Noodled

Noodlefood, which happens to be my current favorite, one-stop shop for Objectivist news and commentary that's feisty and smart, recently added my page to their blogroll. I'm a bit surprised, in a way, because I only write about writerly stuff (Yawn!) and because I rarely comment on Objectivist issues. Make no mistake: I have no illusions that my blog is somehow fascinating, exciting, trendy, and clever. I know it's not. If it had to be, I'd stop blogging.

The reason I've been blogging so much recently is totally self-centered. I've been struggling through a difficult story, and every day I find my mind wanting to wander far, far away from wherever I happen to be working. Ayn Rand called this unpleasant condition "The Squirms". It's frustrating as hell. Thinking about my blog at least corrals my mind and keeps it inside of fiction-writing-land when it would otherwise want to go off and pay bills, call friends, rearrange the furniture, remodel the basement.... You know what I'm talking about, any of you who have ever struggled with an intellectual problem. Of course, I also have to make sure that blogging doesn't become an end in itself, but so far it seems to have done more good than harm.

So it's no surprise that after an initial explosion of visitors thanks to Noodlefood (yes, Diana, you're really that powerful), my site traffic seems to be back to a trickle, by comparison. I kind of like it that way. Besides, if my blog were to ever go crazy with activity, I would prefer to see it come from the popularity of my yet-to-be published, run-away bestseller.