Frequently Misused and Misspelled Words and Phrases, part 87

From my upcoming book by the same title.

Eldest vs. Elder

Wrong: The eldest of their two daughters is getting married next month.

Right: The elder of their two daughters is getting married next month.

Use elder when referring to one of only two; use eldest when referring to one of three or more.

Later!

Dragon Con!

My wife, daughters, and I will be attending Dragon Con in Atlanta later this month. We'll be wearing T-shirts with the covers of The Mars Imperative and The Tesserene Imperative on the front and back of the shirts. Here are thumbnails of how the shirts will look:

Walking billboards. What do you think?

We will also distribute postcards containing a cover on the front and the book blurb on the back. Here's an example:

Frequently Misused and Misspelled Words and Phrases, part 86

I've decided to resume posting bits and pieces of my upcoming book by the same name. No idea when it'll be done. It currently has over 250 entries. I'll have to decide when there are enough to publish.

Allude vs. Refer

Wrong: She kept alluding to the particulars of the annual report.

Right: She kept referring to the particulars of the annual report.

Right: Mr. Kellar frequently alluded to the neighborhood where he grew up.

We refer to something directly or allude to it indirectly. (Sports commentators, for some reason, seem to misuse allude frequently.) Rather than saying a woman has put gained a lot of weight late in her pregnancy, we might allude to this by saying she’s “very pregnant.”

More later. 

The Tesserene Imperative is now available.

The second edition of The Tesserene Imperative: Book Two of The Imperative Chronicles is now available on Amazon, for the low introductory price of USD$1.49.

It's an action/adventure Sci-Fi novel of survival, exploration. discovery and first-contact. It follows The Mars Imperative, but a decade later and in deepspace. 

The crew of Shamu find themselves in an asteroid belt, their ship riddled with holes from a micrometeoroid swarm. They have less than three days of air left, little water, a destroyed starflight drive, and no hope for rescue. They have to rely on their own creativity and determination to survive. If they can do that, there's an amazing discovery to be made that will open the stars to all of humanity--or doom it to extinction.

I'm investigating turning The Mars Imperative into an audio book. I'll post details later, when I have some.

Book Two in The Imperative Chronicles series, The Tesserene Imperative will be rereleased shortly on Amazon. I'll post the details when it's available.

The Mars Imperative is now available.

I'M B-A-A-C-K!

I'm back after a 4 1/2-year hiatus. I was pretty burned out from writing, editing, and promoting. I'm still not sure where I'm going from here, but I did finally get around to self-(re)publishing The Mars Imperative: Book One of the Imperative Chronicles since it went out-of-print in 2007, with a new cover and some additional scenes.

It's now available as an e-book on Amazon for the ridiculously low price of USD$1.49 for a limited time. I'll leave it at that price for a while before upping it to $2.99 or more. So now is a great time to get this highly reviewed novel of space exploration, terraforming, and terrorism.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! May all your hopes and dreams come true, and your endeavors prove fruitful.

By the way, my science fiction novel, Sunrise Destiny is up for Book of the Month at Dark Divas Reviews. Click here to vote for it. (Voting ends at midnight on January 6.) To read the Dark Divas review of Sunrise Destiny, go here.

Thanks, and have a wonderful new year!

Mark.

Have an unconventional Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah!

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.

For those driving, be safe. Watch out for those crazy road-crossing deer. If you're flying, keep an eye out for those equally crazy flying reindeer.

Here's wishing a wonderful New Year to all. May our hopes, dreams, and prayers come true in 2010!

Mark.

Another wonderful review for Sunrise Destiny

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.