I started blogging two years ago today. Back then, this blog was called Racy Romance Reviews, and my header looked like this:

In February, I took a risk by changing the blog name and URL. I forgot to forward the old links, and there was about a week of dead air. Eventually, everybody who wanted to do so found this blog again, and things were going swimmingly, until a hacker attacked. It took about three weeks to get that straightened out. So I would say this second year has been more frustrating in terms of the technology of blogging.

Interestingly, the name change has helped this blog get on the radar of some lit blogs. I think there should be more cross fertilization between genre and literary circles, so I am pleased about that.

I also “came out”, both to readers of this blog and to my friends and colleagues at home. That was a great decision, relieving some stress at being “found out”, and helping me to act on line consistently with how I act in the real world. That is, like a complete asshole. Kidding!

Everything else, though, has been great. Mostly, I do the same things I have always done — some reviews, occasionally snarky ones, some reflections on genre, and some analysis of more scholarly stuff. I added a regular feature, the Monday Morning Stepback, which has been very popular.

The blog has grown steadily in terms of readership, which is very gratifying. But the main thing is that the people whom I enjoy and admire online (whether they have their own blogs, just hang out on twitter, or make great comments on others’ blogs) read this blog.

Here are some numbers:

Total page views: 297,732

Total number of visitors: 165,353

Number of posts: 404 (about 3.5 a week)

Number of comments: 7029

Most popular post: It will forever be one of my first posts, Top 9 Most Romantic Love Scenes in Romance (13,348 views). A distant second is not a post, but a page, Reviews A-Z, with 3,666 views.

Subscribers:  550

According to Sitemeter, my average daily visitors is 300, with about 500 page views on an average day. Someone told me this number does not include the people who view this blog in a reader. I post about 3-4 times a week, so obviously, I get fewer hits on the days there is no new post.  I tend to get the highest number of visitors and page views on Monday, and then it kind of drifts downward until the weekend. Clearly, I am doing my part to make the work week less productive for a number of people.

People still find this blog by Googling weird things like “iCarly penis” and “penis pepper”, but the most popular search term is now “read react review”, which is a change from last year.

I blog for fun, for amusement, for relaxation, for a better understanding of what I read, and for making connections with other readers. This second year of blogging has provided all of that and more. I’m still having a great time in my little corner of blogland, and hope to keep it up for a third year.

To thank you, I am having my annual blogversary contest. Enter by midnight EST Sunday just by commenting on this post, and I will use random.org to pick a winner, to whom I will send any two books I have reviewed (paper only, and they have to be in print!) which she (or he) chooses. Enter only once. Open worldwide.

We’re all so busy — or at least it seems that way –  and I’m extremely grateful you take time to come over here and read what I’ve written when there are a million other things clamoring for attention.

Thanks again.