Well, Friday proved to be an eventful day at the festival. It has been a long day and as I think about it, it’s hard to believe it was all in the same day.
Thursday night I realised disaster had struck and I’d managed to pack everything but my prescription strength pain pills. I was mortified thinking I had to drive home again. But thanks to great advice on Twitter, that said disaster and my failing to make it through the first full day, was averted.
The day was a complete scorcher. The festival had been blessed not only with sunshine but the complete inability to retain bodily water as all festival goers fanned and hid under trees or complained of melting into the seats during panel talks. Apparently the massive electric fans they had in the room made too much noise so had to be switched off while actual people were crowded in their hundreds into the talks room.
Other than one talk, I was safely ensconced under a massive tree hiding from the vivid ball of gas in the sky.
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The one talk I went into was the Social Media: Who Are You talk.
The blurb for this – lifted from the website is – Do you dream in hashtags? According to the governmentโs Chief Scientist, the web is redefining human identity, changing peopleโs views of who they are and their place in the world. Itโs an addictive but questionable force. So how do authors navigate these virtual choppy waters? Are they just procrastinating on Twitter? And what becomes of fragile egos in the hands of ruthless online avatars? Explore the fine line between social media success and social media suicide.
What it really was, or what it turned into after about 20 minutes was Leathergate all over again. It degenerated badly. There were too many personal feelings involved. Too many people with passionate beliefs in certain things, and I think it needed to be remembered that this event was open to readers as well as writers and book bloggers, and readers who may not know or care about this personal stuff but wanted a talk on social media and if its worth doing.
It got a level down from bad when an audience member stood up as a friend of Leathers to defend him as he couldn’t do this himself. This didn’t go down well and it wasn’t long before another audience member was given the microphone to have a dig at the first one for his comments, saying he had only said them because Leather blurbed his new book. – Well yes, he did say they were friends. That’s why he defended him.
It was a bit of a bitch fest. Very off topic and I left before it ended.
I lunched with friends, chatted, ate ice-cream, drank wine in Harrogate, did lots more relaxed chatting with friends including the really lovely Jane Isaac who came to Harrogate for the day.
The final note of the day was entering my hotel room at just after 1am and finding the light switch next to the door didn’t work anymore. The crime writer in me of course didn’t think a murderer was waiting for me in the bathroom. That is unless you ask @Octaviagrey! Oops.
Here’s to another busy but wonderful festival day tomorrow.
Margot Kinberg says
Rebecca – Sounds as though you’ve well and truly gotten into the festival and that’s great! But what a way to end the day – no light in the bathroom? Hope it was fixed!
Margot Kinberg says
Whoops! Just realised you meant the light in your *room* wasn’t working! Even creepier! It was fixed wasn’t it?
Rebecca Bradley says
It was the light in the main room. It wasn’t fixed until the following day and the only reason I complained about it was the only two remaining side lights had stopped working as well! It was all very weird.
Annalisa Crawford says
The talk sounds like it was erm… interesting. It’s a shame that people with agenda get to take over when the majority want to hear a reasoned debate/conversation. I hope today is better, and that your light is fixed! Perhaps there’s a story idea in there, my mind would be going nuts if that happened to me ๐
Rebecca Bradley says
Ha! My mind did go a little nuts at 1:15 in the morning. I rang Octavia Grey up and she was in hysterics! She stayed on the phone while I checked the bathroom though ๐
Jane Isaac says
Was sooo lovely to meet you, too. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. I’ll read about it on your blog ๐
Rebecca Bradley says
It was lovely to meet you Jane. Here’s to next years! x
Jacqui Murray says
I have to ask–how did you solve the prescription problem? I had a similar situation in Annapolis. Even going to one of the hotel’s approved doctors–for a tidy sum–it was quite difficult to get a replacement.
Rebecca Bradley says
I had to ask my GP surgery to fax a mini prescription to the pharmacy, which they did. It was then filled. I’m not sure how that would work if you were abroad. I was just lucky I was in the UK and it wasn’t a weekend.
Vikki Thompson says
Hope you got that light fixed ๐
Xx
Rebecca Bradley says
Not until the next night and only because two other lights in the room went as well! It was all very spooky…
Vikki Thompson says
Oh my word! Lol….glad to hear you made it back in one piece ๐
Xx
Alex J. Cavanaugh says
Sorry the only talk fell apart with bickering. Hope you got some benefit from the event!
Rebecca Bradley says
It was a great event Alex. That talk was always going to end up the way it did, with last years panel descending the way it did. Once it was brought up, there was no way back really.
sharonsant says
Sounds action packed. I’ll hold your hand when the light fails next year, as I’m definitely going!
Rebecca Bradley says
Yay!! I’m so glad!! ๐
diannegray says
It’s amazing what happens when you get a lot of personalities in one place – look at it as writing fodder (I’m sure there are some more very interesting characters yet to appear!) Have fun and take as much out of it as you can ๐
Rebecca Bradley says
Thanks Dianne. It was a wonderful weekend. There were definitely some personalities there, some more outspoken than others. It was lovely though. The use of social media made it so that many people already seemed to know each other and no-one was left with alone. I’m looking forward to next year.
jamieayres says
Too bad about the drama . . . the light would’ve totally freaked me the eff out!!!
Rebecca Bradley says
It did freak me out. Octavia Grey was in hysterics at me on the other end of the phone!
Joanna (Lazuli Portals Trilogy) says
It sounds like it was worth going, despite the light (or lack of) issue and the bitching. Real life is never far away even at ‘events’, is it!!?! ๐