Greetings, Loyal Reader!
One of the greatest mysteries of the Cosmoverse was recently solved. For more than a decade I have been on a quest — well, an occasional quest — to learn who painted the cover illustration for the 1992 Roc edition of Dirty Work. Now, at last, the answer is revealed!
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
A quick program note. While I work on Royal Crush–to be book 3 of the Jason Cosmo series–I am also writing a new and different book: Dash: Into Space! An alien abduction comedy. I have posted previews of the first couple of chapters at DanMcGirt.com, and will have additional previews in the coming weeks. So please check it out.
Best regards,
Dan McGirt
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!
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
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
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
I noticed someone came to my site via a search for “differences between Jason Cosmo and Hero Wanted” and thought it might be worthwhile to address that topic (again). My first novel was Jason Cosmo, published in 1989. In 2009, I released a revised version of the book, called Hero Wanted(2009).
Jason Cosmo Non-Trilogy
The two books tell Continue reading
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
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
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:
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
UPDATE: As of December 1, the Noble Cause preview is chapters 1-20.
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
We’re one week into National Novel Writing Month and I have posted five free chapters of Noble Cause as part of the Smashwords NaNoWriMo promotion. You can download the chapters there for your Kindle, Nook, iPad or other ebook reader of choice, or grab a pdf file. That’s the first five chapters so far — I’ll be adding more chapters through the month of November, so check back to see what’s new.
Noble Cause (2010)
To get you started, here are the opening lines of Noble Cause (subject to change in final revisions):
Chapter 1
It is said Vanah, Goddess of Fortune, may smile on any man. But it is often added that Vanah’s smiles never last, especially when she stops taking her medication. Then woe to the man whose success rests on fortune’s favor alone.
My name is Jason Cosmo. My own fortunes had changed fast enough to cause whiplash. I began the year a poor woodcutter and turnip farmer in the tiny village of Lower Hicksnittle in the distant land of Darnk, poorest and most unwashed of the Eleven Kingdoms. After adventures enough to fill an entire other book, I defeated the evil Dark Magic Society and found myself appointed the new Champion of The Gods. I was, according to Hoard, the tenth richest man in Caratha, the City at the Center of the World. I owned a magic sword once borne by the Mighty Champion of distant legend. I counted wizards, generals, and royalty as my friends. I was dating a former Miss Zastria.
It sure beat digging turnips.
But all was not pudding and pie in the Shining City by the Sea…
Enjoy the rest of the Noble Cause preview at Smashwords now!
Best regards,
Dan McGirt
