Dan McGirt

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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 →

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Jason Cosmo Cover Quiz — UK Edition

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

You might recall that we recently had a little fun at the expense of poor, overworked Cover Text Guy, who made a few errors — some forced,  some not — in describing Jason Cosmo on the back cover.  Now it is time to play the same game with CTG’s British counterpart, Cover Text Bloke!  Here is the descriptive copy from the back cover of the UK edition of Jason Cosmo.  How many mistakes can you find? Continue reading →

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Jason Cosmo Cover Story — UK Edition!

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

As promised some time ago, I finally scanned in the cover of the United Kingdom edition of Jason Cosmo, published by Pan Books, Ltd. and featuring an awesome cover by the late Josh Kirby.  This is the edition most likely to be familiar to Loyal Readers outside the U.S. and Canada. Continue reading →