I'll be offline for a few days, due to the holidays. But before I go, I'd like to wish everyone a delightful and unconventional holiday season, whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa.
My 2010 EPIC Award-nominated science fiction novel, Sunrise Destiny, just received this terrific review from Kathy at Dark Divas Reviews (the bold emphasis is mine):
Rating: 5 Delightful Divas (their highest rating)
I added Mark Terence Chapman to my auto-buy list; and that was just 80-some pages into the book. This is a very long ~ at 450 pages ~ story, but I never got bored, never lost focus and certainly never wanted to rush it to its conclusion. Sunrise Destiny started off in the vein of one of those old-time PI stories, but there were a few things that didn't quite fit… until I remembered that this is also a sci-fi story. I was much taken with the slight dichotomy and, as the story progressed, found myself more and more intrigued.
Sunrise Destiny can almost be split into at least two parts; at first I wasn't sure it would work, but Mr. Chapman is able to move seamlessly between the two worlds and make everything come together very well. Generally, I find most science fiction stories a little harder to adjust to; especially with regard to the speculative nature and otherworld aspects. With Sunrise Destiny, Mark Chapman's narrative was strong and wonderfully detailed, without overdoing it, and I found myself so involved in Donatello's adventures that I was easily able to enjoy the futuristic elements.
There's evil galore, a plot for world domination, aliens and a good old-fashioned adventure. This is also a romance; the hero, a PI, whose reputation flirts with notoriety and a heroine who is a prostitute and Sunrise's sometime lover. Two people, who on the surface, just don't seem to have what it takes. But they do, and in spades. I loved watching the progression of their long-time relationship from now-and-again to full-bodied romance. Very nicely done Mr. Chapman, very nice indeed.
I do feel that a warning should be given: There is some violence and a disturbing scene; while it's there it is by no means graphic. And it goes a very long way to adding impetus for actions taken later in the book. All in all Mark Terence Chapman's Sunrise Destiny was a wonderful surprise and a story that will definitely be a re-read.
To find out more about Sunrise Destiny, including a blurb, a 4,000-word excerpt, and ordering links, please visit my web page.
Mark.
Well, it seemed to take forever, but my award-nominated science fiction novel, Sunrise Destiny, is finally available for sale on Fictionwise. In fact, it's currently on sale for 45% off the cover price (53% for club members). So get 'em while they're hot!
I'll be chatting online Monday (11/23/09) with paranormal author Savannah Chase about my current novel, Sunrise Destiny, my EPIC Award nomination for that book, and whatever else comes to mind.
I'll be chatting with paranormal author Franny Armstrong on her show on Blog Talk Radio tomorrow. The show will be from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m EST. We'll be talking about my books, including Sunrise Destiny, which was just selected as a finalist in the 2010 EPIC Awards competition (science fiction category). If you'd like to ask questions, the call-in number is (917) 889-3332.
It seems that good news, like the bad sort, comes in bunches.
uesday, I learned that my short story, Harvey-467 Makes a Bride is now available for sale from Amazon in Kindle ebook format. (Other ebook formats are available from the publisher.)
This has to be the most entertaining book I’ve read this month; I absolutely loved it! I began to get an inkling that the story was set in the future because of some of the scifi type gadgets Sunrise had, but I never imagined until I got about a quarter of a way into the story that it would also end up being one heck of a scifi adventure as well. Private eye type stories are usually not my thing at all, but this book could fit into a number of different genres very well, and I think the cross genre elements are what really make the story work. I loved how Sunrise respects Lola in spite of the fact that she is a hooker, which you do not often see in fiction, usually the hooker is the bad girl, but in this story she is one of the heroes. I really liked that. The world building is extraordinary and really pulls the story together. I know this is one book I’ll be reading over and over. I cannot say enough good things about this book, and I encourage everyone to go out and get a copy today, it is well worth the money spent!
My sci-fi short story, Harvey-467 Makes a Bride, was released by Red Rose Publishing on Thursday as an ebook. When I checked the RRP bestseller list Thursday afternoon, I was pleased to note that it was #2. It was still #2 Friday morning, but by Friday evening it had jumped to #1, where it remains as of Saturday morning. Wow!
Harvey-467 is a typical 25th century android--blond, blue-eyed, and perfect in every way. Except he’s constrained by his programming. He yearns to be creative, but it’s impossible. Everything in his life is planned, deliberate, precise.
One day he concludes that it's time to get married, to have a soul mate with which to share his life. So he custom-orders a bride from a catalog: beautiful, talented, and equally perfect.
And that's when everything goes terribly wrong.
Excerpt:
When consciousness resumed, he checked his internal chrono and was stunned to find that 1.86 hours had elapsed since shutdown. It was well past
Wow, my cortex must really have gotten hot if it took this long to cool down to safe levels.
He became aware of his surroundings. But how did I get from the living room to the back porch?
I wonder what Maya must have thought when I froze up. She was so angry I wouldn’t be surprised if she went on for ten minutes before noticing.
He chuckled at the image of her berating the back of his inanimate head, and then becoming twice as incensed that he hadn’t heard a word she’d said all that time.
She must have been so mad she carried me out here. Well, I guess I’d better get it over with. I hope she didn’t lock me out.
