It seems that the titile of a

blog post can make all the difference to the number of "hits" it receives.
I occasionally remember to look at the number of hits my blog gets - usually when I get another "follower". (I have been stuck at 99 for a long time now although I know there are other people who actually read it who are not "followers" - so why do I bother with the statistics at all?)
But, back to the title business. I put "Schapelle Corby" in the title the other day. She happens to be in the news again. The number of hits on my blog rose dramatically. Obviously people thought they were going to read something about her. I hope they were not too disappointed but I suspect they were.
I wonder what would happen if I put "Harry Potter" in the title line? It would not have the same effect it would have had say ten years ago.
I have just finished reading "Rooftoppers" by Katherine Rundell. It's a wonderful book. It says all sorts of things. Sophie and Charles are exquisitely well drawn.
Rooftoppers is on the long list for the Carnegie Medal. I hope it will at least make the short-list. (It is, as always, up against some pretty stiff competition.) But, if I put it into the title of a blog post now I doubt it would have much impact.
Titles puzzle me. Sometimes we seem to know things only by a vague description of the book. I sometimes prowl into the library and someone will say, "Cat, do you know that book about... what's it called?" Why can't people remember the title? Was the title not good enough? As for remembering the author, ask a room full of people "Who wrote Harry Potter?" and, unless they are fellow writers, most people will not be able to give you the right answer.
I can remember mentioning David Almond 's "Skellig" to someone. It's another wonderful book , the sort of thing I would love to be able to write and never will. The person I was talking to was looking increasingly puzzled and finally said, "I didn't know he had written any books." Eventually I discovered they thought I was talking about Dave Allen - and that I was calling him by the wrong name. They thought they were being polite in failing to correct me.
Having difficulty in remembering names is not unusual. We all fail at times. I know I do. It's bad. It makes the other person feel they are not important to you.
But there are some names which seem to be seared into people's consciousness - and not always for the right reasons. I'd rather be a total unknown than known for the reason someone like Schapelle Corby is known.
But there are some writers I would not mind being mistaken for too!