The Magic of J. H. Cordell.
Hello, and welcome to my website.
While my catalogue of work has largely gone unappreciated, those with character, taste and the good fortune of finding one of my novellas detailing the extraordinary adventures of Krog the Barbarian as he travels through the land of Gelbenheim came to my book signing at Discount Larry's Book Warehouse on March 14, 2005 with several questions. I was unable to answer them appropriately given that I was being so very roughly escorted from the building by Discount Larry's security team. I'd like to offer my answers to your questions at this time.
"J. H. Cordell, the world you developed is so unlike any other I've ever read. In fact, so detailed was it that I was able to fully immerse myself in its depth, truly experiencing everything that Krog himself was experiencing. How is it that a mere mortal could create something so beautiful and perfect?"
Well, there have been many theories and ideas of how my world was so masterfully crafted. Some say it was born from my four year stint with opium. Others say it was written as an escape from my ex-wife, a plague-ridden harpy who refuses to let me see my children so that they may bask in the radiant glow and warmth my very life-essence provides. But no, it is something far greater than all of this. On June 16, 1986, I received my master's degree in writing, proving the very superiority I embody over the common man which allows me to hold such a firm grip on the world of Gelbenheim as it descends into the madness provided by my crumbling grasp of this wretched reality.
"Krog is a character so lifelike, so very human, it's almost impossible to believe that he is not brutally representing your own experiences. How is it you could create this inspiration for humanity when Zeus himself would fall from Mt. Olympus if he were to even attempt it?"
It is just as you say. Every action of Krog, every carefully, and masterfully chosen word uttered from his lips is testament to my own righteous actions and fury. When you are struck by the immortal artistry of Krog's encounter with the soothsayer, you are being struck with my fearlessness against my 11th grade guidance counselor, Mr. Friedman. When Krog destroys Pain Mountain with his bare hands to finish his battle against the beastly Bone Crushing Skull Eater, you bear witness to the night I broke the windshield of my wife's car after she went out with her friends for a drink when I told her in no uncertain terms that she was to stay home that evening. As you read of Krog's journeys through Gelbenheim, you read an unsettling tale of a man who aspires to the greatness promised by the ancient, forgotten and terrible gods, a man who battles constantly against the forces that bind him in the ultimate, final conflict of free will against determinism, all the while living among the ants who burden him endlessly with their insignificant affairs. As you read of Krog, you read of J. H. Cordell.
Enjoy.
(I will be at Discount Larry's Book Warehouse on August 14, 2007, from 2 P.M. to 5 P.M. should no incident occur.)