book covers

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Royal Crush Cover Revealed

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

It is time to give you a full look at the cover for the next Jason Cosmo novel, Royal Crush, which launches December 5. And here it is!

Royal Crush Amazon v3

Illustration by Mighty Mark Helwig and titling by the Ace of Awesome, Aaron Acevedo.

I’ll let the cover speak for itself, except to say again this is Mark’s interpretation of a key early scene in the book. It’s not a literal portrayal of what the text describes – that’s the interpretation part! – but definitely conveys the essence of the action. This will not end well for someone.

Thanks to Mark and Aaron for a great cover!

Now it is down to Your Humble Author to finish the words. I am working carefully through the copyedit and proofreading stage, trying to track down those devious typos that somehow manage to sneak in when I’m not looking. Overall, the manuscript is in good shape – and it should be! This is about my 40th time through it! But you know what? I’m still enjoying this story and I know you will too!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

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Royal Crush Cover Art is Here!

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Detail from Royal Crush cover artAs we countdown to the release of Jason Cosmo: Royal  Crush on December 5, I am assembling the pieces of the book, including a critical component — the cover!

Yesterday I received the cover art image. I’m not going to reveal it in full until the title has been added to make it a proper cover, but I want to share this sneak peek, a close-up of our fearless wizard, Mercury Boltblaster!

I also want to introduce the newest Jason Cosmo cover artist: award-winning illustrator and sculptor Mighty Mark Helwig. Mark joins the ranks of Richard Hescox, Josh Kirby, and Den Beauvais in providing covers for the Jason Cosmo saga. Mark give us his interpretation of a pivotal scene in Royal Crush, which I will share in all its glory when the final cover is ready.

Mark displays a quirky, sly, and slightly demented sense of humor in his work (and has a disturbing affinity for Cthulhu). I thought it would be fun to get Mark’s take on Jason Cosmo and company.  Stay tuned for the full cover soon!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

PS:  You can see more of Mark Helwig’s work at his website: Mark Helwig Art and Sculpture and on his Facebook Page: The Art of Mark A. Helwig – Facebook Page. Check it out!

 

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Jason Cosmo: Royal Crush Update

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

A quick update on my progress toward releasing Jason Cosmo #3: Royal Crush. Over the weekend I finished my latest editing pass through the text — tightening prose here and there, fixing a few typos, and making decisions I had put off about some story details. The next step is to finish my re-read of Noble Cause (book two in the series) and make notes of any “continuity” matters I may need to adjust in Royal Crush to keep my story straight.

(As longtime Loyal Readers know, Royal Crush is a revised retelling of my Royal Chaos (1990), which was the second book in the original Jason Cosmo series. It that sequence, Jason doesn’t do much between book one and book two. In the current series, Jason has an extensive adventure in Noble Cause before coming to the start of Royal Crush. This has a ripple effect throughout Royal Crush, in ways both large and small. I’m doing my best to make sure I don’t miss anything as I update the text!)

While I finish up the text, I have also been in touch with my Cover Artist and hope to see some preliminary sketches soon. More details on that once we’ve formally inked our deal. All I can tell you is the cover will be great and very much capture the spirit of the Jason Cosmo series.

That’s all for now.

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

 

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Royal Crush and Other News

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Hero Wanted (2009)

Hero Wanted (2009)

Happy 2014! I know, it is already March, but this is my first update of the year. I’ve been busy writing new stuff for you…and still am! So let me give you a quick update on what I’ve been up to.

  • ROYAL CRUSH: The third volume of the rebooted Jason Cosmo series, following HERO WANTED and NOBLE CAUSE, opens with Jason and the twins Sapphrina and Rubis in Rae City to attend the Royal Wedding of Queen Raella and the wizard Mercury Boltblaster. A joyous occasion! Which, of course, will soon go horribly, horribly wrong. ROYAL CRUSH is a revised version of my 1990 book Royal Chaos. I am revising line by line, keeping the gist of the original story, but adding new details and perhaps a new twist or two to keep longtime Loyal Readers on your toes. Just before composing this post, I finished the first draft of Chapter 17. (I think there will be 30 chapters in all.) This is going faster than NOBLE CAUSE because I am working from an existing text. I don’t want to put a definite release date out there, but I expect to be done with the principal writing before the end of March. That leaves editing, proofreading, formatting and cover art to be done in April. So ROYAL CRUSH may be ready for a May release … but that is only an estimate right now! I will keep you posted on my progress. I am reporting the completion of each chapter on Facebook (Dan McGirt Page) and Twitter (@JasonCosmo), so follow me there for the very latest updates.
  • BOLTBLASTER: I’ll hit pause on the main Jason Cosmo series after I finish ROYAL CRUSH and turn next to the long-awaited BOLTBLASTER, the story of Mercury Boltblaster’s early years. More to say on this later — one book at at time! But I can report this book is already under way. I wrote a prologue, three chapters, and a detailed synopsis more than 20 years ago. I pulled these files from the archives recently… and they hold up pretty well! BOLTBLASTER will be fun and I can’t wait to get to it!
  • COVER ART: I recently had a good meeting with a very talented fantasy illustrator to discuss covers for several Jason Cosmo titles. Specifically, we talked about Rainy Daze and Dirty Work, both of which have sad text-only covers prepared by me using Microsoft Publisher back in 2009. That was barely okay then, but I want to get both of these ebooks into wider distribution on Amazon, Apple, etc. so they need professional cover art. I don’t like to name names until the deal is done, but Talented Artist has some good ideas and I think you’re going to like the new covers.
  • COSMOPEDIA:  The Cosmopedia is my online reference to the Jason Cosmo universe (or Cosmoverse), also available for you to browse. It unavoidably involves some mild spoilers if you haven’t read the books, so be warned. I recently finished a page-by-page push through HERO WANTED, updating and adding entries to the Cosmopedia, so check it out while you wait for the next book!
  • MAILING LIST: I’ve launched a Dan McGirt News mailing list, so sign up to get an email alert when a new book is available. All I need is your name (which can be an alias…) and email address. I will not rent out, sell, mangle or otherwise misuse your email address and promise not to spam you. I’ll let you know when a new book is out, or other major news (like if there were ever a movie deal…) but I won’t be cluttering your inbox every day. I’ve got books to write! SIGN UP FOR THE MAILING LIST HERE.

