Khet Chronicles: Sunset Over Bloodied Waters

Very rough & unedited excerpt

I tried not to include any spoilers for the first book.


By: Marcus Twyman

Three mutts greeted me at the bottom of the stair's landing. Their nails clicking noisily against the hard marble of the floor. Che had found them running around out back in the woods that surrounded the estate. They had been half-starved as well as flea and tick ridden. She'd brought them in, cleaned them up, and made them the brats of the residence.

Chloe, is a large female pitbull with large dark brown spots that encircle each of her eyes, making her eyes stand out with their light gray coloring—giving her the impression of always being surprised. The rest of her fur is a fawn color. She weighs a little over eighty pounds—all of it solid muscle, thanks to Che's care and attention—but she is the biggest love-bunny you'll ever meet. She'd be more liable to lick a serial killer breaking into the mansion than attack him.

Bobo is a little terrier mix of some sort, standing no more than a foot at his shoulder. His fur hangs down in dark gray wisps, making him look more like an oversized, dirty cotton ball than a dog. He has bangs that cover his beady little eyes, and his tongue hangs out of his mouth every minute of the day, dripping drool in his wake.

Lobo, well—looks like a lobo. He looks like a damn wolf. His eyes are yellow-green, and the only thing that would make you think twice about his heritage is his fur color. He's the warm, blondish color of a yellow lab. He's huge standing three feet at the shoulder and weighing in at one hundred and ten pounds. I'm still up in the air concerning his lineage. I'm almost positive that he's a big, wild, snarly, beast of a wolf. His coloring is probably just a fluke. All I know is that as long as he doesn't eat me, I'm fine with him. He' extremely playful, and loves everybody in the house, but...sometimes I catch him staring at me—like he's thinking. Yeah, I'm gonna keep my eye on that one.

The three mongrels—I say this with compassion— were jumping up on me, making it impossible to move ahead towards the front door. Let me tell ya', half the time I had to move around the house using the inhuman speed of my race, just to get from room to room. They were adamant about having your full attention when in your presence.

“Shane!”, maybe he could take them outside or something. That would help them let loose some of their pent up energy. “Hey, bro! You around?” My voice echoed through the massive rooms of the mansion.

“I'm here, what's up loud-mouth?” Shane spoke into my mind using telepathy, or as he called it—as well as everyone else now that he's been pushing the term on people—brain-tapping.

Rolling my eyes at his name calling, I told him out loud, “Come take the pooches out, mutt!” Shane was half sape and half khet. Some of the other khet called him Half-Breed, I called him dork, boob, bobblehead, and lately, Mutt. He knew I wasn't serious, we always call each other names—we have a snarky relationship.

“Why can't you do it? I'm watching a cool show—some guy just got eaten by a shark and now his shipmates are tracking it through the ocean via the GPS on the dude's cell phone—Ooh...oh that's just wrong...Kalin you've gotta—”

“Shane!” God, he could be such a twit! Running my hand through my hair I shouted, “I'm leaving...take them out!” Before he could make an attempt at another mental rebuttal, I threw up my mental shields.

Che had been teaching me how to guard my thoughts. Living in a household full of telepaths and having other telepathic beings around who knew my energy signature—like the Sidhe and some of the witches—I had needed to learn how to deflect unwanted intrusions. One time Saru had reached out telepathically from New York and entered my mind while me and Krysia were...occupied. Needless to say, that was the equivalent of a parent walking in on you doing the bump unexpectedly. He was the one who requested that Che teach me how to block against intrusions. He was like an uncle to me and Shane and finding not-so PG thoughts flying at him like that must have been just as awkward as it had been for me. Krysia still blushes when I bring it up.

Shutting the door quickly so that the dogs didn't push past me onto the walkway, I tossed my keys into the air, catching them as the gravity pulled them back down towards the earth...

How To Write A Fiction Book / Novel In 6 Months

By: Marcus Twyman
Image Source: ralphmag.org


OK, this is by no means a rule book, it's simply a guide...a way to help those that have problems starting a book and writing it to completion.

Writing a Novel is a major project that demands dedication and discipline. The thought of writing three hundred plus pages can seem very daunting to most, which is why I don't think about how many pages my novel is going to be while writing. I write, I don't focus on an end target, I focus on getting the best possible story out onto the digital pages of my laptop and then I move forward from there.

Here's a quick breakdown of my writing process, this may not work for you or it may help you the same way that it helps me.



First, I take my journal and I write a basic non-detailed listing of events that I want to take place in the book. For example, my book, Khet Chronicles: Blood Ties aka The Nebu Khet's Cry, was sequenced via short remarks like, “Kalin has a dream about his deceased family> Kalin wakes up, senses enemy in home> Meets with Shane> Meets Krysia> Attends meeting; it's a trap> Saru saves them and kills ancient> etc, etc...

By placing a sequence of events on paper I ensure that I don't get off track while writing. You want to steer clear of rambling and unnecessary narrative that can take place when a writer is not focused.

Next I sit down at the computer and I start typing. I don't re-read what I write, I don't over analyze the dialogue that my characters use. I just write and focus on getting my main scenes down on paper as well as reaching a set number of words or chapters per day.

Once I finish with my first draft—which I consider the skeleton of the story—and all required scenes are present, I go back and start reading it from the beginning, typing more details where needed and filling out storylines and character descriptions, etc. I add the “meat” of the novel at this stage.

