Sept 1, 2025
Share the funniest scene you’ve written.
Alternatively, the scariest scene.
I don’t write funny. What I write are humorous moments in the middle of serious business. And Harmony Duprie, my favorite ex-librarian turned internet researcher, is the perfect character for this.
Harmony is an intelligent woman who sometimes suffers from an occasionally lack of common sense. Her logic doesn’t always work the same way as everyone else’s. That results in unexpected fun and adventures.
Here’s the setup for my selection: Eli Hennessey, Harmony’s longtime boss/lover/partner, has been hospitalized for several months after a serious injury. She’s been trying to track down the person responsible for causing the auto accident. In this scene, she’s discovered an intruder in his room, holding him and two others hostage. Harmony is determined to upend the situation.
I gathered my weapons. The paperback book. The mirror. My purse. If I rushed into the room, there’d be additional items to grab. This wasn’t a precision operation.
But I wanted to start with a message.
I fought to pull off the chain around my neck with one hand. If I threw the dog tags to the right spot, Eli would see them and know I was there. Small enough comfort, but a ray of hope.
The bedframe was my initial target. I didn’t wait for the clang of metal against metal to tell me if my aim had been good. The paperback, thrown in Eli’s general direction, followed the dog tags. Next, the mirror and my purse.
By then, I was halfway into the room. I grabbed the closest stuffed animal and hurled it at the attacker’s head. Instinctively, he raised his right hand—his gun hand—to fend it off. He knocked it away, and it hit the floor and started singing ‘It’s a Small World.’
from ‘The Ranger’s Dog Tags’
On the face of it, it isn’t funny.
But when I imagine my slim, 30-something, glasses-wearing, brown hair in a bun, heroine facing down an unknown opponent, wielding nothing more than a stuffed animal, it makes me smile.
By the way, the stuffed animal makes another appearance in a conversation between Harmony and Eli..
“The minute my dog tags came flying through the door, I knew you were here. And when you followed them, I thought I was in a dream. Or a nightmare. But never tell my mother you used her latest stuffed animal as a weapon.”
“I hope that song haunts him for the rest of his life.”
“You should ask your cop friend to have it piped into his cell on a continuous loop.”
I grinned. “Tempting. But wouldn’t that fall under cruel and unusual punishment?”
“He’d deserve every minute.”
The whole book was fun (but tough) to write, but this scene is one of my favorites. (Obligatory self-promotion: You can find out more about The Ranger’s Dog Tags at https://www.pjmaclayne.com/?page_id=6458.
I’m looking forward to reading the excerpts from out other authors. You can find them at the links below.
As always, until next time, please stay safe!
Sept 1, 2025
Share the funniest scene you’ve written. Alternatively, the scariest scene.
