Fantasy

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Secret Origins of Mercury Boltblaster: Boredflak!

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Last post, I discussed how the D&D-themed comic strip Finieous Fingers was a direct inspiration for the entirely handwritten original Jason Cosmo episodes (which only a handful of Original Loyal Readers have read) . Now Finieous was the World’s Greatest Thief, whereas Jason Cosmo was, in  his original incarnation, a mercenary fighter.  So the main overall influence of the comic on my stories was the overall silly tone.

With one exception. Boredflak.

Boredflak was a wizard buddy of Finieous. He wore sunglasses. He owned a bazooka. The original incarnation of Mercury Boltblaster was pretty much Boredflak in prose. Here is Boredflak in action:

boredflak01

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Secret Origins of Jason Cosmo: Finieous Fingers!

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Last post, I discussed the direct influence of the Dungeons & Dragons game and related settings and concepts on the creation of Jason Cosmo. To recap, a big part of my motivation for writing the original (handwritten!) Jason Cosmo episodes was the fact that, back in my pre-driving days, I could not easily get together with my friends to play D&D. So instead, I made up my own adventures and passed them around between classes.

But there was an even more direct and specific inspiration for Jason Cosmo and company: a comic strip that ran in the back of Dragon magazine called Finieous Fingers.

finieous

Finieous Fingers, World's Greatest Thief

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Dave Arneson, Gary Gygax and Jason Cosmo

The recent passing of Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson saddens me, as did the death last year of Gary Gygax. Though I never met either man, I owe them a debt of gratitude for many hours of entertainment. I also must acknowledge them as creative influences on the Jason Cosmo saga. It is safe to say that without the work of Arneson and Gygax (along with many other creators and authors at TSR and Dragon magazine) there would be no Jason Cosmo! Continue reading →

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Jason Cosmo Hero Wanted Cover Artist Richard Hescox

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

I’ve already mentioned that the artist (or illustrator — not sure if it makes a difference) is already hard at work on the brand new cover art (or illustration, if you prefer) for the first volume of the new Jason Cosmo Series, Hero Wanted.

But I neglected to tell you who he is! If you read the title of this post, you already know it’s Continue reading →

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Jason Cosmo in Shades of Gray. (Or is it Grey?)

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Today I continue my line-by-line edit of Hero Wanted. It is a cold, rainy day — great for editing! I just finished marking up chapter 10. But I realize a blow-by-blow account of the editing process is not an attention grabber. So let’s talk color!

Specifically, that color somewhere between black and white that rhymes with hay. You know how some people see the world in black and white and others see all the shades of this particular color in between? That’s the one I mean.

I’ve always spelled it G-R-E-Y. Continue reading →

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Jason Cosmo: Better Than Ever!

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

My line edit of the Hero Wanted manuscript is grinding slowly forward. As I noted on Twitter earlier today, I am now about a fourth of the way through the approximately 400 page manuscript, carefully scrutinizing and editing every line.

I thought this was going to be an exercise in checking for typos and looking up obscure points of grammar. After all, I have written this book twice! Surely it is already as good as it will ever be.  But as Editor Dan I am finding that the work of Author Dan on this twice told tale can indeed be polished, revised and improved–yes, I believe I am making Hero Wanted a better book than Jason Cosmo ever was.

Let me explain. Continue reading →

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Blurb Jason Cosmo!

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

You know those blurbs you find on books that are intended to make you think that this book is super-awesome because Famous Author X says so?  Like —“This book scared me.” — Stephen King or “A real page turner.” — John Grisham.

I probably won’t have many of those on the new edition of Jason Cosmo: Hero Wanted.  Continue reading →

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Jason Cosmo Cover Quiz — UK Edition — Answers

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Since no one apparently wants to play the Cover Quiz Game again, I may as well give you my answers. Again the challenge is to review the descriptive text from the back cover of the UK edition of Jason Cosmo and identify any errors, based on your knowledge of the book. Presuming you’ve read the book. Which you very well may have not! Continue reading →