The Final Blog, April 2023

First of all, welcome to the "Final" Blog! Actually, it's the first blog, and don't worry, I only plan to send these out monthly, and it's easy to opt out! 

Based on comments from readers of Final Notice and Final Act, I'm adapting Final Notice as a screenplay. Of course, that’s like trying to win the lottery, but someone always does. 

The screenplay will combine Final Notice and Final Act. Sadly, that means losing a few characters and friends, but I think there's a way to keep Miles! So, the casting couch will be covered in Corgi hair!

To make the casting process more fun, we'll call it the Casting Call Contest, with an opportunity to win one or more $25 Amazon gift certificates.  Each month, I will announce a role in my screenplay that needs to be filled. All you need to do is tell me which actor you think would be best for that role. (Important! Leaving a vote in Comments, as a guest, will leave you unidentified, so, I cannot reward you. Use the "Enter Contest" button below. I will then draw one name from those readers who voted for the winning actor and award that person a $25 Amazon gift voucher.

So, let's get started ...

Meet this month's character. Fittingly, as he was the first character in Final Notice, I've cornered Vince Fuller for an interview, which might be helpful to you as you decide who you'd cast as the actor to play Vince in Final Notice, the movie. 

The rules are simple. The actor should preferably be alive, and their budget demands are of no consequence! Just type in the actor's name and character in the comment box below. (Example: Danny DeVito as Vince Fuller) 

The deadline for receipt of your entry is April 30th. Got it? You can always e-mail me at van@vanfleisher.com. Now, let's get on with the interview!

(Van) "Hey, Vince! Thanks for spending a few minutes with us today. How's it going?"

(Vince) "Better than that first day of Final Notice! I put on a brave face for Miles the next morning, and if I'd had a tail, he would have seen it was not wagging. I was stiff and sore from being knocked down."

(Van) "Well, none of us are getting younger. You and I are about the same age. So let me ask, how do you stay in shape?"

(Vince) "We are? Well, then, you definitely need some advice! As for us characters, staying in shape and even being young is easy. You make us what we are with a few clicks on a keyboard. That's why I'm a character in a book, making peanuts instead of the big bucks in cinema."

(Van) "Thanks. I thought we were friends! So, what were your favorite parts of Final Notice?"

(Vince) "You're being optimistic using a plural for favorite parts. (He laughs.) Apart from going to bed with Trudi and having Miles as a friend, I wasn't happy until page 281, when I picked up the gun! Couldn't wait to even the score with those deadbeats!"

(Van) "So there was more than one favorite part! A number of readers ...)

(Vince interrupts) "Oh good! You had more than one reader?"

(Van) "I'm beginning to wish I hadn't set you up with that hottie, Trudi!" 

(Vince) "Don't you think you did enough to me! I mean, from the very first page ..."

(Van) "Okay, Fair comment. But back to the question I started to ask, more than one reader was impressed with your grasp of technology, but ... given that technology was one of the key drivers of the story, how do you feel about the tremendous speed of technological development?"

(Vince) "I don't have a problem with the growth of technology, but I do have one with the growing, indiscriminate availability of guns. The watch's technology would not have wreaked the havoc it did if we only had knives and baseball bats."

(Van) "Good point. We're approaching the end of our time, so is there anything you'd like to say to our readers before I press post?"

(Vince) "Just to say thanks, Van, to you and your readers for coming along on the Final Notice ride with me, Trudi, Miles, and t

he gang. It's been a twisty and suspenseful journey, and it made me consider life from a different perspective. So, if that was your goal, you succeeded. But if your goal was to get rich ... be serious! But seriously, thanks!"

(Van) Thanks, Vince. And thanks, everyone, for reading ... and good luck to all of you in the Casting Couch Contest! 

Next month Trudi Fuller has accepted my invitation to be interviewed. If you have any questions for her, let me know.

Until next month, Van

Welcome to the FINAL BLOG