it’s a fabulous city. With living in the USA for so long I’d visit and see Edinburgh through the eyes of a tourist. Its architecture is magnificent and I thoroughly enjoy looking up at the buildings and discovering carvings in the masonry.

I love Edinburgh’s history, and being able to escape city centre in the city centre by exploring Holyrood park, with it’s hills, lochs and walks. And the castle as a centre piece, it’s such an attractive city.

Have to say I quite like researching the pubs too.

What kinds of things do you tend to write about?

Nonsense first comes to mind but actually we usually write about Edinburgh or Scotland. We write touristy related stuff as we both like to explore our land, but we also write about everything from Edinburgh plumbers, to the Tartan Army (which L.Muck is a member of).

At one time we must have written about DIY Botox as people find us through that google search too. We just write, and laugh.

Has blogging changed your relationship with Edinburgh? How?

It has changed my relationship. I’ve been learning more about the city. When I take photos of a statue or building, I’ll then research to see why it’s there, it’s purpose or symbolic meaning. Before I’d just look at something, e.g. the heart of midlothian mosaic on the Royal Mile, or the female statues on the Jenners building and think, that’s interesting. Now I know why they’re interesting.

Are there any other local bloggers you’d recommend?

Well, I do have a few Scottish favourites, Auld Reekie Rants, Jim Millar, the one and only Adullamite, not a local, but he used to be… a long long long time ago… he’ll kill me for that. hahaa

Do you have any tips for writing a local blog?

Take a camera and snap lots of photos. Write about events before they happen, not just afterwards, live life with a positive outlook, annoying daily things such as tramworks, gasworks, or 6 workers standing around watching 1 at work, that all makes for a great blog.

Maybe carry a small notepad, I’m going to start doing that as there’s been a few moments recently when I’ve thought - I should blog that, (usually L. Muck getting into trouble), but then I forget what she’s been up to.

Edinburgh’s a fantastic place to visit. What’s one place in Edinburgh you’d recommend that doesn’t make it onto most tourist itineraries?

Edinburgh Villa!

Corstorphine Hill for a fine quiet walk with magnificent views.

Keep turning left at the zoo fence and you’ll end up at the Toby Carvery for drinks too, L.Muck and I did anyway…

What’s been the best thing so far about writing a local blog?

Sharing stories of everyday city life. I was recently sitting in a Lothian bus next to someone who was on the phone, chatting away to his mate about his girlfriend, and what a great blog story he provided.

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Fantastic! Thanks very much to 1st Lady for taking the time to do this interview and for sharing the photos in this post. Keep up the great work!

To find more blogs about your local area, see the Localmouth UK blog map.

Our local blogger of the week this week writes for a blog that focuses on the more creative side of things.

Chris Unitt is the editor of Created in Birmingham, a great-looking blog whose small team of writers tackles the important task of linking up the artistic and creative communities of Birmingham. It was joint-winner of the Media Guardian Innovation Awards 2008 in the Independent Blog category.

Welcome Chris.

How long have you been writing Created in Birmingham?

I took over at the end of April 2008. The blog was started by Pete Ashton in December 2006.

How did you first get involved?

Honestly? I’m not really sure why I was handed the reins. Pete found himself too busy and I think I was in the right place at the right time - an outsider to the city’s arts scene but interested in getting involved and with time enough to take the job on. With the sheer volume of things to stay abreast of it is very time-consuming and it was daunting to take on a MediaGuardian award-winning blog but I’ve loved doing it.

What do you most enjoy blogging about?

The unexpected finds are the most fun. John Garghan is a recent example - he photographs burnt-out cars close up and captures some amazing, abstract-looking pictures.

I also love doing the ‘collective memories’ - trawling around online and collating as many reviews, photos and videos to bring together people’s reflections on the larger events like the Supersonic Festival, Artsfest and the Birmingham Opera Company’s productions.

What are your favourite things about Birmingham and its creative scene?

I like that it isn’t particularly exclusive or pretentious. I’m proof that an ‘outsider’ can start turning up to the events and get to know people quite easily. I don’t think enough people realise how open the scene is.

In a perverse kind of way I also like that, to a large extent, the independent creative scene seems to have been neglected and ignored by officialdom in the city. I think that makes it easier to treasure.

Has blogging changed your relationship with your local community? How?

It’s got me more involved with it, certainly. I know a lot more people around the city than I used to, and that’s simply by writing about them and linking to them via the blog.

I’m also starting to see the gaps in the community - the sorts of events that aren’t happening but should be and the arts organisations that could be using the internet more effectively to let people know about themselves and their events.

Are there any other local bloggers you’d recommend?

Birmingham has a really strong community of bloggers which is great. It’s unfair to pick a few but… there’s Pete Ashton of course, Jon Bounds at Birmingham: It’s Not Shit is becoming a local institution, Joanna Geary has attracted international attention with how she’s pushing online journalism, Steve Gerrard is an amazing photographer who blogs around his work excellently. Then there are the local design firms who blog their daily inspirations and add colour to my RSS reader - Boxer Beyond, Surely and Supercool’s Know Design blog

Do you have any tips for writing a local blog?

Post often, link often and be friendly are my tips for blogging generally. As far as local blogs go, if you want to become part of the community you’re writing about then real world links matter as much, if not more, than virtual ones so get out there and meet people.

What’s been the best thing so far about running Created in Birmingham?

Picking one thing’s tricky but I suppose I’ve learnt more about Birmingham since May than I have in all the years I’ve lived here. For the most part I like what I’ve learnt too.

Can you recommend 3 up-and-coming Birmingham-based musicians, artists, designers or writers we should look out for?

Well, at 63 years old, Gaynor Arnold has just had her debut novel longlisted for the Booker Prize so she looks like one to watch. That’s been published by the local Tindal Street Press.

I’m also fascinated to see what Frankie Ward ends up doing. She’s a drama student at Birmingham Uni but she’s also a radio presenter, blogger, videoblogger, music reviewer… the list goes on. In the past 6 months she’s sung onstage with the Mystery Jets and worked with the BBC, MySpace and 4Talent.

As far as music is concerned, there are quite a few bands pushing through at the moment. I’ll pick The Destroyers - a 15-piece group who play turbo-charged, Eastern European folk music with a ranting, Irish poet for a front man. I saw them at the Moseley Folk Festival recently and they left a field of absolute converts. Genius.

Thanks for taking part, Chris. It’s great to hear about so much good stuff going on in Birmingham. All the best to you and the team. Keep up the good work!

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To find out more about what’s going on in Birmingham, visit the Created in Birmingham blog or the Localmouth guide to Birmingham.

(photo CC by ahisgett)