Since Keith Channing is off doing NaNoMo stuff, I decided to do a finger prompt. This is where I grab a book and randomly open it and point to a page without looking. Today’s book is Eternal Road – The last stop by that bon vivant, internally acclaimed, and humble author John W. Howell. The page is 141, and the word closest to my finger is Bugs Bunny. Here we go.
Bugs Bunny by John W. Howell © 2021
“Who are you meeting with today?”
“The head of a major film studio.”
“Why?”
“They have some interest in doing a movie using one of my books.”
“Wow, that’s great. Which one?”
“I never heard of it.”
“What?”
“I never heard of the studio,”
“I mean, which book?”
“Oh, they didn’t say. They just said we should take a meeting and figure out the details.”
“Okay, this sounds strange.”
“Why?”
“I never heard of a studio just inviting an author to come in and discuss making a movie unless he’s Matthew McConaughey.”
“There is always the first time.”
“Did you call them?”
“No, I got an email and was told to call a number.”
“So you called.”
“Yup, and the studio head got right on.”
“Well, what can I say? Make sure you get a contract.”
“They said we would sign it after the option money is paid.”
“That’s odd. You usually sign the contract before the option money is paid.”
“I guess they handle it differently. So nice that they will take my check.”
“Wait a minute. You are paying them.”
“Yeah. Only thirteen hundred dollars, and they will do all the work.”
“What work?”
“Getting the pitch deck together, media kit, bio video, and trailer.”
“This sounds a lot like what an agent does for no money as part of their job. This doesn’t sound like a studio. You use all those things to get a studio to buy the option rights.”
“Oh. Maybe I misunderstood about the studio,”
“Yeah, maybe. What was the guy’s name you talked to?”
“Mr. Bunny.”
“Mr. Bunny?”
“He said I could call him Bugs.”
“You haven’t sent any money yet, have you?”
“No.”
“Good. Cancel the meeting.”
“Why?”
“You do know that Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character, right?”
“This guy sounded real.”
“Please shoot me in the face.”
Fiction Favorites 
Hahaha. Nice one, John.
I’m in mourning at the moment. One of the characters in my WIP has died, the autopsy couldn’t establish a cause of death (the doctor said he just stopped living) and now the bunch of aliens who found him want to do their own autopsy on the basis that he died in their domain!
Just so you don’t think I’m having an easy time of it.
On the plus side, I have written more than 18300 words so far.
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I’m glad to hear that NaNoWriMo is going well for you, Keith! (Except for the death part, of course.)
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Thanks, Liz. It’s a trial – somehow, I have to deal with the legal, moral and religious ramifications of handing a body for examination to a group of aliens who may (or may not) be technologically and intellectually up to it, but whose religious and moral base we don’t know and who, for goodness’ sake can’t speak a word of English!
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And I’ve been feeling sorry for myself because I need to figure out how to have someone abandon a farm in a believable manner!
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If the statistics are anything to go by, the collapse of the market and absence of government assistance is behind a large number of suicides amongst farmers in this part of the world.
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This is something that’s going on in Britain currently?
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I just googled suicide rate among farmers uk. It has been quite bad., but it looks bad in a number of countries. My first search showed up nothing but India.
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I’m very sorry to hear that. I wonder if farmers are being affected by all of the manufactured food-like substances that are produced in lieu of actual food.
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That may be part of it, although I think in many areas prices at the farm gate are depressed by the price-wars supermarkets engage in, as well as the insistence of many of them on visually perfect fruit and vegetables to make their displays prettier. Small farmers can’t hope to compete with the massive agribusinesses that dominate some markets, and when trade deals are struck that allow the easy importation of meat produced cheaply and at lower standards of accountability and animal welfare than are required of domestic producers, they are constantly undercut and forced to sell their product at a loss. Add in the effects of climate change on crop cycles and I, for one, wouldn’t want to be in that business.
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You’re right. Agribusiness killed the family farms in northern New England several decades ago.
