Local bloggers Hattie Harrison from Southborough and Fran Taylor from Tonbridge have both made it on to the shortlist of three for the final of the Mumsnet Best Comic Writer of the Year award.
The pair featured in the Times earlier this month.
Hattie, 31 and a mother of three, describes her parental experiences in That Mum Blog, while Fran, 32, a mum of two, is the author of Whinge Whinge Wine.
Hattie reacted to the news by saying: “I feel ridiculously grateful to everyone who voted and I’m beyond pleased to be a finalist. I guess being ‘that mum’ is not so bad after all.”
She had been writing her blog for exactly one year to the day when the news of her progress came through on a Friday night. Not surprisingly, she went out to celebrate, leaving her husband Mark to put the children to bed – and frequenting Moos Moos nightclub into the early hours.
She described the resulting devastation the next day on Facebook: “Bad mum alert: when you bid your good intentions fare thee well and end up rolling in at two in the morning and have to borrow some of your daughter’s birthday money to pay for the taxi… And then you’re too over the limit to drive to boot camp in the morning and take your daughter to ballet.”
Meanwhile, Fran joked in response to the news: “My reaction is, ‘In your face, husband [Doug] who says I’m not funny in the slightest’.”
She added: “I’m afraid I haven’t had a chance to ‘celebrate’ yet, although tomorrow is my birthday so you never know… Ah, that’s right, I’m taking the kids to Peppa Pig World. Maybe next year.”
She wrote to her followers: “It’s not all about awards (but it helps).” And: “I sometimes read blogs that make me howl with laughter; tears streaming. Ones that have ‘got me’ so perfectly, I’ve saved them to read again and again.
“In comparison, I’m just a bit silly. So yeah, I might not win. But even if I don’t, and even if my blog doesn’t make it to a year old, if I run out of steam, it makes me so, so happy to know that in this moment, on this ridiculous journey, when I’m laughing at myself, I have you laughing along with me.”
The Mumsnet Blogfest ’16 awards ceremony will be held at Kings Place in London on November 12.
Their only rival among the comedy nominees is a blog called Eeh Bah Mum, by Kirsty Smith from Brontë country – Haworth, Yorkshire. The category will be judged by comedian Sara Pascoe.