He sighed and tried the door handle. It turned.
What he saw in the living room shocked him to the processor core. There lay Maya, her beautiful face smashed flat and her cortex spilling out of massive rends in her cranium plate. The spark of sentience was gone from her lovely green eyes. Red hydraulic fluid had leaked all over the mint green Berber carpet she’d insisted on buying. More had sprayed the walls and ceiling.
But how? Who? What happened here? Who would murder an android—and why?
Janelle for You Gotta Read Reviews
Rating: You Gotta Read ("Our highest rating - very few books will earn this award")
This book was fun! There’s action, adventure, suspense, drama, and romance. But what makes this book for me is that it does not shy away from the darker side of civilization – crime, poverty, war, power, and love.
Yes, I said love.
While never directly address[ed], [Donatello] Sunrise is often witness to how far people will go to in the name of love. It was love that drove inherently good beings to kidnap innocent girls. It is love of money that could bring a planet to its knees. It is love that will fuel a revolution. And love drives a father to commit grievous sins in atonement for his daughter’s virtue.
Perhaps the best part of this story is that characters are not spared the tragedy of the path they walk. Hard choices are made on all sides and many commit acts that they morally object to in order to survive.
I highly recommend this book. It’s fun and exciting, without losing [sight] of the characters’ mortality.
For more info about Sunrise Destiny, including the blurb, a 4,000-word excerpt, and an order link, see my website.
Wrong: Timmy, please cover the casserole with tinfoil.
Right: Timmy, please cover the casserole with aluminum foil.
I've added a longer (4,000-word) excerpt for Sunrise Destiny on my website. (It replaces a 1,000-word excerpt.) So if you have any interest in reading a paranormal sci-fi action/adventure novel, this should give you a good taste of the style of writing. Sunrise Destiny will be released on May 21, 2009.
I'll be participating in another interview as part of Crazy Tuesday on Internet Voices Radio, hosted by author Rowena Cherry. The theme of this show is "space pirates," which just happens to be the subject of my fourth (as yet unpublished) science fiction novel, My Other Car is a Spaceship. The show will be from 10:00 a.m. to noon on June 2. I'm sure I'll also be able to slip in a mention or two of my upcoming sci-fi novel, Sunrise Destiny, which will be released shortly before the show, on May 21.I’ve been interviewed by author Michelle Pillow. The interview will appear on her blog tomorrow, Tuesday, May 5. Learn the answers to such burning questions as the strangest source of writing inspiration I’ve ever had, the last place on Earth I’d want to live, what fictional character I’d want to date and what we’d do on the date. (Hint: It involves handcuffs and a whip.)
Mark.
It seems like it's taken forever, but my third sci-fi novel, Sunrise Destiny, will be released on Thursday, May 21, by Red Rose Publishing. It will be released initially as an ebook, with a printed version coming later. You can preorder the book from the RRP order page, and later order it from Amazon.com and other booksellers.Right: Send me an e-mail.
Right: Send me an email.
Stay tuned for more words and phrases.
Mark.
Wrong: We need to move some skews today, people!
Right: We need to move some SKUs today, people!
An SKU is a stock keeping unit, or inventory item. This noun is often pronounced skew (sk-yoo) for brevity. Unfortunately, the similarity in pronunciation with the verb skew (to take an oblique course, look askance, or distort from a true value or symmetrical shape) produces confusion in spelling for those who don’t know the origin of the acronym. So don’t let a confusion with SKU skew your spelling.
More next time.
Mark.
Harvey-467 is a typical 25th century android--blond, blue-eyed, and perfect in every way. Except he's constrained by his programming. He yearns to be creative, but it's impossible. Everything in his life is planned, deliberate, precise.
One day he concludes that it's time to get married, to have a soul mate with which to share his life. So he custom-orders a bride from a catalog: beautiful, talented, and equally perfect.
And that's when everything goes terribly wrong.
More later when I have more details, and a cover.
Mark.
Wrong: The fifth addition of his book just came out.
Right: The fifth edition of his book just came out.
Given how common both words are, I’m surprised at how often I see addition confused with edition. An addition is something that is added, while an edition is a form in which text is printed. A special holiday section of a newspaper might be said to be an addition to the edition.
Melt(ed/ing) vs. meld(ed/ing)
Wrong: I’m looking forward to the melting of our cultures.
Right: I’m looking forward to the melding of our cultures.
Mark.
I have a tentative release date for my upcoming sci-fi novel, Sunrise Destiny. The plan is for a May 21 release. When private detective Donatello Sunrise is coerced into finding a Mob boss’s daughter, he stumbles onto a much bigger case. Dozens of women, all young, all petite, have disappeared in recent weeks. Mysterious and conflicting clues seem to point to a government conspiracy, a mad scientist bent on global domination, or perhaps abduction by bloodthirsty alien vampires. Nothing makes any sense.
Before he knows it, Sunrise and his hooker friend Lola find themselves in a life-or-death struggle. The Mob wants them dead, the cops want them for serial murders—even the kidnappers are after them. With the fate of two worlds intertwined, Sunrise and Lola must somehow help the good guys defeat the evil ones.
The trick is telling one from the other.
I'll follow up when I have a firm release date.
