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
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
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
As I already mentioned on Twitter, yesterday I received a digital scan of the finished cover art for Hero Wanted! Continue reading
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
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
I’ll mention once again that I am on Twitter, twittering away about Jason Cosmo, writing, and other topics of interest (to me, at least). The link is twitter.com/JasonCosmo
(Or, if you’re already hip to Twitter, I’m @JasonCosmo)
If you’ve been waiting for someone to validate the worth of my Twitter feed, then wait no more! @JasonCosmo was recently included on a list of Literary Tweets: 100+ of the Best Authors on Twitter! Continue reading
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
Last post, I discussed Robert Asprin’s Myth Adventures Series as one of the inspirations for the Jason Cosmo series (both the original handwritten stories and the novels). Today I want to address a more basic matter of Jason Cosmo’s origin: his name. Continue reading
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.
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:
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 Fingers, World's Greatest Thief
The recent passing of Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson saddens me, as did the death last year of Gary Gygax. Though I never met either man, I owe them a debt of gratitude for many hours of entertainment. I also must acknowledge them as creative influences on the Jason Cosmo saga. It is safe to say that without the work of Arneson and Gygax (along with many other creators and authors at TSR and Dragon magazine) there would be no Jason Cosmo! Continue reading
