Frequently Misused and Misspelled Words and Phrases, part 89

Literally vs. Figuratively

Wrong: I was literally buried under paperwork yesterday.

Right: I was buried under paperwork yesterday.

Wrong: Having a baby literally ended her life.

Right: Having a baby ended her life, figuratively speaking.

Literally means actually. Therefore, unless a huge pile of papers actually toppled over and trapped you beneath it, don’t say literally. If that was what happened, you might be advised to wear a medical alert bracelet so the search-and-rescue team can find you, in case it ever happens again—or change to a safer job.

If you’re not speaking literally, but using a figure of speech or metaphor, then say figuratively.

Frequently Misused and Misspelled Words and Phrases, part 88

Here's another one:

Expresso vs. Espresso

Wrong: I like to start every morning with a strong shot of expresso.

Right: I like to start every morning with a strong shot of espresso.

Espresso is a delicious hot beverage with quite a caffeine kick. Expresso isn’t. In fact, it’s nothing, not even a real word. So don’t use it.

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.