Season Four: Episode 89 (14 March 2024)

Moving On is a short story from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story on Tall And True: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/moving-on

Read A Dad and Son Road Trip: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/a-dad-and-son-road-trip

Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads

Buy Robert’s short story collections online:

• Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
• Apple Books:     https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
• Rakuten Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead

Story Insight

Moving On was my December 2023 Furious Fiction entry for the Australian Writers’ Centre‘s monthly 500-word short story writing challenge. The story had to:

• Take place at either an AIRPORT or TRAIN STATION
• Feature an awkward hug
• Include the words EIGHTEEN, EGG and ELEPHANT – longer variations were permissible (did you hear them?).

The Furious Fiction challenge takes place on the first weekend of the month. The Writers’ Centre emails the brief on Friday afternoon, and the deadline is midnight Sunday. That first weekend in December was a disaster for me. 

On our Friday afternoon walk, my over-excited twelve-year-old black lab, Jet, jumped up for a treat, landed poorly, and ruptured his cruciate ligament —  one week before I was due to head off a long-planned road trip with my son from Sydney to Perth to spend Xmas/New Year with our WA family.

I knew the farm stay I’d booked to mind Jet while I was away wouldn’t take him with his cruciate injury. So I spent the weekend exploring short-notice alternatives, including abandoning the road trip with my son or taking Jet with us, neither of which was preferable (or sensible!). And my mind was overloaded with what-ifs, like, “Why didn’t I stop Jet from jumping!?”

Consequently, I couldn’t focus on the TV on Friday night, let alone the Furious Fiction brief. Or so I thought because to relieve the stress, I sat at my laptop with a glass (or two!) of wine and wrote Moving On in one sitting. 

Yes, there were a few edits, especially after much-appreciated suggestions by fellow Furious Fiction writers Richard Gibney and Gav Harris, with whom I shared my early drafts. But the story I wrote on that stress-filled Friday evening is essentially the one I submitted on Sunday.  

Perhaps, like my young protagonist, writing the story was like jumping on a train and leaving behind my woes! 

I hope you enjoyed Hugo’s “moving on” tale. You can read this and my selected short stories, blog posts and other writings at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections, including the latest Tall And True Microfiction anthology from the Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Kobo online bookstores — links are available in the show notes.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be released shortly. In the meantime, please check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from all four seasons, and follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite podcasting app — doing so helps share my storytelling.

You can support the podcast financially by making a small one-off or regular donation via the Acast Supporter Page.

Finally, please share this episode with family and friends and tell them about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website.

PS. I found a dog-loving family to look after Jet while I was away on the road trip with my son. We all had a good time in WA, which helped prepare for the operation and rehab to repair Jet’s knee when I returned home in January. I also wrote a Tall And True blog post about our adventures crossing the continent, A Dad and Son Road Trip.

Podcast Theme and Sound Effects

Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non-Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.

Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0 from FreeSound.org:

• Train Station Ambience/Announcements: https://freesound.org/people/peridactyloptrix/sounds/615660/
• Train Arrives: https://freesound.org/people/Yoyodaman234/sounds/341204/
• Dogs Barking: https://freesound.org/people/Mafon2/sounds/676407/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

Support this show: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Season Four: Episode 88 (29 February 2024)

Finding Inspiration is a blog post from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Trigger warning: This blog post and podcast episode mention teenage self-harm and death. Lifeline Australia: https://www.lifeline.org.au/

Read the post on Tall And True: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/finding-inspiration

Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads

Buy Robert’s short story collections online:

• Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
• Apple Books:     https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
• Rakuten Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead

Story Insight

I wrote the Finding Inspiration blog post in February 2022, eight years after my son wrote his short story about a father who doesn’t have great ideas. Once again, I stress his story is entirely fictional because I had great ideas as a father in 2014 and still do today. And I’ve never made a diaper-changing machine, though that is an idea worth pursuing!

I’ve kept many mementos and journals from my son’s childhood and before I became a father. Some of these have inspired my writings on Tall And True and podcast episodes on Tall And True Short Reads. For instance, uncovering old theatre programs led to episode 78, Taking a Bow, and my travel journals inspired episodes 60, Kurd Friends in the Mountains, and 69 and 70, Two Visits to the Berlin Wall.

I hope you enjoyed this inspiring episode. You can read my blog posts, including Finding Inspiration, selected short stories, and other writings at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy the Tall And True Microfiction anthology and my short story collections from the Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Kobo online bookstores — links are available in the show notes.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be released soon. In the meantime, please check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from all four seasons, and follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite podcasting app — doing so helps share my storytelling.

