Corrie Blogging

My Corrie mate, Flaming Nora, edits Corrieblog, a blog over at the Shiny Media site. I've known her for a good 10 years or more. When i first got access to the internet, through work, the only thing i had access to was email and newsgroups and i found a coronation street group on there. "Nora", aka Glenda Young, was a poster then and shortly after that she started writing weekly summaries of Coronation Street storylines. Occasionally over the years we've corresponded on various issues as well as participated in online discussions in the newsgroup and in the irc chat room. We met in person in 2000 and again in 2001 and over the past year or two have become regular emailers. In January, she asked me if i wanted to contribute to Corrieblog. The articles could be anything i want, mostly just short blurbs and photos but i could do longer ones too. The best thing? You get paid for it! Just a few quid per post, she said, not much. Well the thing is, a few quid is more than doubled in Canadian dollars. That adds up!

So ok, i decided to do it. There were teething pains, getting used to the interface and the rules and regs for posting but by George i think i've got it! I really love writing about Coronation Street. I look through the magazines and books i have for ideas, i draw on my fairly extensive trivia knowledge, having participated in hundreds of trivia quizes over the years and i have quizes i've written that i use as a source for a weekly post of 5 or 6 trivia questions as a mini-quiz. I love the history of the street so i write articles focusing on a particular storyline or character. We also have themes during some months so that gives us all ideas for posts to write about. I find myself surfing the web for old photos of actors or for ebay and Youtube clips that i can post.

What's really great is when i post an article that really goes over well. I recently did a profile on character, Sally Webster that got a few really good comments so i'm going to do more character profiles like that. Today i posted an article on the ITV series Bad Girls because a handful of Coronation Street actors have appeared on it and i think that's going to go over well too.

The payment is usually later than it's supposed to be but it does get through eventually though i've only had one so far. Another one is due, hopefully this week or i'll start nagging them again. You get paid over a month later from when you submit the invoice. That's partly because it takes that long for them to get their money from their advertisers. It's frustrating though, having to wait. I'm saving all the money i make this year for a few days' side trip to Paris in November when i'm going to be in the UK anyway, visiting my fella who lives in Salford, just a stone's throw from Granada studios.

I make a New Year's goal every year to try something new. It's not really a resolution, just a plan. This is my something new for this year and so far it's a success!