Greetings, Loyal Readers!

First, it is good to be back. The Jason Cosmo Update was knocked offline for a while by evil-doers. I suspect the Dark Magic Society.

I am currently working on the long- long- long-awaited book Boltblaster, which reveals the origins and early years of Jason Cosmo’s friend, the wizard Mercury Boltblaster. The earliest stirrings of this book date back to 1990 which, I know, is longer than some Loyal Readers have been alive! In the next few posts I’ll discuss just why this book has taken so long to write. In part, that statement is an illusion, but all will be revealed! And I’ll update you on where things stand now.

Let’s go back to 1990. Jason Cosmo had been released in 1989 (aka the original version of Hero Wanted), followed that year by Royal Chaos (now revised as Royal Crush). I was working on book three, Dirty Work, which was due December 31 of that year. Alas, I would miss that deadline and Dirty Work, instead of being released in 1991, would not be published until 1993. That is a tale in itself. For the present account, the relevant point is that delivering Dirty Work completed my contract with Signet/Roc for two sequels to Jason Cosmo. My plan was to continue the series with a Book 4, but I was also thinking of spin-offs, including an origin storty for Merc.

My publisher, alas, had other plans. Namely not continuing the series.

That, at least, was the case for my American publisher. However, as many Loyal Readers in the UK and Commonwealth nations know, the Pan Ltd in the UK also published editions of my books, translated into British English! After my US publisher dropped me — or at least dropped the Jason Cosmo series — I had the idea of continuing with Pan. In 1993, I prepared a proposal for Boltblaster — a synopsis and the first three chapters — which my agent sent to London. Waiting ensued. Then more waiting. Finally, the verdict came!

Pan passed.

And that was it for Boltblaster.

At least for then it was. My publishers had dropped the series and there was little chance of any other publisher picking it up. The e-book and print-on-demand technology that would enable me to publish my own work (in a practical, potentially viable way) was more than a decade into the future. If I wanted to continue as a writer, I needed to switch gears and come up with new ideas. I worked on many, pitched a few, sold none.

There was no reason to continue work on Boltblaster or the next Jason Cosmo book because no publisher wanted to touch a dead series. But even while working on other projects, I continued to add to my notebooks of ideas for the adventures of Jason Cosmo and Mercury Boltblaster. To be continued…

Best regards,

Dan McGirt