You can support the podcast financially by making a small one-off or regular donation via the Acast Supporter Page.

Finally, please share this episode with your family and friends and tell them about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website.

Podcast Theme and Sound Effects

Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non-Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.

Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0 from FreeSound.org:

• Cardboard Boxes: https://freesound.org/people/RavenWolfProds/sounds/503661/
• Clock Ticking: https://freesound.org/people/gecop/sounds/522119/
• Ship Horn: https://freesound.org/people/monotraum/sounds/208714/
• Metal File: https://freesound.org/people/14F_Panska_Dittrichova_Diana/sounds/420107/
• Footsteps City: https://freesound.org/people/Rico_Casazza/sounds/538949/
• Police Siren: https://freesound.org/people/conleec/sounds/159744/
• Metal Stairs: https://freesound.org/people/conleec/sounds/148462/
• Applause: https://freesound.org/people/Breviceps/sounds/462362/
• Computer Keyboard: https://freesound.org/people/D4XX/sounds/567266/
• Baby Chuckling: https://freesound.org/people/jodybruchon/sounds/459458/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

Support this show: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Season Four: Episode 87 (15 February 2024)

The Lonely Moon is a short story from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story on Tall And True: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/the-lonely-moon

Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads

Buy Robert’s short story collections online:

• Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
• Apple Books:     https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
• Rakuten Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead

Story Insight

Furious Fiction is a short story writing challenge run by the Australian Writers’ Centre on the first weekend of the month. I have submitted an entry to every Furious Fiction since my first in April 2020 (A Song on the Radio). Except for the October 2023 challenge, when I was in Perth on a whirlwind trip for a family wedding.

To satisfy my Furious Fiction fix, I decided to write an unofficial short story, as I did in 2022 when the challenge briefly moved from monthly to quarterly, using October’s brief and respecting the 55-hour deadline.

However, the following weekend, I was involved in the Voice to Parliament Referendum in Australia and the next, while still in shock from the result, I narrated and released a podcast episode, the last of a three-part story inspired by the Voice campaign, Some Things Change, Episodes 79, 80 and 81 of Tall And True Short Reads.

The first chance I had to write my short story was on the last weekend of October. The Writers’ Centre’s brief was:

• The story had to feature someone looking through a TELESCOPE or BINOCULARS.
• It had to include a five-digit number, e.g. “90210”, “10,000”, etc.
• And the words BLIND, WIND, FIND and MIND (did you hear them in my story?).

The Writers’ Centre also publishes its Furious Fiction showcase on the last weekend of the month. I had planned to include a telescope in my story. But I read the showcased entries and some featured telescopes, and they were good, so I changed tack on my astronomical equipment. And, as astronomers like our narrator will tell you, binoculars are perfect for observing our nearest celestial neighbour in the night sky, the Moon.

As often happens with my Furious Fictions, after labouring on the opening paragraph, The Lonely Moon “wrote itself”. I let my first-person narrator’s conversational words and emotions flow, adding appropriate callbacks, confident I’d know when I’d written the last sentence.

I may sound big-headed, but four years of official and unofficial Furious Fictions have given me confidence in my writing process. That’s why I highly recommend the Writers’ Centre’s monthly challenge to aspiring writers or those like me who crave monthly fixes!

I hope you enjoyed my lunar tale. You can read The Lonely Moon and all my short stories, blog posts and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections, including the latest Tall And True Microfiction anthology, from the Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Kobo online bookstores — links are available in the show notes.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be in your podcast feed soon. In the meantime, please check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from all four seasons, and follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite podcasting app — doing so helps share my storytelling.

You can support the podcast financially by making a small one-off or regular donation via the Acast Supporter Page.

Finally, please share this episode with your family and friends and tell them about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website.

Podcast Theme and Sound Effects

Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non-Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.

Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0 from FreeSound.org:

• Owl Hoots: https://freesound.org/people/Breviceps/sounds/465697/
• Wind: https://freesound.org/people/mario1298/sounds/181248/
• Footsteps: https://freesound.org/people/Yuval/sounds/205817/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads produced using Audacity.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

Support this show: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Season Four: Episode 86 (18 January 2024)

A Knock at the Door is a short story from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story on Tall And True: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/a-knock-at-the-door

Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads

Buy Robert’s short story collections online:

• Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
• Apple Books:     https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
• Rakuten Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead

Story Insight

A Knock at the Door was my November 2023 entry for Furious Fiction, the monthly 500-word short story writing challenge run by the Australian Writers’ Centre. Their brief was:

• The story must be set at a remote house or cabin
• Include three different three-word sentences in a row
• And the words SPACE, KNOCK, WHISTLE, and MYTH (or longer, retaining the original spelling).

SPACE gave me the opening line, a homage to the Alien movie, “In space no one can hear you scream”, and the KNOCK could only be at the front door in the middle of a stormy night. From there, I set about writing my first horror story.

I also wanted another thread to run through the story: Karen’s dissatisfaction with her marriage and Peter’s self-centredness. And for these to combine and leave the knock at the door unexplained and spooky!

Although the Writers’ Centre judges longlisted A Knock at the Door for November’s Furious Fiction, I wanted to change its ending from the moment I submitted the story. In the original version, Peter arrived the next day. There was no sign of Karen’s car (he assumed she’d parked around the side), and the storm had cleared. Feeling pleased with his remote getaway choice for their anniversary, Peter entered the cabin, and the story ended the same as in this version, with Karen missing and a knock at the door.

As I commented in a 2020 blog post about my first Furious Fiction, A Song on the Radio (Episode 4 of Tall And True Short Reads), by its name and nature, the challenge doesn’t afford writers time to reflect on their writing. And returning to share my stories on Tall And True or to narrate them for the Tall And True Short Reads podcast, I’ve always done edits, generally tweaking a word here and there. But in addition to rewriting the ending, A Knock at the Door wins the prize for the most tweaks!  (I’d like to thank Amanda from the Not Quite Write Podcast for suggesting one of the tweaks.)

It’s also the first story where I’ve had the chance to use an adjective I learned reading the fantasy writer Steven Donaldson’s trilogy, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, as a twenty-one-year-old in 1983, “preternatural”. Perfect for describing the dark, stormy night outside the log cabin’s front door!

I’m also proud of the three different, three-word sentences, the mantra Karen taught her adult children when they were young and woke from nightmares, none of which needed tweaking from the original version: Take a breath. Let it out. Don’t be afraid.

I hope you enjoyed my spooky tale. You can read A Knock on the Door and all my short stories, blog posts and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections, including my latest Tall And True Microfiction anthology, from the Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Kobo online bookstores — links are available in the show notes.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, please check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from all four seasons, and follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite podcasting app — doing so helps me share my storytelling.

You can support the podcast financially by making a small one-off or regular donation via the Acast Supporter Page.

Finally, please share this episode with your family and friends and tell them about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website.

Podcast Theme and Sound Effects

Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non-Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.

Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0 from FreeSound.org:

• Door Knock: https://freesound.org/people/anagar/sounds/267931/
• Storm: https://freesound.org/people/2887679652/sounds/164921/
• Car Interior: https://freesound.org/people/devy32/sounds/439252/
• Thunderclap: https://freesound.org/people/Dave%20Welsh/sounds/194364/
• Creaky Door: https://freesound.org/people/deleted_user_7146007/sounds/383816/ 
• Applause: https://freesound.org/people/Breviceps/sounds/462362/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads produced using Audacity.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

Support this show: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Season Four: Episode 85 (22 December 2023)

The Kris Kringle – Xmas 2023 stories first appeared on the Tall And True writers’ website and were written and narrated by Robert Fairhead:

• Too Late, Lenny: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/too-late-lenny
• Stuck in Time: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/stuck-in-time
• Family Reflections: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/family-reflections

Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads

Buy Robert’s short story collections online:

• Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
• Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
• Rakuten Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead

Episode Insight

As I did during a break for Xmas 2022, I’ve put together a Kris Kringle collection featuring three episodes from the Tall And True Short Reads archive:

Too Late, Lenny (Episode 3, 1 October 2020): Between you and me, Lenny, there are more mourners at your funeral with the COVID restrictions than would have been graveside had you died before the pandemic. Streaming it over Zoom helps boost your numbers. Mind you, most of the faces on my computer screen are strangers, or I haven’t seen for ages.

Stuck in Time (Episode 54, 22 June 2022): It’s 1997. I’m fifteen, and Dad’s delivering another lecture on my poor prospects: “If you carry on like this, son, you’ll end up in prison.” I won’t admit it, but he may have a point. Because today, on the drive home after catching me shoplifting again, the local cop issued a “last warning”.

Family Reflections (Episode 73, 9 May 2023): Mum’s up first, though she doesn’t like looking at her reflection nowadays. She splashes her face and turns away from me with a towel. Over her shoulder, I watch Mum gaze out the bathroom window. And when she turns back, Mum’s wearing her pained expression again, like she’s failed to solve the riddle of life.

At the end of each Kringle episode, I’ll explain when, why and how I wrote the story.

I hope you enjoy this year’s “reflective” Kris Kringle collection. You can read all my short stories, blog posts and other writings at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections, including my latest Tall And True Microfiction anthology, from the Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Kobo online bookstores — links are available in the show notes.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be released in the new year. In the meantime, please check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from all four seasons, and follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite app — doing so helps me share my storytelling.

You can support the podcast financially by making a small one-off or regular donation via the Acast Supporter Page.

I hope you have a happy and safe festive season. Please share this Kris Kringle collection with your family and friends, and tell them about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website.

Podcast Theme and Sound Effects

Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non-Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.

Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0from FreeSound.org:

• Santa’s Sleigh Bells: https://freesound.org/people/BrianJamesLong/sounds/330415/

Too Late, Lenny:

• Cafe/Restaurant Ambience: https://freesound.org/people/lunchmoney/sounds/380200/
• Comedy Laughter: https://freesound.org/people/Evil_Ear_Recordings/sounds/524775/
• Hanging Up Phone: https://freesound.org/people/DrNI/sounds/164035/
• Clock Ticking: https://freesound.org/people/FlashTrauma/sounds/398275/

Stuck in Time:

• Clock Ticking: https://freesound.org/people/Julien%20Matthey/sounds/457651/

Family Reflections:

• Door Closing: https://freesound.org/people/soundmary/sounds/117614/
• Washing Face: https://freesound.org/people/lolux/sounds/181355/
• Hairdryer: https://freesound.org/people/ryanharding95/sounds/272446/
• Footsteps in Hall: https://freesound.org/people/Anthousai/sounds/398782/
• Toilet Flushing: https://freesound.org/people/lorenzgillner/sounds/274448/
• Tap Running: https://freesound.org/people/14G_Panska_Kaminkova_A/sounds/419990/
• Banging on Door: https://freesound.org/people/splatbot/sounds/337528/
• Kids Laughing: https://freesound.org/people/Iamgiorgio/sounds/371342/
• Drum Roll: https://freesound.org/people/bigjoedrummer/sounds/77305/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

Support this show: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Season Four: Episode 84 (9 December 2023)

In Her Head is a short story from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story on Tall And True: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/in-her-head

Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads

Buy Robert’s short story collections online:

• Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
• Apple Books:     https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
• Rakuten Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead

Story Insight

I wrote In Her Head for the Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction in July 2023.

The challenge for the competition run by the Not Quite Write podcast was to “create an original piece of fiction based on two typical writing prompts plus one anti-prompt”.

Writers had 60 hours to write and submit 600-word stories, which had to:

• Feature the word RITE – either in full or within a longer word, providing the original spelling was retained
• Include the action of “crossing a line”, though it wasn’t necessary to use the exact wording
• And break the “avoid all adverbs” rule.

I found the prompt to break the rule to “avoid all adverbs” challenging, and I kept confusing adverbs with adjectives.

But the adverbs prompt gave me a huntsman spider with “long hairy legs” and “needle-sharp fangs” for my protagonist, Cassie, to stare at, frozen with fear, on the ceiling over her bed.

Then it occurred to me, what if they had a conversation? Would they speak aloud or in her head? These questions gave me my title, storyline (satisfying the other two criteria), and callback denouement.

And while I may have failed the adverb challenge and my story didn’t win or get longlisted for the prize, I loved writing In Her Head.

I hope you enjoyed my spidery tale. You can read In Her Head and all my short stories, blog posts and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections from the Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Kobo online bookstores — links are available in the show notes.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, please check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from all four seasons, and follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite podcasting app — doing so helps me share my storytelling.

You can support the podcast financially by making a small one-off or regular donation via the Acast Supporter Page.

Finally, please tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website.

Podcast Theme and Sound Effects

Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non-Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.

Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0 from FreeSound.org:

• Owl Hooting: https://freesound.org/people/Breviceps/sounds/465697/
• Morning Birdsong: https://freesound.org/people/rucisko/sounds/241638/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

Support this show: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.