Anniversary

Yes, it was one year ago today (December 20, 2011) that the first Cynthia Mermaid blog post went online. It has been a great year of splashing, reading, interviewing, and more splashing!

The first installment was a short post entitled 'Music for Mermaids'. In the past year, a total of 77 articles have been posted and total page views is now over 23,700. Over 3,300 blog pages are viewed each month. Big hugs and splashes to each mermaid, merman, and mer-fan out there for visiting, whether occasionally or as each post is put online.

During the past year, the top ten countries reading this blog have been: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Russia, Germany, Philippines, India, France, and Thailand. Google is the number one referring site, followed by Facebook and MerNetwork.

The most popular search term that has lead readers to the blog is, of course, 'mermaid'. Second place is held by 'mermaid pictures'. The most popular mermaids are Mermaid Kariel (by search) and Mermaid Shelly (by page view).

When results for individual blog post views are tallied, the clear winner is 'Ocean Minds and More' (Feb 12, 2012). Second place is the recent post 'Rare Whale' (Nov 9, 2012), and third place is 'News Shell 6' (August 30, 2012). Do let me know how you came to find these, and what specifically picqued your interest.

As we begin our second year, I would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday! I would like to encourage more feedback from my readers. What is on your mind? What questions should we cover? Who should we interview? My email address is at the bottom of each blog post.


The Best in Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Annalee Newitz has compiled a list of the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the past year. Each book is discussed in enough detail for one to make a buying decision.

Look for Ms. Newitz's list in her article on io9. She asks readers to contribute their choices for the best of 2012 in the comments section.

One of the listings of particular interest is Wonders of the Invisible World by Patricia McKillip. This book contains 16 stories from the past few decades.  From high fantasy to fairy tales to magical realism, there should be something here for everyone. The mermaid on the cover is another clue that this might be one to consider.


The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Due out in June of 2013, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman already has fans excited. While this novel shows no signs of merfolk, the artwork and quotes presented in a recent article by Irene Gallo show a quality work in progress.

The artwork is by Dave McKean, a frequent collaborator with author Neil Gaiman.

This is not a kid's book, tho it is a story of childhood, memory and magic. It is also a story of survival. We may wish to follow future articles on this novel, to see if we can gather more information.


Best wishes and starfishes,
-Mermaid Cynthia
cynthia (at) goldmermaid.com

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