Greetings, Loyal Reader!
If you haven’t read my Really Big Announcement at DanMcGirt.com go check that out first, because I don’t want to repeat myself here.
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Smashwords Summer Sale until July 31
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
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!
- Rainy Daze (a Jason Cosmo mini-novel)
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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Jason Cosmo: Royal Crush
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
I am pleased to announce the title of the next Jason Cosmo novel, Book 3 in the series, will be…ROYAL CRUSH.
Royal Crush will be a revised version of my 1990 book Royal Chaos. I’ve decided to continue with new titles for the new versions of the books to more clearly distinguish them from the classic Non-Trilogy versions.
I’ve begun preliminary work on the book, which consists of reading through Royal Chaos and making notes. Expect Royal Crush to be released later this year.
Best regards,
Dan McGirt
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Jason Cosmo: What comes next?
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
With Noble Cause written, what comes next in the world of Jason Cosmo? I’ve been giving this some thought and I want to share with you my plans.
Jason Cosmo
- Housekeeping Measures: I have a little Jason Cosmo spring cleaning to do. This includes getting Noble Cause and the Jason Cosmo Non-Trilogy Omnibus into the Amazon Kindle Store, some tweaks to this website, and a few other odds and ends.
- Solving the Dirty Work Cover Mystery: See my last post. I really want to know who painted the cover for the U.S. edition of Dirty Work. I sent an email to my former publisher, Penguin, to see if they can tell me. If that doesn’t work… Continue reading
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Jason Cosmo: Noble Cause is finally here!
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
I am excited to announce that I have finally finished work on Noble Cause, book 2 of the Jason Cosmo series. Noble Cause is now on sale at Smashwords, in formats for your Kindle, Nook, iPad or other favorite ebook reader. It will reach Barnes & Noble, Apple iBookstore, Amazon, and other stores in the coming weeks. Since this is also Read an Ebook Week, Noble Cause is 50% off through March 10 — get your copy for only $1.50!
Noble Cause (2010)
Noble Cause picks up a few weeks after the conclusion of book 1, Hero Wanted, and concerns the adventures of our hero, Jason Cosmo, and his lovely companions Sapphrina and Rubis, in Caratha, greatest city of the Eleven Kingdoms. You may have read a draft version of the first twenty chapters during National Novel Writing Month, but this is the full, completed novel, 48 chapters in all. And you’ll probably want to start at the beginning even if you read the preview, because I’ve done extensive revision from beginning to end since November.
I’ll say no more about the story for now–just read it! If you have questions or comments (or typos to report–they happen!), get in touch with me by a comment here, or via Twitter or Facebook. I’m on pins and needles to know what Loyal Readers will think of Noble Cause. It has been more than two years since Hero Wanted was published. But the even bigger milestone in my mind — Noble Cause is my first entirely new novel since I completed Dirty Work in 1991. It is also the longest piece of fiction I’ve ever written. But it is now out of my hands and into yours, so I hope you will enjoy it. Meanwhile, I’m going to take a few days to catch my breath, take care of some deferred housekeeping matters (website updating and such), and then dive into my next project! More on that soon.
By the way, all of my ebooks at Smashwords are discounted for Read an Ebook Week. Hero Wanted is FREE this week. So is Sarah Palin: Vampire Hunter. See the full list here: Dan McGirt ebooks at Smashwords.
As always, thank you for reading.
Best regards,
Dan McGirt
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Jason Cosmo: Noble Cause and NaNoWriMo
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
I have never participated in National Novel Writing Month. I’ve always been either too busy on some other project to take it on. But this year, I decided to finally do NaNoWriMo…in my own way.
I’m not writing a brand new novel this month, and not racing to turn blank pages into 50,000 words. Instead, I’m piggybacking on NaNoWriMo to make my final drive to complete Noble Cause.
My plan is to revise the manuscript during November and use the revised text for my NaNoWriMo word count as I go. Loyal Readers can read along! I am releasing the revised chapters as a free preview as part of the Smashwords National Novel Writing Month promotion.
