Friday, November 21, 2008

Your Newest Fantasy Debuter

Is "debuter" a word? No matter, it fits. In the spirit of Shakespeare, I shall invent words where necessary.

I have decided to find a partner here at Fantasy Debut, because honestly, I'm hopelessly behind. Well, maybe not so hopelessly now, since I have a new person on the Fantasy Debut team. You've met her before, via a Blogger Showcase and numerous comments. She is the proprietress of Dragons, Heroes and Wizards and The Old Bat's Belfry. Yes, my blogging partner is . . .

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
~*~ Mulluane! ~*~
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~


Is that enough sparkles for you? Mulluane has agreed to be the Debut Showcase Goddess, which means she is in charge of rounding up most of the information in the Debut Showcaes. Because of the generous offer of her time, our Debut Showcases should hopefully get more comprehensive and timely. She will also write the occasional review.

Why a partner? Well, I didn't want to give up Fantasy Debut, but I also could not give it the time it demands. I did give it that time during the first six months I ran this blog, but I quickly discovered this algorithm, which I will call Tia's Time Algorithm.

At = 24 - Ot - ((Wt + Ct) - Ft - Nt - (Bt + Rt))

At is Available Time. Notice the 24 is not a variable. That is because it is the number of hours in the day. First, I must first subtract Other Time, which includes things that one must do to survive and function in society without being a pariah. From the time that is left, I am compelled to first subtract Wt, which is Work Time, to which I must add Commute Time. I would have arranged Wt and CT further down in the list, but alas, I must work.

Next, I subtract Family Time, then Novel Time. (Yes, it is a fact that I write. Does that surprise anyone? I think not.) There is a bit of squishiness here that I am not able to render in the language of Math. And that is that the Reading Time is allowed to encroach on Family Time. That's because I have an "Interrupt Me Anytime" policy around my house. I have a remarkable ability to engage and disengage from a book at will. Last comes Blogging Time and Reading Time, combined.

And yes, Nt must come before Bt and Rt. Why? If you care, read on.

Back in the Days of Yore, when I first started this blog, the algorithm looked more like this:

At = 24 - Ot - ((Wt + Ct) - (Bt + Rt) - Ft - Nt)

Naturally, this situation could not last. Ft quickly got bumped back into its proper place, but Nt was getting the scraps of my time, and guess what? The novel wasn't getting written. So I bumped around my priorities again, the novel got done, and the family was happy.

But then, the blog suffered.

Debut Showcases began to showcase novels that had been out for weeks and sometimes, months. Reviews got fewer and futher between. Posts became something less than daily. Readership dipped slightly and leveled off, and occasionally skyrocketed when I wrote about vampires.

I read more science fiction hoping to learn how to manipulate time, but alas.

And so I decided to find a partner. Mulluane had offered to help out a while back, so I wrote her an email asking her if the offer was still open. Happily, she said yes. I am also thinking about adding a third person to our team, someone who reads the dark fantasy and urban fantasy. I have someone in mind; I'll put up another post if she accepts.

So please welcome Mulluane to the Fantasy Debut team!

14 comments:

Carole McDonnell said...

Hi Mulluane! -C

Kimber Li said...

Yeah, Mulluane! You're a lucky blogger, Tia.

Tia Nevitt said...

Yes, I'm lucky that Mulluane is willing to share her blogging time with me. I imagine when my daughter is all grown up, I'll have all the time I'll need, and probably more than I want!

Mulluane said...

Awwww shucks...blushes profusely...ain't nuthin, really!

Janet said...

Yay Mulluane!

SciFiGuy said...

Hey Mulluane wonderful to see you joining Tia's team.

Maria Zannini said...

Welcome, Mullane!

Sounds like the makings of a Dynamic Duo.

Anne said...

Congratulations to both of you. {BIG SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Laura Benedict said...

You know that the content will now demand to expand exponentially...Prepare for Fantasy Debut to go Super-Nova! ;)

Congrats to you both!

(And, Tia, I'm wildly impressed by your math skills!)

Tia Nevitt said...

Thanks, everyone! Laura, if we can keep up with debuts, I'll be happy. I'm glad you enjoyed my little algorithm.

Thea said...

Hooray Mulluane! I'm a huge fan of your reviews, so I cannot wait to see what you have in store for us over here at Fantasy Debut! Virtual beers are on me ;)

Tia--your algorithm is amazing. Now, how do you include 'cheating at work to increase blog time'? :p

Congrats to the both of you!

Tia Nevitt said...

Thea, perish the thought of cheating at work in this economy! However, that sort of variable is what I call "squishiness", which I have no idea how to render in a mathematical formula. Perhaps a calculus student could help us.

Heather Massey said...

Hi, Mulluane! Best of luck in your new gig.

Mihai A. said...

Hi Mulluane! Very good news, I am very happy for you :)
And I wish you the very best of luck ;)