Today's Chat with Sarah features Van Fleisher author of Final Notice and the sequel Final Act.
To view the official review for Final Notice, click here.
To view Final Act on the bookshelves, click here.
To view the author page, click here.
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1. What made you decide to write a book?
At 72 years old, I decided to retire from my management consulting job. I traveled constantly to over 30 countries around the world. I woke up the next day and asked myself what I would do with all my spare time and decided that writing a book could be fun.
I also had a current social message that I wanted to highlight – lack of gun control.
2. What does it look like when you write? What's your environment? Schedule?
Well, today, and for a good part of the year I’m sitting outside on our porch, looking out at a cornucopia of flowers, shrubs and trees. The birds chirp and the butterflies float by. I live on the California coast outside of Santa Barbara, so the weather is pretty amazing. Schedule? I’m retired. But seriously, I’m pretty flexible. Usually mornings but sometimes evenings if I’m caught up in a creative moment.
3. What's been the most enjoyable part of the writing process?
Writing fiction is fun because you can make it up. I do a lot of research, however, so much of the situation and environment is based on fact. I have a pretty strong sense of humor so I can get carried away in a Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Saturday Night Live sort of way. And then reel some of it back in when I realize that I’ve gone too far.
The other really fun part is when readers enjoy my books. I’ve had a lot of fun on the days my books have been OBC Books of the Day, writing notes back to readers who have posted comments, even when they were not complimentary.
4. Let's talk about Final Notice. It's based around a watch that's able to predict when you will die. How did you come up with the idea?
There were two main components for the idea. The first was inspired by my father. He was of the “Greatest” generation. Went off and fought in WW2, shot down, captured and spent 16 months in a German prisoner of war camp. Came home, raised a family, worked hard, started a business and then he retired. Almost immediately he felt useless and more importantly, he felt he was irrelevant. People ignored him or even insulted him if he walked or drove slowly.
The second input was that I have been a runner for a good part of my life, and I was first in line for the newest tracking gadget to record my times and distances. So, I imagined a watch that would tell you when you were near death, and given our country’s easy access to guns, if an older person received their Final Notice, and someone wronged them, they could blow them away with impunity. But my thought was that as more and more old people killed others, people would learn to be nice to older people, out of fear at first, but as behaviors changed, it would become more natural to respect elders.
5. Were any of the characters based off people you know?
I’ve been told that Vince, Trudi and Miles (the corgi) are based on me, my partner and our dog. There’s some truth in that. I was a management consultant, my partner is a singer-songwriter, and our corgi was called Miles.
As any of my readers know, many of the politicians were based on real characterizations.
6. Was there a scene that was particularly hard to write?
In this book, not so much (although some of my readers would argue that point!)
7. Can you tell us a bit about the sequel, Final Act?
Final Act is book 2 of the Final Trilogy. In Final Notice the overarching question was “what would you do if you knew you had X days to live?” In Final Act, the question is “what would others do if they knew that you had X days to live?” It’s political but more importantly it’s a tribute to strong women. Two main protagonists are LGBT. It’s also very timely, given the countdown to an election.
8. How many books in total are you planning?
Certainly, the third of the Trilogy, so that it really is a trilogy. And it’s sci-fi as it’s 50 years into the future. I have another very different book planned after that – romance. And then I’m thinking about a longer series so that I can really get into the main character(s) head.
I like to end on some fun questions.
9. What would you do if you found out you only had a week to live?
I guess I had that coming. If I thought I could actually do it – both practically and then pulling the trigger – there are a couple of people I’d like to take out. But that’s with my fiction-writer hat on. (A black one.) Realistically, I would bring my daughters, grandchildren and as many friends as possible, together, for a week-long party.
10. If you could pick how you died, what would it be?
First choice is dying in my sleep while in apparent good health. Second choice, and airplane crash that starts at 35,000 feet. I’ve often wondered what I’d do or think about in that situation.
11. What's your favorite food?
Sandwiches and pizza unless I’m in France. Then I’d add grilled magret d’canard.
12. What season is your favorite and why?
Summer and Autumn. I like being outdoors and while I love snow, I don’t love rain except for the fact that plants and trees need it.