Chapter 1 and 2 of Noble Cause are posted now! These chapters are not entirely new material–I posted an earlier version as a preview last spring–but we’ll be getting into all-new, never-before-released text pretty soon. I invite you to download the free preview, check back for frequent updates, and let me know what you think either in the comments here at JasonCosmo.com or on Facebook.
I hope you enjoy Noble Cause!
Best regards,
Dan McGirt
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Royal Chaos now in the Amazon Kindle Store!
Greetings, Loyal Readers!
Another quick note to let you know that the Kindle ebook version of Royal Chaos is now available! This ebook incorporates the original text of the 1990 paperback edition of Royal Chaos, with only minor corrective edits. I will, eventually, do a revised (and probably retitled) version of Royal Chaos as part of the rebooted Jason Cosmo series that kicked off with Hero Wanted and will continue with Noble Cause. But, for now, and for fans of the original Non-Trilogy, I give you Royal Chaos for the Kindle.
For new Loyal Readers, a word of explanation. The original Jason Cosmo series consisted of Jason Cosmo, Royal Chaos, and Dirty Work. Then, to put it politely, my publisher dropped the series like a hot potato full of squirmy maggots. I call the original three books the Non-Trilogy. (Because there be three books, but they be not a trilogy.)
If the first Jason Cosmo book you read was Hero Wanted, you might wonder how it fits with these other books? Do they go together? Are they part of the same series? The answer is yes and no. Hero Wanted — as I’ve said before and will no doubt say again — is a revised edition of Jason Cosmo. If you read Hero Wanted, no need to read Jason Cosmo unless you just want to.
Royal Chaos was a sequel to Jason Cosmo. It works as a sequel to Hero Wanted if you want to read it that way. There might be a few inconsistencies because of the revision, but the books still work together.
Now the “official” sequel to Hero Wanted will be Noble Cause (coming soon!) — but no harm in reading Royal Chaos next if you want to. Noble Cause, in fact, is set in between the action of Hero Wanted and Royal Chaos. But nothing in Royal Chaos will ruin or give anything beyond very minor spoilers for Noble Cause. So have at it!
Best regards,
Dan McGirt
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Jason Cosmo comes to the Kindle
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
A quick note to let you know that the Trove Books Kindle edition of JASON COSMO is now available at Amazon.
To remind you, this is an ebook of the original text of JASON COSMO, as first published in 1989 (with minor corrections). HERO WANTED is the revised version of this book. So if you’ve read one, you don’t need to read the other. Unless you want to. In which case, please do. I don’t mind anyone reading both the old and new versions of this book, but I don’t want anyone to buy JASON COSMO thinking it is a brand new story. Not a mistake longtime Loyal Readers are likely to make, but newer readers may be confused. So I hope to dispel confusion here.
Again — JASON COSMO, original version. HERO WANTED, new version.
Read both if you want, but please read responsibly!
Best regards,
Dan McGirt
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A kind review of Hero Wanted at Book Weyr blog
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
I’ve been hard at work trying to wrap up NOBLE CAUSE so I can get it before your eager eyeballs by summer. In the meantime, I stumbled upon this very kind review of HERO WANTED (though I think more in its earlier incarnation as JASON COSMO) at the blog Book Weyr, which concludes:
In structural terms, the book is marvellous, meaning the world is governed by magical laws, but is also uncanny, meaning events have their order in nature. McGirt fulfills all the deepest requirements of fantastical narrative with such transparent superficiality in order to induce humour that you know its been painstakingly thought-out. Anyone teaching an introduction to fantastical writing should use this book.
That’s probably giving me way too much credit! But much appreciated. So go read the whole thing!
They also reviewed ROYAL CHAOS (although with spoilers, so if you haven’t read that one yet, be warned!). I’m always fascinated when readers find things in my books that I didn’t know were there! Anyway, the gang at Book Weyr clearly put much thoughtful effort into their book reviews across multiple genres, so if you’re looking for ideas about books to read, or opinions on books you may have already read, do check them out!
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