Once I've finished filling the story in and giving it substance, I go back and start line editing it. Then after the line edit, I start reading the story again after a week of letting my brain rest so that I can edit out any unnecessary parts and add others that may give the story more structure.

Once I've completed the main edit, I print a copy of my story and let a TRUSTED source read over it so that they can write recommendations and dislikes on the hard copy. This gives me a different, fresh perspective on the novel. I may or may not take into consideration what this reader says, but it enables me to understand how people who aren't biased towards the story will react to reading it.

After any edits are done that the beta reader remarked on or asked for, I go back for a final read through fixing last minute punctuation issues and overall creating a nicely polished finished product.

That's pretty much it...that's my process. Like stated earlier, this may or may not work for you. Good luck on your writing and please let me know if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

Marcus Twyman
Twitter: NebuKhet
marcus.twyman@gmail.com


Tags: fiction novel, writing a manuscript, urban fantasy, science fiction, scifi, syfy, general fiction, book writing, editing a book, manuscript editing, writing tips, nebu khet, sidhe, fae, fey, faery, fairy, unseelie, seelie, vampires, dragons, werewolves

All Queries Have Been Sent!

That's right, all of my literary agent query letters are out in the mail, doing their best to find my manuscript an agent and potentially, a new home with a publisher.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxiety ridden to the point of cold sweats and a slight mental breakdown-- so let's just say I'm a little stressed. It sounds a little less maniacal when stated that way.

Anyways, I'm starting the 2nd novel now, opening the door to a new adventure for Kalin and the other Nebu Khet (khet).

I should also be hearing back soon about a short story that was submitted to a magazine for publication. Keeping my fingers crossed on both accounts!

Remember that I'm on Twitter under the username "NebuKhet" and on Facebook. The Facebook account can be found by doing an email search for " NebuKhetsCry@Gmail.com "


Well I'm off now...back to the land of angry supernaturals and crushed dreams ;)


Best Regards,

Marcus

I'm done with the First Draft!

Hey guys!

I'm done with my first draft of The Nebu Khet's Cry! Now...time to revise. Bleh!

I'm so freaking happy and I can't wait to see if I can land that ever elusive Agent.

I'm sorry for such intermittent blog posts, but Twitter is much easier for me to update while on the go. Find me there by searching for NebuKhet.

Thanks for your support peeps!

Talk to ya'll later,

Marcus

Wrapping It Up

I might be finished with the first draft tomorrow. I'm so excited peeps, seriously. I already have the follow up outlined and a graphic novel in the works. I'm so proud of myself!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.8

Phones And Swimming Pools... I think you get the idea :(

Well, got pushed in the pool yesterday by a younger cousin- with DROID phone in my pocket. Thank God for insurance and overnight shipping.

Good news is...I got him back!

That'll teach him to mess with his elders!

And the winner is *drum beat*....

Chakrele (sha-kr-e-l)


This name is so damn cool! This is the name I chose from dozens of submissions. It has its roots in the word "chakra" usually, from my understanding, pertaining to the colors of the aura.

I couldn't have asked for a more unique and interesting name if I tried.


CONGATULATIONS James Lenderking for being the winner!


You all will be hearing from this new character in the future!

At The Coffee Shop...Again...

Beautiful day out and where am I? At the local Borders, typing away, securing the tale of the Khet on the digital pages of my laptop's memory. Staring out at the warm day passing me by all due to my sacrifice to bring Kalin's story to life.


Oh well, I'll get my chance at freedom this upcoming Tuesday when I'll be in New York for Christina Aguilera's Today Show performance.


Take care everyone! Thanks for the continued support!

Writing Some Songs

Marcus Twyman


I know, I know, I should be writing my book! I'm sorry everybody, but sometimes I gotta take a little break from the Khets and Sapes to ensure I don't fry my brain cells anymore than the last 26 years of my life already has.


I entered some of my songs into a competition and I'll let you know if I hear anything back, meanwhile...


I am chugging along with the story- there've been many bumps and blockades in my path but I am persevering through them all.


I'm printing up a couple major scenes from the Khet Chronicles: Saru & The Nebu Khet's Cry so that Christopher Mroczka can get the first illustrations done. Once the characters are drawn to our liking we will showcase them right here for you!


Alright, back to the keyboard for me- and back to my COFFEE! *yes, I know I need psychological help for my coffee addiction...*


Peace!

OMG...When will it all end?

I am pouring Callen's story onto the pages, and I am really looking forward to letting everyone read it, but it seems like everytime I start to pull a scene to its closing, a new idea surfaces and I have to implement it right away!


I have a couple more months to get everything in order so that publishing can commence, ahh!!!


I'll post part of the first chapter on here in a couple days.....


PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT ALL POSTINGS THAT ARE FROM THE MANUSCRIPT ARE UNEDITED! THE FINAL DRAFT AND BOOK WILL BE A MILLION TIMES BETTER

Workin' Like Crazy!

OMG...Ifeel like my fingers are going to fall off. I have a deadline to meet and I'm not going to miss it. Callen, and his step-brother Shane are in some serious trouble. They're on the run but I can't give away too many details (it would ruin the story). The book should be completed by December and hopefully on shelves soon after. I can't make any promises but, I can say that your all in for a surprise!