Books

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Jason Cosmo HERO WANTED Latest Update

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Hero Wanted (2009)

Hero Wanted (2009)

A quick update on the status of HERO WANTED. I have finished reviewing and correcting the page proofs and sent those back to the typesetter. She will make the changes in the next few days and return it to me for final approval. At that point the text will be ready for the printer.

Meanwhile, I am also waiting for the final cover proof. The front cover looks great, as you’ve all seen. But there will be, of course, a back cover to go with it. Once that is done the book will be ready to print, inside and out.

In the meantime, I am updating the final manuscript version with the same list of corrections I made to the proofs in preparation for uploading the text to Smashwords, which is where the ebook will be available. If you are interested in reading HERO WANTED as an ebook, I suggest you go ahead and open a Smashwords account (it doesn’t cost anything to do so) and you’ll be ready to go when the book is available there.

Ok, back to work!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

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Jason Cosmo: HERO WANTED Cutting it Close

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Relative silence in this space the last few weeks, I know.  But fear not!  Amid the distractions travel and gainful employment, I have been plugging away at getting HERO WANTED ready for release. Over the last week or so I’ve been reviewing the galleys (page proofs) for the book — that is to say, I am for the first time reading the book as it will appear on the printed page, as opposed to reading my manuscript.  It looks good! And this is pretty much the next to last step before we’re ready to print.  So although I’m cutting it close (in the best Jason Cosmo tradition) the book is on track.

Well, I’ve got about 80 more pages to review, so I’ll get back to it!

Best regards,

Dan McGirt

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Jason Cosmo HERO WANTED Preview

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

MILD SPOILER ALERT!

As I’ve explained previously, I hate spoilers. But some people like sneak previews of upcoming works–like, say Jason Cosmo: Hero Wanted, coming from Trove Books in August 2009–so today I present a micro-preview in the form of the first sentences of the first ten chapters of Hero Wanted: ((Subject to change in editing, of course.)) Continue reading →

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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

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 →