Bones going strong...

Welcome to the Bones Book Blog.

Here you will find deleted scenes from the book. There is also a picture of what Patch found and other interesting information...and a game at the bottom of the blog.

Scroll around and take a look...

Maureen

Deleted Scenes

When I originally wrote Bones there were many more scenes in the story.
Because I had to cut words out, to get down to 6000 words for the book, some of my favourite scenes were cut. Such is the writers life.
However you can read some of them here...

There were two main themes running through the book that were cut, the tv cameras and the two old ladies.

This whole chapter was cut out. It comes just before Danny and Nicki go to the park with Patch.

When Nicki and Danny walked into Almond Grove, after school, they saw a TV truck parked outside their house.

“Oh Man! TV!” breathed Danny. He rushed up the driveway and around the corner of the house.

“Oh great! TV!” grouched Nicki. “That’s all I need.”

She forced herself to put one foot in front of the other as she walked up to her back door.

As she passed Danny's bag, where he had flung it onto the deck, she gave it a hefty kick.

“TV! Blech,” she gagged.

No one was in the house. She dropped her bag on the floor and looked out the window to the back garden.

A cameraman, balancing a TV camera on his shoulder, was taking shots of the garden. Policemen were looking busy.

A reporter in a dark red suit was talking to her mother and Detective Sergeant Wilson. She could see Danny hanging on to Patch's lead, just begging for a chance to get on TV. The reporter talked to the camera for a while and then asked Detective Wilson some questions.

Finally Danny had his chance.

“So Danny, tell us about Patch, does he usually bring home bones?” said the reporter.

“Ah no,” said Danny. “Not usually. Sometimes he brings home old shoes.”

“Shoes,” echoed the reporter, trying to look serious.

“So this is the first time he's brought home bones?”

“Yes,” said Danny.

“Detective Wilson, can the public help you in any way with this investigation?”

“Yes Marcia,” said Detective Wilson, “If anyone has seen this dog going up their street or in any other unusual place, could they contact Operation Patch at their local police station.”

“Jack, get a good long shot of the dog would you,” said Marcia to the cameraman.

Jack nodded and stepped back into the herb garden to get the shot just as Mr Cooper came around the corner of the house.

“Get out of my garden you vandals,” screamed Mr Cooper at the camera crew.

“Out! Out!”

The camera man leaped out of the garden.

Marcia smiled. “Great, some action,” she said. “Keep it rolling Jack.”

Mr Cooper raced up to the garden waving his arms in the air.

“Leave. Now! Take that dog with you. Look at this mess! My garden is ruined, and the only piece I've managed to fix, you step on with your great clumpy feet.”

Mrs Cooper went to soothe Mr Cooper. “Detective Wilson will see them off, Gary.”

Detective Wilson told the camera crew that Mr Cooper had had a stressful time just recently and asked if they got enough footage of the dog.

The reporter said they just had to do a wrap and they were finished.

“Move out of the garden this time, Jack,” she grinned at the cameraman.

“If anyone has sighted this dog, in the Murphy Street area, contact the Operation Patch team at your nearest police station.

This is Marcia Elvistone reporting.

Long focus on the dog Jack.”

“Ok, Marcia, got it.”

“Right we're off now,” said Marcia. She glanced over at Mr Cooper who was glaring at them.

“See you on the next case Dave,” she said to Detective Wilson, as she gathered up some camera gear.

maureen

Deleted scene pg 34

Danny and Nicki scrambled out of the car. They looked across the road at the block of shops. It looked like an ordinary block of shops. Shoppers had stopped and were staring at them, talking excitedly amongst themselves. Everybody moved to the corner of the clothing shop to look. They could see the policemen wading through knee high grass behind the clothing shop. There was no sign of Patch anywhere. Danny and Nicki went across the road.

“They ran right by me.”

“Must be a dangerous criminal in there.”

“You kids, don't go around there, you might get hurt!”

“Don't worry about us,” said Danny. “It's our dog.”

“What are you talking about young man?” said an old lady. “There's a dangerous criminal back there.”

“No. It's just our dog,” assured Nicki. “He's not dangerous.”

“If he's not dangerous how come the police are chasing after him?”

“Well...” said Danny, “He likes bones you see and he brought some back home and buried them in our backyard and the police are looking for the bones that he’s getting, because they're human ones.”

“That's disgusting!” said a man.

“Did you hear that Mavis,” said the old lady to her friend, “This boy has a dog that eats human bones.”

“Bones? Of course a dog eats bones, Carol. Who are the police chasing?”

“Human bones,” shouted Carol to Mavis. “Get your hearing checked, Mavis.”

“That's disgusting,” said Mavis to Danny. “You stop giving bones to that dog right now. Do you hear me young man? Right now! What are young people coming to, giving human bones to dogs. Disgusting. There should be a law against it.”

“I'm not giving them to Patch. He's taking them,”protested Danny.

“You've trained your dog to take human bones? That's awful. Where is that policeman Carol? Tell him to arrest this boy.”

Danny gave up. Nicki was peering around the corner trying to see Patch.

There was no sign of Patch or the policemen.

maureen

The First Review

I received the first review sent to me by Barbara Murison editor of Around The Bookshops.

Hello Maureen

Congratulations! I have just read Bones over the lunch hour and I really loved it. It zips along at such a great pace, is original and very funny. When is the next one coming out I wonder?

I really like the new format for Kiwi Bites because kids could never resist putting the old ones with the real bites in them, in their mouths. Yuk!

Look forward to the launch.

Cheers

Barbara M

I'm pleased she liked it I hope YOU like it too!!

maureen

bones book arrives

I have just got the first advance copy of my book Bones and it does look nice.