It’s been over a week since I started blogging, and …. I’m still blogging! And they said it wouldn’t last.

I was pretty sure writing blog posts would be an effective tactic to avoid writing novels, and I was right. I haven’t written a publishable word since launching my new website. Go me! In my defense, I am on vacation, which means I can slack off. Besides, I had lunch with my new editor last week  — I’ll have a new teen book out in the spring of 2012; details to come as soon as it’s official — and she said I shouldn’t even think about working till I get home. So I have no need to feel guilty.

I feel a little bit guilty.

Anyway. Here’s what I’ve discovered about blogging: when it comes to murdering chunks of time, analyzing blog stats is almost as good as looking at people’s cat pictures on Facebook and way better than checking my up-to-the minute Amazon rankings (which, frankly, always leaves me feeling just a little bit like poo).

A super fun feature of WordPress’s stats report is that it tells you the exact words or phrases people typed into a search engine that ultimately led them to you website. On August 5, these were the magic phrases:

carol snow

life of nicholas snow

how to cook steamers

author carol snow

eating steamer membrane

carol snow and puke

clay aiken wall poster

The Nicholas Snow and steamers references came from previous blog posts. A Clay Aiken poster appeared in my first book, Been There Done That, and is included in an excerpt on the site. As for the Carol Snow and puke bit, well, that one is self-inflicted, thanks to a crack I make in my author bio. I’ve been using the same bio for years; as a result, sometimes typing my name into a search engine will lead to the suggestion of “carol snow puke.” Perhaps marketing is not my strong point.

Speaking of points, What is the point of this ramblng, you may ask? Ha ha — this is a blog.There is no point.

On that note, please enjoy these pictures of my cats.