cut scenes

Changeling Cut Scene Thursday #4: the smutty bit
And here is the last Cut Scene Thursday for Changeling!
This scene got caught because it didn’t progress the dead guy in the bathroom plot at all and I was desperate to cut unnecessary weight. Also, Kevin getting fucked by Matt becomes part of the plot in book three. It goes right before they come back and eat yogurt sitting on the floor. There’s also a passing mention of Bea. Don’t worry, you’ll meet her in book two. She’s awesome.

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Changeling Cut Scene Thursday #3: even less about the jeans

It’s Cut Scene Thursday again! We’re still spoilerific around here, so watch for that cut tag.

This is the second version of Matt shopping for jeans in a thrift shop. In the second version, like in the final draft, there’s more going on plot-wise and the thrift store is just the backdrop. A lot of the background and relationships have already been established, so I had to sacrifice some of the details.

Kevin called him Mattie a lot earlier in the final version of the book. The scene is all about Matt stepping away from his old life in a deliberate choice, but it ultimately had to get scaled back and go in a different direction. I still love the banter between them–in all versions.

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Changeling Cut Scene Thursday #2: it’s not really about the jeans

It’s Cut Scene Thursday again! There are more spoilers than last week here under the cut tag.

This scene happens in a thrift store where Matt goes shopping for jeans. In the first draft, the scene happened a lot earlier and Matt and Kevin barely know each other, and things unfold differently with Matt needing to get a blood test done. There’s another draft before the final version that I’ll be posting next week.

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Changeling Cut Scene Thursday #1: Really good curry

It’s Cut Scene Thursday! I’ve decided that’s going to be a thing for the next four weeks.

It’s not enough to cut bad scenes when you’re editing, you also have to cut scenes that are actually good, but don’t move the plot forward. It hurts when you have to lose bits that you really like, though. The novel was already over 130,000 words and I had to cut out as much as I could.
This originally took place almost at the end of the book, but is relatively light on spoilers. The scene with Matt and Kevin on the floor in the kitchen was one of my favourite ones in the book. But I’d made it clear earlier in the book why Matt needed the deal, putting it here was countersinking the concept.
The Indian restaurant is an amalgamation of two different places, both within walking distance of where we were living first in Edmonton, then in Calgary. They were both excellent, but only the one in Calgary, just off 17th Ave, is still open. It’s about five blocks from the Korean restaurant that I turned into a demon brothel in another series. Oops?

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