Fantasy

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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 Cover Text: Take Two!

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Thanks for the comments from Original Loyal Reader (OLR) Tim and others.  You’re right, Tim–“gold pieces” is maybe a little too old-school D&D. Not that there is anything wrong with that! So here is the final draft of the back cover of the forthcoming Trove Books edition of Hero Wanted: Continue reading →

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Jason Cosmo HERO WANTED Cover Copy

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

A while ago we had a little fun at the expense of poor Cover Copy Guy, who had the daunting task of writing the text on the back cover of Jason Cosmo. The cover copy has to describe the book, somewhat summarize it without giving too much away, and most of all induce a would-be reader to buy the book — or at least be intrigued enough to open it and investigate further.

Not as easy as it sounds–even if you wrote the book! Continue reading →

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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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Myth Adventures of Jason Cosmo

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

In the last two posts, I revealed the influence of the comic strip Finieous Fingers on the original Jason Cosmo stories that I wrote in middle school and high school. Today I continue that theme by considering some of the influences and inspirations for the Jason Cosmo books.

Obviously, all of the epic and not-so-epic fantasy stories I read prior to 1987, along with movies, TV shows, comics, other pop culture, current events, history, mythology, and other reading that I absorbed went into the mix. It would be impossible to identify every influence on my early writing. But I can definitely recall and acknowledge a few authors that I particularly looked to as models when I was writing Jason Cosmo.

One was Robert Asprin, particularly for his Myth Adventures series chronicling the adventures (well, myth-adventures) of Aahz and Skeeve.

Another Fine Myth

Continue reading →

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Secret Origins of Jason Cosmo: Finieous Fingers!

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

Last post, I discussed the direct influence of the Dungeons & Dragons game and related settings and concepts on the creation of Jason Cosmo. To recap, a big part of my motivation for writing the original (handwritten!) Jason Cosmo episodes was the fact that, back in my pre-driving days, I could not easily get together with my friends to play D&D. So instead, I made up my own adventures and passed them around between classes.

But there was an even more direct and specific inspiration for Jason Cosmo and company: a comic strip that ran in the back of Dragon magazine called Finieous Fingers.

finieous

Finieous Fingers, World's Greatest Thief

Continue reading →

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Hero Wanted News

Greetings, Loyal Reader!

If you’re following me on Twitter (@JasonCosmo) I’ve already mentioned these items there, but for those who prefer to get their updates the old-fashioned way, on a blog, here is the latest:

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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 →