I have just spent the most amazing eight weeks imaginable. I wrote an entire novel (the first in a new series) in that time. A truly metaphysical experience. I've had these experiences before when I was a wildlife painter, but never as a writer.
Of course, now the polishing begins. I feel the urge to polish this new work to the nines. A feeling right now that I hope continues for all the days that this will take...
Here's an (unpolished) excerpt from Blood Kin:
CHAPTER
ONE
Egypt
1350BC
“Have
you any idea what you’re asking? I beseech you to think upon this one last
time, my queen.” The ancient voice rumbled with foreboding.
“Yes,
I am aware. I have born my children. The timing is right with the chaos brought
on by plague. I am at the peak of my human beauty and I will preserve it at all
costs.”
The
haughtiness of her tone contrasted enticingly with her bewitching countenance,
the ancient Sun God took intellectual note; he who was created from one of the elite
lineages bestowed on early pro-magnum man by the star visitors. If his was the
dark gift, so be it for the gift of light was overrated by his rivals. He
wished briefly that the passing of hundreds of millennium had not left him beyond
the human need of procreation. A beauty such as hers came only once in a
thousand years.
“Beware,
Queen Nefertiti, the cost of what you ask may be far higher than you seek. Are
you willing to pay this cost? You will not know what debt you have incurred
until it is too late. You cannot be brought to such a state until you agree to
accept the other side of the coin—and it is a dark side, I caution you.”
“What
cost? Living as I am now—forever? Bah, nothing you could say could sway me from
this course of action. I will rule this land forever—my pure heart commands it.
And you said I would have one wish granted for my dedication to praising you to
my people and making you our one god. Living forever is my wish and it is in your provenance to give it to me.”
The
finality of her tone convinced the deity of her conviction, though grave doubts
lingered of her understanding of the high cost of becoming immortal. And how
could she know? Most of the facts he could not divulge until she was turned as
it was far too dangerous to have such knowledge venture forth into the human
world. But his word was his word and thereby he must bestow the gift of
everlasting life; damn the cost.
“Then
I, Lord Aten, will make it so.” With a dramatic flourish of his luminous aura
that surged with shinning rays of intense light like the spokes of a wheel from
his entire being, he pronounced the words, “Regina
vitam aeternam dona tibi—I give you the gift of eternal life.”
“I
feel no different.” Nefertiti said after a moment and looked at Lord Aten with distain clearly written
on that sinfully beautiful face. A face that could command an army at will. But
he knew how to bend that powerful will to his own though soon he would be gone
for he had been promised entry into the highest realm for his destiny fulfilled.
Leaving his human body behind gave him a twinge of regret as he watched the
captivating face of the first woman to become a vampiress flush with impatience.
She was a worthy prize. He could well imagine the mesmer abilities she would incur with the change for no human could
be safe from her influence once the likes of she was immortal.
“Habere patientiam—have patience. First
you need to be inficitur.”
“Inficitur?”
“Infection
with the aeterna sanguis virus is
essential to immortality. Only blood
changes blood. You will wake immortal
the day after it is administered.”
“Let’s
begin.” Her tone was certain and he approved her steadfast conviction though he
thought her impulsive to the extreme. Even felt a little thrill at knowing that
such a beauty and spirit would exist for all time; and if he could not be the
beneficiary—so be it for it must be written in the stars for what happened was meant
to happen.
“This
is the substance you seek.” With a sleight of hand he pulled a shimmering vial
from beneath his snow white robe and held it up to the single candle that lit
the dim, dank cavern well hidden beneath the new capital city. The suffrage
would camouflage what actually had to be done and that he would take care of
later under cover of darkness; the sharing of blood. The fundamental actions he
would be called upon to perform in the night ahead created a surge of excitement
beyond what he had felt in a plethora of years…
“I
will take it now.”
“Drink
it all in one go. It is the gift of the distant star visitors. You will be the
first of your kind—the first female born of darkness to become immortal.” He proudly
commanded and handed it over and felt her shiver involuntarily with
anticipation as she ran the tip of her pink tongue over her full lips. He
calmly watched as she impudently pulled the stopper from the vial and whipped
her head back allowing her thick mane of undulating auburn hair to flow far down
her back and rest at the hallow of her hip. She drank the shimmering liquid
that shone with an iridescent unearthly glow as greedily as a hungry babe at
its mother’s breast. Bemused, he watched her look of instant horror at the vile
taste of the ancient concoction. Just the first insignificant cost of what was
now destined to happen.
