Happy New Year, Loyal Readers!

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

I hope that you rang in the New Year in style and have great things ahead in 2011! I simply want to take a moment to thank all the Loyal Readers who bought my books and stories in 2010, who posted kind reviews at Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, Goodreads, etc; and who took time to tweet, email, or otherwise let me know that you enjoyed my work. I love to tell stories. I love to entertain and amuse people. So it always makes my day when I hear from a Loyal Reader that you liked something I wrote.

Of course, I know what many of you would like is for me to write faster! (And, perhaps, better). Noble Cause is very obviously way behind schedule. My plan to release that book in 2010 were derailed various non-writing time commitments, as well as self-inflicted delays, such as the month or so I spent writing Sarah Palin: Vampire Hunter and the month or so I spent on the Caladon Falls role-playing game project. For those who have been patiently waiting for the new book, I apologize for getting sidetracked. I’m back on the case, and will have Noble Cause done and published by spring.

Aside from the aforementioned SPVH and Caladon Falls, 2010 also saw my world audiodrama debut at The Dramapod, which was at least non-awful enough that they invited me back for a dramatic reading of my horror-comedy short story Beginner’s Luck as part of The Dramapod Halloween special. The Dramapod gang produces some really fun material and if you enjoy audiostories, you should definitely check out their catalog.

Also in 2010, I quietly released the original Jason Cosmo Non-Trilogy as free Smashwords ebooks. This is a limited time Smashwords exclusive, so if you haven’t jumped over to grab Jason Cosmo, Royal Chaos, or Dirty Work do it soon! I’ve secured rights to re-use the original Richard Hescox cover art for the ebooks. As soon as the new covers are done, the Non-Trilogy ebook titles will go on sale at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony, Apple and other ebook retailers, priced at $2.99.  So get ’em while they’re free! (And if you’d care to post a review of the Non-Trilogy at Smashwords, I would greatly appreciate it.)

Speaking of ebooks, through the end of 201o my 9 ebook titles have 16,584 downloads (free + sales) at Smashwords alone, with just shy of 40,000 total downloads/sales when other retailers are included. Those numbers include far more free downloads than sales, since I gave away the Hero Wanted ebook for one full year. Whether you bought or read if for free–thanks for reading!

And if you bought, thanks again!

What’s ahead for 2011? I can only tell you my plans. Chances are, some of these won’t happen and I’ll think of new projects as I go. But here is my working list:

  • Release Noble Cause: this is definite. This will happen.
  • Re-release Jason Cosmo, Royal Chaos, Dirty Work ebooks with new covers. Also coming soon.
  • Another Jason Cosmo mini-novel (cf. Rainy Daze)
  • Revised version Royal Chaos: Book 3 in the relaunched series, after Noble Cause.
  • Boltblaster: At long last!
  • Sarah Palin Vampire Hunter II: because you demanded it!
  • Maybe a few other non-Jason Cosmo stories, for variety’s sake.

Less definite, but I’d like to do:

  • Hero Wanted podcast/bookcast: I love what authors like Seth Harwood and Scott Sigler are doing, serial podcasting entire books. But as I learned recording Beginner’s Luck, it is hard work and time-consuming. I want to do it, but this won’t be a top priority.

That’s what I have on the drawing board for you in the year ahead, Loyal Readers! Thank you again for all your support and encouragement. I hope your own plans for 2011 are even bigger and better than mine!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

Dan McGirt World Audiodrama Debut at The Drama Pod

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Today I am pleased — and more than a bit terrified — to announce the Dan McGirt world audiodrama acting debut in an episode of Off the Cuff produced by The Drama Pod.

Loyal Reader Tim Heffernan and the gang at The Drama Pod, based in Australia, have dedicated themselves to “the resurrection of radio drama.” I know what you’re thinking — wouldn’t they need to resurrect radio first? As it turns out, no — thanks to the magic of the Internet, which functions like a super radio tower with a broadcast range of infinity, you can hear their radio drama without a radio!

