Very short scene

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Engaging. Human. And genuinely funny. Good stuff.

Glad to learn your actor followed, I think Interference, or was it Ursa's suggestion to investigate voice acting as a source of income ...
 
I really like that Mouse (think I read an earlier excerpt or question about the police thing that comes before this), and this next bit IS meant as a compliment honest, I especially like how it doesn't read like Sci-fi/Fantasy...

I try to write my scripts as a drama script WITH a few telepaths in it, as oppose to star wars set on Earth, and this reads like comedy/drama with sci-fi elements, and it works really, really, well as that, and is pretty much faultless in my eyes (although someone who's more prose-focused might pick up on tense and comma splices that I never notice)...

As for your main character, he comes across more like an arrogant Stephen Mangan than Tony Blair as a jobbing actor, and in my head as I was reading it THAT was who was playing him :)

Congrats on the milestone by the way, the big four-oh-oh-oh...


Jammill
 
Ok, it's my 4,000th post.

Wow! Congratulations on 4000 -- that is truly impressive!

Mouse said:
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Ambrose had given the police his full cooperation in the investigation of the murder of Justin Pinkerton. I might say "of Justin Pinkerton's murder" to avoid the extra "of".He had been, they informed him, most helpful and he knew that when the murderer was caught it would largely be because of his help. involvement? assistance? role or the role he played? (although possibly confusing because he's an actor)He wondered if he could add it to his CV: ‘Bringer of Justice.’ Or maybe simply: ‘Hero.’

He smiled to himself and shook his head. Hero was a little OTT, Does everybody know what OTT means? And while I'm at it, what the heck does it mean, anyway, she asks, blushing.if he was ever to write a CV he should sound modest; he was, after all, a modest kind of guy. Bringer of Justice would cover it.

He opened the email Celia had sent him and read it through twice, just to make sure he’d got everything. He looked over the laptop to Jenn, who sat on his sofa reading a book. Since it was safe to return home (according to the police, at least), he had moved both Jenn and Mercer into his house - deciding that Mercer’s flat was too small, too dark and too dirty, and the hotel was too far away and going to fetch Jenn every day was a pain in the arse. Agree, I like TJ's version of this sentence.

“She wants me to do some voice acting,” he said.

Jenn didn’t look up from her book. She turned a page and said, “That’s nice.”

“It’s more than nice,” he replied. “It’s brilliant. It means I’ll have some money coming in again. Have you any idea how much my electricity bill is now that I’ve got you two here? A lot more than when it was just me, let me tell you. And, in case you didn’t know, voice acting means I don’t have to touch anyone.”

Jenn folded the corner of the page and put the book down by her side. “Celia’s got you a job?”

“Yes, Celia’s got me a job.” He wondered if he was just talking to himself half the time. “Voice acting.”

“You’ve been able to touch me for a week now and you’ve not passed out once.”

Ambrose turned back to his laptop and tapped out a reply for Celia. “What we do isn’t touching,” he said. “It’s more like vague skin contact. When one is acting, one has to touch. Properly. With tongues sometimes.” He closed the laptop. “When do you have to go home?”Agree with someone above, this is confusing. Isn't she living there now?

“Whenever I like,” she replied. “It’s not like I have a job to go back to.”

“You’ve been fired?”

“Yeah.”

“Since when?”

“I told you yesterday! My boss rang yesterday morning.”Maybe only one yesterday, as "I told you -- my boss rang yesterday morning!"

Ambrose couldn’t remember, though when he’d touched Jenn he’d felt a strange resignation. “Oh,” he said. “You didn’t want to be a housekeeper forever anyway.”

“I didn’t,” she said, getting to her feet. “But now I can’t afford to pay my rent or my bills or… anything. I can’t afford anything.” She snatched her book off the sofa and left the room.

He sat for a moment, thinking. Then he ran a hand through his hair, opened the laptop and started a new message to Celia. Jenn was right. He was too good for voice acting.
Did she say that somewhere, or is it just that he really isn't paying any attention to what she says, and she must agree with him, therefore he agrees with her?
 
Thanks Jammill. Steven Mangan, I'll take that over Tony Blair!

Thanks TDZ. No, she didn't say it at all. She didn't even imply it, not really. Ambrose hears what he wants to hear. So her line: "You’ve been able to touch me for a week now and you’ve not passed out once" means exactly what it says to us and to her, but to Ambrose it means 'you're too good for voice acting.' (Basically 'you can touch me so you can do normal acting.')

I have indeed taken TJ's version of that para, so all good there.

OTT - over the top. ;)

And the living arrangements will make way more sense in context. This is just a small snippet. She's on holiday, staying in a hotel (though later stays with Ambrose).
 
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