That’s the news from the Eleven Kingdoms!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

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Smashwords Summer Sale until July 31

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Noble Cause (2010) by Dan McGirt

July means the Smashwords Summer Ebook Sale is here again (or Winter Sale for Loyal Readers in the Southern Hemisphere). Yes, you truly can beat the heat with an ebook–try fanning yourself with a Kindle! Works pretty well, huh? Just don’t get too close to the pool.

As usual, several of my titles are included in the summer (or, again, winter) sale fun:

25% off (enter code SSW25 at checkout to get your discount)

50% off (enter code SSW50 at checkout to get your discount)

100% off … yeah, FREE!

Only at Smashwords, only until July 31!  If you’ve already bought these books — Thank you! To share the fun, please leave a review and/or recommend to a friend.

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

 

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Who did Dirty Work? UPDATE: Deep Book speaks

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Dirty Work (1993)

I have an update for you on our quest to learn “Who did Dirty Work?”  As you recall, I emailed a plea for help to a general-purpose email address at my former publisher Ace/Roc/NAL/Penguin.  (Read it here.)

That was last Friday. Yesterday I received a very kind result from a highly placed insider at the publisher whose name I shall withhold to protect the innocent.

I can’t say for sure that a shadowy ancient conspiracy Continue reading →

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Who did Dirty Work?

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

With Noble Cause now written and working its way into the various ebook stores, I have the breathing room to solve one of the great mysteries of the Jason Cosmo series: Who painted the cover of the 1993 Roc edition of Dirty Work?

As longtime Loyal Readers know, Dirty Work was the third volume of the classic Jason Cosmo Non-Trilogy. Richard Hescox provided the cover illustrations for my first two books, Jason Cosmo and Royal Chaos. The late Josh Kirby did the covers for the UK editions of all three books, published by Pan Ltd. But it remains a mystery to this day who painted the cover for Dirty Work.

Sadly, Roc did not provide a cover credit in the book itself. That was the first place I looked. Some fifteen years or so ago, a prominent fantasy artist I happened to meet whilst holding a copy of Dirty Work took a look at the cover and said, “Oh, that is _____. I’d know his style anywhere.” And I wrote the name down on a scrap of paper, long since lost to time, and also made a more “permanent” note on my computer, long since lost to a hard drive crash. Yeah, I’m not very good with names.

But the time has come to solve this mystery. Someone suggested it may have been the awesome Walter Velez. But I asked Mr. Velez, he checked his records, and it was not him. I emailed the fantasy artist I once bumped into to ask if he might again identify the artist simply from looking at the art. I don’t know if he will have time or inclination to reply. Or if my message even got through his spam filter. So I also sent the below letter to the generic email address of my former publisher Penguin USA/ACE/ROC:

Continue reading →

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Throwing Darts at Jason Cosmo Cover

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

The wits at the blog Good Show Sir recently had a bit of fun at the expense of the cover art for my first novel, Jason Cosmo

A sample of their good-natured ribbing:

In slaying the beardy blue giant, Jason accidentally stabs a huge butterfly, skewering it to the side of a giant reptile. With a checkerboard pattern. On. His. Underside? WTF?

Meanwhile, the cheery wizard pretends to dance with castinets, two lovely ladies pose for the artist, and everything, but EVERYTHING turns out to be smaller than a can of fizzy pop.

If I had been drinking a beverage while reading this, said beverage would have come out my nose at a high rate of speed! The remaining comments had me laughing so hard I may have sprained something.

Certainly as valid an interpretation of the scene as any. I’ve often conceptualized the Jason Cosmo cover as a goofy post-book cast photo, with all the characters merely playing dead.  Otherwise, it’s a bit gruesome…posing on a stack of bodies.

The stated mission of Good Show Sir is “sharing those Sci-fi and Fantasy book covers that elicit a response of both fear and wonder, for together we can create something truly great and show the world what sins have been committed by Sci-fi & Fantasy the world over. Because sometimes, a book cover is so bad that all you can do is step back in wonder and say “Good show, sir, good show”. “

Good Show Sir is a sort of Mystery Science Theater 3000 for book covers. Offering outstandingly hilarious commentary on odd and inexplicable SF/F covers,  Good Show Sir is a site worth checking out for a good laugh!

Best regards,
Dan McGirt

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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

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Sarah Palin: Vampire Hunter New Cover!

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Here is the finished Sarah Palin: Vampire Hunter cover by Brian Denham. In celebration, get the ebook for only 99 cents through Halloween with this coupon code: JH95N.

Sarah Palin: Vampire Hunter

Sarah Palin: Vampire Hunter

Best regards,

Dan McGirt