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Are you paying attention to your writing or researching?
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or neither, or both? 😀
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😁
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But smeone has to do it.
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😊
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You are doing well. BTW youare not supposed to have an easy time of it. 😁
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😖
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😁
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😱😂🤣😂
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Thank you, Chris. 😁
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Why do I think there’s a real scam like this out there?
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Because there is. 😁
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LOL! Only you would get your finger on Bugs Bunny! Good one, John.
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Thanks, Jill. I relly didn’t know what I was going to do with it so I just started writing. 😁
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Great story, John. There are a few folks out there that walk and talk like they are real and promise all kinds of stuff, but something tells me they’re up to no good. At least Bugs can offer a smile. 😁
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I think Bugs always brings a smile. Thank you, Gwen. 😊
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hahaha, that guy knows when he’s talking to an idiot, eh? Too bad all scams don’t at least offer a good laugh!
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So true, GP. After the dust clears and the money is gone, laughs should remain. 😁
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I think you need to team up with Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam and o after that variant, John.
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Yeah those guys have guns. (unless woke cartoonist took them away)
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You can’t hunt wabbit without a gun.
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True.
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Ugh. – “go after that varmint”
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You are right , Dan. Thanks.
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At least he got one without a speech impediment. Dealing with Porky might have taken a while.
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Haha! Good one, Craig!
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Expecially on the words moving picture. 😁
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So Bugs is running scams now? I’d have guessed Daffy in a heartbeat. Really good stuff, John.
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Thank you, Staci. 😁
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I love inspired silliness first thing in the morning!
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You’ve come to the right place then. 😁 Thanks, Liz.
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You’re welcome, John. 😀
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I wonder if Bugs is behind those texts about my debit card being blocked….
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He might be. Of course, this Bugs Bunny is an imposter.
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Of course!
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😁
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Wascally wabbit! 🙂
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🤣
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Of all the places you could go with Bugs Bunny, this is definitely not one I would have expected! I love how you surprise me each and every time!
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I’m always happy when I hear that you are surprised. Thanks, Dale.
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You just keep doing what you’re doing 😉
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Okay I will. You keep telling me when you get surprised.
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You betcha!
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😊
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🙂
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Good one, John! I read your finger prompt for a hint as to how you imagined this one, but I got no clue. Love how you can take a word and spin a story around it. Best of luck to Keith on his NaNo — I’ve never geared up for that and probably never will, as this is just the busiest time of year to hole up and ignore life while I write!
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I’m not one for the sprint writing. Maybe my attention span isn’t good enough. Thanks, Debbie. 😁
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Ha!Ha! I am seriously laughing out loud. Fantastic, John (the internally acclaimed author). 🙂
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Well someone in Canada said they liked my headshot shirt.
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Definitely run if you have a meeting with Bugs Bunny and have to pay for it 🙂
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I would say with great haste.
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He is famous. He is the new national spokesman for ED. Something about his line “What’s up Doc ?’
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Everywhere there’s a new scam around the corner. Good lesson, John!
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True enough. Thanks, Pete
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He called me. Nice guy. Sounded like he needed some dental work.
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Same for me.
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Wait one minute . . . was his accountant Elmer Fudd?
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The very same. 😁
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Call him Bugs. That’s when the belly laughing kicked in.
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Good to hear, Jennie. 😁
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Omg! This is so funny, John! One of your best! Thanks for laughter!
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Thank you, Lauren.
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This is hilarious! But this sounds so bloody relatable, i can’t decide whether I should laugh or cry..
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Depends on if you got caught in the scam or not. Thanks for the lovely comment. 😁
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Thank God it hasn’t happened to me. Yet. But I know somebody who got scammed in a pretty similar fashion 🤦🏻♀️
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I will be doing a post on it for Story Empire.
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Sounds more like a Yosemite Sam scam. 😂😂So cute, John. Hey, I might trust Bugs too.
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Hahaha. Thanks, Cheryl.
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