Writing Excerpt: Nicola and Fish (Again)

We're in week three of Camp NaNoWriMo, and writing is steaming on apace. Week two, I have to say, was a little slow, and some days writing was a struggle. But there are always hidden gems in my pile of first draft rubbish, and, looking back through my novel, these were two bits that made me smile, which obviously meant I wanted to share them with you. Fish isn't actually a major character, but I love writing his parts so much because of his quirky sense of humour, hence why I've added another excerpt containing him. I hope you enjoy this week's peek into my novel, Ember.

*

“Your reputation precedes you,” Lee said with a laugh. “Gotta be careful. One of these days people’ll label you as a ‘bad boy’.” He made air quotes with his fingers.

“You really think so? I’ll have to work on that. Everyone knows bad boys are always the most popular. That’s what all the movies tell me.” Fish screwed his face up so that one eye was almost shut and the corner of his mouth lifted while his nose wrinkled and his eyebrows rose to his hairline.

Lee stared at the grotesque face. “What are you trying to do?”

“Look like a bad boy. Is it working yet?” Fish peered anxiously at Lee out of the corner of his one open eye.

“I think you look like you’re having a stroke.” Lee clapped him on the back as he passed, going to throw the bucket of water out the door. “Find yourself a leather jacket. Girls love a guy in leather.”

Fish nodded, dropping the weird look. “True story. Must find me one of those."

*

Snow was sleeping in the med room when Sara popped her head in. Nicola, the blue headed aquatic mutant sat by his bed, a book in her hand, feet perched on the edge of the seat and knees drawn up. She looked up as Sara popped her head inside, then abandoned the book and came over to the door. She slid out and closed it.

“How’s the meeting go?”

“Allison’s teleporting around the base like crazy, and I swear she’s plotting to murder Brand herself. Jonno got the worst of her temper unfortunately. She’ll calm down eventually. How’s it going in there?”

“Fine. Meds worked like a charm. Eric’s sleeping. I’m trying to read the most boring book on the planet. Nothing else to do though, unless I want to let Bethany in to watch him while I cook the dinner, and there’s no way I’m going to do that.”

“Sneaky. Using Eric to get you out of working again. You’d better be careful or people will start to think that you’re obsessed with him.”

A flush crept across Nicola’s cheeks and she laughed. “No way. Convenient excuse to get out of work. That’s about it. Wouldn’t mind going for a swim though. It’s been a while since I let my tail out. You’re lucky you can shift into anything. I’d rather turn into an ant than a mermaid at the moment, seriously.”

 

How's your Camp going? Got any good excerpts to share with me? Do you prefer funny scenes, or touching scenes?