Deleted scenes from the lunar chronicles

Deleted Scene #9

And here we are, the very last of the deleted scenes! I've saved the best for last – at least, this is my personal favorite, and one that I fought so hard to keep in some form or another in the books, but ultimately determined that it just wasn't going to work out.

A little backstory...

As many of you know, I wrote the first drafts of Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress during NaNoWriMo 2008. My goal for that month was to hit a total of 150,000 words. Well, on November 30th, with only hours left, my well was dry. I only had a few thousand words left to hit my goal, but I'd exhausted all my outlines and plans and my brain was mush, but there was one scene I had in my mind that, even at the time, didn't fit anywhere into my plan for the story, but it just seemed like so much fun to write, so I decided to throw it in and see if I could make it fit later.

So I wrote the scene in the hours leading up to midnight, and it was weird and crazy and a little silly, but I loved it, and it became my favorite thing that I wrote that entire month. I also hit my goal, clocking in at 150,011 words.

Though originally I thought the scene would end up in Cress, at various points in the revision process I tried to make it work in both Scarlet and Winter. Of course, it didn't work, but here – FINALLY – I get to share it with you guys anyway.

Enjoy!

From: Cress, 1st draft

Featuring: Cinder, Wolf, Scarlet, and Thorne (who was named Woods in this early draft)

Helpful set-up: As per my note above, this scene didn't really fit anywhere into the story, so it's a little difficult to place in the timeline of what ultimately happened. But, generally speaking – this would have taken place after Wolf and Scarlet joined the crew of the Rampion. Thorne is blind, but Cress is missing... I'm not entirely sure how they got separated from her, or where she is.

Not really important to this scene, but they also didn't yet know who the Lunar Heir was... largely because, in those early drafts, *I* wasn't sure who it was! I had arguments in my head for it being Cinder, Scarlet, or Cress, and had decided to figure it out for sure after the drafts were written.

* * *

*** PLEASE NOTE: I'm calling this scene PG-13, for language and suggestiveness. ***

"You know what this crew needs," said Woods, dragging his spoon through the bowl of oatmeal, topped only with a bit of cinnamon, "is a cook."

Cinder raised her eyebrow at him. His eyes were still unnerving to look at, their utter blankness filled her with pity.

"Well don't look at me," she said, then gasped.

Woods's empty gaze shifted in her direction. "Hardy har har."

"I didn't mean that... I just... Anyway, I used to have to cook for my stepmother when the maid android was broken, and I always hated it. I'm not going to take it up again."

"No, I wasn't meaning you anyway," said Woods. "You're the mechanic. Scarlet is the pilot. I'm the captain. Wolf is... Wolf, but I can't easily imagine him behind a stove." He sighed. "Maybe we can put out an ad or something."