The Drama Pod have produced quite a few clever and entertaining audiodramas you can hear at their website or download to your mp3 player — all for free!  Most are fairly short listens — perfect for your commute. My personal favorites so far are The List and The Game Show (which you should listen to in that order).

One of their ongoing shows is Off the Cuff, in which unsuspecting guests are asked to star in a production without the benefit of a script — instead making up your lines as you go along. At the risk of permanent damage to The Drama Pod’s sterling record of success, Tim recently invited me to be a guest victim star on OTC. Thanks to Tim and the rest of the talented cast (or should I say, the talented rest of the cast) I had great fun recording my show. (I even got my own theme song out of it!) I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

You can hear the results for yourself at The Drama Pod — and let me know if I should stick to the writing!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

Jason Cosmo and the Merry Christmas

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

A Merry Christmas to you and your family!

2009 has been an exciting and eventful year for me as an author. I had the satisfaction of finally seeing Jason Cosmo and company return to print with the release of Hero Wanted by Trove Books, not to mention the digital version of Hero Wanted at Smashwords. I released the first-ever Jason Cosmo mini-novel, Rainy Daze. And I had the pleasure of connecting with and hearing from dozens of Loyal Readers via this blog, by email, on my pages at Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, LibraryThing, and in person at Dragon*Con.

Two things drive me as a writer: the desire to get all these stories out of my head before my sinuses explode from the buildup of creative pressure … and the desire to entertain readers for a few hours with thrills, chills, adventure, laughs, and a few groan-inducing puns. I want to thank all the Loyal Readers who have picked up or downloaded one of my stories and given me the opportunity to do just that. Thanks again to those who have taken the time to send me a note to let me know you enjoyed the book. I truly appreciate your encouragement, comments, and even the constructive criticism.

Please join me in 2010 for more Jason Cosmo adventures. My plan is to publish Noble Cause in print and ebook, release an episodic audio bookcast of Hero Wanted (and maybe Noble Cause too), and I hope to offer a few more Jason Cosmo short stories and mini-novels along the way.

In the meantime, I wish you all the best of the season and a healthful, prosperous and happy new year!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

Jason Cosmo Podcast Audiobook to Come

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Just a quick update. Despite my best intentions, the conclusion of Rainy Daze remains unwritten. I have been sidetracked by other obligations and continue to be. I hope to see daylight and finish the story soon. I don’t think I’ll have time to squeeze in a Halloween story before Halloween either.

Once I do wrap up Rainy Daze it will be time for the final push on the manuscript of the next Jason Cosmo novel, Noble Cause. I pretty much suspended work on Noble Cause at the beginning of 2009 to focus on getting Hero Wanted finished, edited, produced and on sale now wherever fine fantasy novels are sold.  That doesn’t mean the story hasn’t been percolating in my head. I will probably do some significant revising once I get back to it. I’ll have to see how the existing text has aged these last few months.  My back of envelope calculation is to be ready for editing and proofreading by early next year (January/February) and looking at a summer release. I’ll keep you updated as those plans gel. This is, after all, the Jason Cosmo Update.

In the meantime, I’ve decided it is long past time I got on the podcast audiobook train. After studying the examples of podiobook pioneers like Scott Sigler and Seth Harwood, I’m convinced this is something I need to do. My plan will be to record the full text of Hero Wanted, as read by me, and release it in a series of free weekly podcasts. I am persuaded that this will help me connect with many more potential new Loyal Readers (or, Loyal Listeners, I guess they’ll be), perk up my print book sales, and have fun doing it.

Obviously that is two major projects on the horizon: write and publish Noble Cause, record and produce Hero Wanted. I do not know yet what the time frame for the podiobook will be. I just bought a pro-quality microphone and a copy of Podcasting For Dummies and I’ve got a good bit of learning to do before I launch that project in earnest.  For now, writing Noble Cause will be the first priority, but stay tuned!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt