Season One: Episode 8 (30 November 2020)

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

Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/short-stories/splendid-views

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 Splendid Views in August 2020 for Furious Fiction, a monthly short story competition run by the Australian Writers’ Centre. The brief for Furious Fiction August was that the 500-word story had to contain HUMOUR and include the words: DIZZY, EXOTIC, LUMPY, TINY and TWISTED. And a SANDWICH.

Much of my writing contains humour, so I thought this would be the easiest part of the brief. However, I soon discovered the difference between doing something naturally, for instance, writing a humorous scene versus being forced to think about a punchline.

Also, having written four previous Furious Fiction entries in and around lockdown, I wanted to set this story in a more joyous post-COVID time.

Thankfully, the idea of an exotic weekend away in the mountains and “Fawlty Towers” false advertising about splendid views came to my rescue. And it offered me an alternative SANDWICH!

As for the other words from the brief, did you hear them in the story?

I hope you enjoyed Splendid Views. Please subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite listening app. And don’t forget to tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads, The Cruise Ship, will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, check your feed to make sure you haven’t missed any of the earlier episodes.

Podcast Theme and Podcast 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:

• Text message notification: https://freesound.org/people/katjajansen1997/sounds/538006/
• Driving car interior: https://freesound.org/people/devy32/sounds/439252/
• Keys jangling: https://freesound.org/people/anational/sounds/443956/
• Female laughter: https://freesound.org/people/sagetyrtle/sounds/33658/
• Male laughter: https://freesound.org/people/Eneasz/sounds/119459/
• Opening curtains: https://freesound.org/people/BiancaDrey/sounds/543570/
• Australian birds: https://freesound.org/people/mooncubedesign/sounds/402690/
• Restaurant Ambience: https://freesound.org/people/lunchmoney/sounds/380200/
• Bottles chinking: https://freesound.org/people/jawbutch/sounds/344401/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Thanks to Josh (VoiceOverMaster) Meyer for Audacity recording tips and tricks.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the land of the traditional custodians of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

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

Season One: Episode 7 (18 November 2020)

The Dark Web is a short story from TallAndTrue.com, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/short-stories/the-dark-web

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

The Dark Web was my October 2020 entry for Furious Fiction, the Australian Writers’ Centre’s monthly short story writing competition. The rules for October were:

• Each 500-word story had to include someone or something being CAUGHT
• It had to include the words: OBJECT, WOUND, BAND, and ELABORATE
• And the final two words had to be THE MOON.

The final words, THE MOON, set me thinking of space and NASA and conspiracy theories. And this led me to write a story about a man who spends too much time in the dark alternate universes and truths of the internet and not enough time in the real world with his family.

As for the other words, did you “catch” them in the story? If not, listen again and here’s a tip: each is only mentioned once and in the following order: CAUGHT, OBJECT, WOUND, BAND and ELABORATE.

I didn’t win October’s Furious Fiction. But once again, I enjoyed furiously working my imagination around the criteria and writing the short story in 55 hours, albeit a darker one than my previous entries.

I hope you enjoyed The Dark Web. Please subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite listening app. And don’t forget to tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True website.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads, Splendid Views, will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, check your feed to make sure you haven’t missed any of the earlier episodes, Five Meet On Zoom, A Moving Sculpture, Too Late Lenny, A Song on the Radio, The Cat in the Trunk, and A Jittery Journey.

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:

• Glass bottle chink: https://freesound.org/people/LampEight/sounds/259671/
• Woman laughing: https://freesound.org/people/sagetyrtle/sounds/33658/
• Quarrelling voices: https://freesound.org/people/therover/sounds/463804/
• Pouring liquid: https://freesound.org/people/FillSoko/sounds/257957/
• Sipping drink: https://freesound.org/people/Sheyvan/sounds/471078/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Thanks to Josh (VoiceOverMaster) Meyer for Audacity recording tips and tricks.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the land of the traditional custodians of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

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

Season One: Episode 6 (9 November 2020)

A Jittery Journey is a short story from TallAndTrue.com, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/short-stories/a-jittery-journey

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 A Jittery Journey for the Australian Writers’ Centre’s monthly 500-word short story competition, Furious Fiction, in June 2020. The FIRST and LAST WORDS of the story had to begin with a “J”, and it had to include a GAME BEING PLAYED, and the phrase MISSED THE BOAT.

A crossword puzzle provided me with the perfect device for my first and last words and the game. And I used our jittery COVID-times to tell the journey of an older person living alone under lockdown, while the neighbours argue. As for missing the boat, who wouldn’t wish they’d missed boarding a “COVID Princess” cruise ship?

Once again, I didn’t win or make the short or long lists for Furious Fiction. But I enjoyed the challenge of writing my short story in the 55-hour deadline. And I took great comfort in the knowledge June’s winning entry also featured a crossword.

I hope you enjoyed A Jittery Journey. Please subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite listening app. And don’t forget to tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True website.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads, The Dark Web, will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, check your feed to make sure you haven’t missed any of the earlier episodes, Five Meet On Zoom, A Moving Sculpture, Too Late Lenny, A Song on the Radio and The Cat in the Trunk.

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.

• Background TV: https://freesound.org/people/o_ciz/sounds/475477/
• Quarrelling in street and slammed door: https://freesound.org/people/therover/sounds/463804/
• Angry man: https://freesound.org/people/rachyray/sounds/273710/
• Pouring brandy: https://freesound.org/people/FillSoko/sounds/257957/
• Glass bottle: https://freesound.org/people/LampEight/sounds/259671/
• Sips: https://freesound.org/people/Sheyvan/sounds/471078/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Thanks to Josh (VoiceOverMaster) Meyer for Audacity recording tips and tricks.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the land of the traditional custodians of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

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

 Season One: Episode 5 (26 October 2020)

The Cat in the Trunk is a short story from TallAndTrue.com, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/childrens/example-writing-the-cat-in-the-trunk.

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 Cat in the Trunk for a writing competition in England in the early 1990s. The short story had to be 2000-3000 words long and based on the theme Curiosity Saved the Cat.

I was (and remain) fascinated by the possibilities of space-time travel, whether it be real-world, hypothetical or the stuff of dreams. Looking at my original notes, I borrowed the old travel trunk from another plot idea. In that one, the boy was transported to different places by polishing its exotic stickers. He cleaned the dust off a sphinx sticker, hopped in the trunk and ended up in Cairo.

For The Cat in the Trunk, I added Stevie’s arguing parents, the gangsters and, of course, the curious cat. And though I left the dusty stickers on the trunk, they no longer set the travel destination.

Did Stevie dream about Jerry and Daphne after watching the old movie on TV? Or did he travel inside the trunk to the gangster’s hotel room, in the same way as Tom-Tom had escaped to the shed? I’ll leave that to your imagination.

I hope you enjoyed The Cat in the Trunk as much as Stevie enjoyed finding Tom-Tom in it. Please subscribe and rate and review the podcast via your favourite listening app. And don’t forget to tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True website.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads, A Jittery Journey, will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, check your feed to make sure you haven’t missed any of the earlier episodes, Five Meet On Zoom, A Moving Sculpture, Too Late Lenny and A Song on the Radio.

Podcast Theme and Sound Effects

Royalty-free music from Pixabay.org: 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:

• TV on in Background: https://freesound.org/people/o_ciz/sounds/475477/
• Door Slammed: https://freesound.org/people/TiesWijnen/sounds/455540/
• TV Switch: https://freesound.org/people/EricsSoundschmiede/sounds/457410/
• Footsteps on Gravel: https://freesound.org/people/jedg/sounds/505831/
• “Shut-up”: https://freesound.org/people/rachyray/sounds/273710/
• Clunk/Thrown Tools: https://freesound.org/people/REACTORFACTORY/sounds/531831/
• Cat Meowing: https://freesound.org/people/UncleSigmund/sounds/246037/
• Loud Voices: https://freesound.org/people/PhonosUPF/sounds/488163/
• Trunk Lock: https://freesound.org/people/xyzr_kx/sounds/156649/
• Trunk Opening: https://freesound.org/people/toefur/sounds/280237/
• Cat Purring: https://freesound.org/people/tosha73/sounds/512223/
• Creaky Door: https://freesound.org/people/deleted_user_7146007/sounds/383816/
• Sneezes: https://freesound.org/people/macohibs/sounds/539224/
• Car Horns: https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/479995/
• Kick/Drop Trunk: https://freesound.org/people/myluckyfeet/sounds/251648/
• Lit Match: https://freesound.org/people/magnuswaker/sounds/522166/
• Open/Close/Lock Door: https://freesound.org/people/sgcardinal/sounds/395753/
• Footsteps on Wooden Floor: https://freesound.org/people/Anthousai/sounds/398782/
• Pouring Water Into Glass: https://freesound.org/people/FillSoko/sounds/257957/
• Gulps of Water: https://freesound.org/people/Wizage/sounds/418853/
• Sips of Water: https://freesound.org/people/Sheyvan/sounds/471078/
• Door Knock: https://freesound.org/people/anagar/sounds/267931/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Thanks to Josh (VoiceOverMaster) Meyer for Audacity recording tips and tricks.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the land of the traditional custodians of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

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

Season One: Episode 4 (11 October 2020)

A Song on the Radio is a short story from TallAndTrue.com, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Copyright notice: Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown, recorded by Tony Orlando and Dawn, released February 1973.

Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/short-stories/a-song-on-the-radio

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 A Song on the Radio in April 2020 for Furious Fiction, a monthly 500-word short story competition run by the Australian Writers’ Centre. The brief for April’s story was that it had to begin on THE SIDE OF A ROAD, and include a SPLASH and the words APRON, PIGMENT, RIBBON, ICON, and LEMON, the first letters of which spell, April.

A Song on the Radio was my first attempt at Furious Fiction and it was timely because it coincided with the first full weekend of COVID-19 lockdown in Australia. As I later wrote in a Tall And True blog post on the experience, I typed in the brief and stared at it on my otherwise blank computer screen. It felt like a Rorschach test, only with words instead of inkblots. But slowly my writer’s eye discerned shapes in the random pattern:

A car pulls up and parks on THE SIDE OF A ROAD, near a beach. There is the SPLASH of waves on the shoreline. And a bottle of Tequila, with salt and a LEMON (lick, sip, suck). An APRON is spread on the sand. And, of course, harking back to a song on the radio from my youth, there’s a yellow RIBBON, tied around an old oak tree.

A pattern was forming, but who could I weave it around? The Tie a Yellow Ribbon song suggested characters and a storyline. A recently released prisoner, Elliot. In my story, Elliot’s been in and out of jail and is now working as a kitchen hand (hence the apron). And the Yellow Ribbon love interest? Gail, whom Elliot met in rehab between stretches in jail.

As for the remaining words in April’s brief, age spots mark the skin PIGMENT of Elliot’s hand, above the Tequila salt lick. And he lost contact with Gail during his last long stretch in jail, because as I wrote, “Life stands still on the inside, but not on the outside.” Every morning Elliot checks his phone’s message app ICON, hoping to see an overnight response to his calls and texts. But he knows life’s not a song on the radio.

I hope you enjoyed A Song on the Radio as much as I enjoyed writing it for Furious Fiction. Please subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite listening app. And don’t forget to tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True website.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads, The Cat in the Trunk, will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, check your feed to make sure you haven’t missed any of the earlier episodes.

Note: In the original Furious Fiction version, I quoted Tie a Yellow Ribbon lyrics in the parts where Elliot sings along with the song. I was concerned about the copyright implications of this in the podcast (and potentially in the story), so I changed Elliot’s “sing-alongs” and made them “reflective conversations” with himself and Gail. But hopefully, the underlying references and homage to Tie a Yellow Ribbon still come through, like a song on the radio.

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.

• Car Parking: https://freesound.org/people/ARCHIVES84/sounds/508891/
• Car Door: https://freesound.org/people/oscaraudiogeek/sounds/333281/
• Seagulls: https://freesound.org/people/plantmonkey/sounds/377107/
• Waves: https://freesound.org/people/amholma/sounds/376802/
• Gulps: https://freesound.org/people/Wizage/sounds/418853/
• Splash: https://freesound.org/people/swordofkings128/sounds/398032/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Thanks to Josh (VoiceOverMaster) Meyer for Audacity recording tips and tricks.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the land of the traditional custodians of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

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

Season One: Episode 3 (1 October 2020)

Too Late, Lenny is a short story from TallAndTrue.com, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/short-stories/too-late-lenny

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 Too Late, Lenny in July 2020 for Furious Fiction, a monthly 500-word short story competition run by the Australian Writers’ Centre. The brief for July’s Furious Fiction was that the story had to take place at either a WEDDING or a FUNERAL, something had to be CUT, and it had to include the words OVER, BETWEEN, and UNDER.

I set Too Late, Lenny at Lenny’s FUNERAL. Due to COVID restrictions, his funeral is streamed OVER Zoom. Our narrator, Bob, tells the tale, “BETWEEN you and me”, of his friendship with Lenny, how it had been CUT and rekindled. And the story ends with Bob watching Lenny’s coffin lowered “six-feet UNDER” via Zoom.

I didn’t win Furious Fiction July, but I thoroughly enjoyed writing Too Late, Lenny. However, when I shared it on Tall And True, I changed the narrative slightly. Bob’s still our first-person narrator, but in the original version, he only addresses the reader. Revisiting the story, I thought it sounded better for Bob to speak to his old friend Lenny in the opening and closing paragraphs.

I hope you enjoyed Too Late, Lenny. Please subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite listening app. And don’t forget to tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True website.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads, A Song on the Radio, will be in your podcast feed shortly.

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.

• Clock Ticking: https://freesound.org/people/FlashTrauma/sounds/398275/
• 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/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity. Thanks to Josh (VoiceOverMaster) Meyer for Audacity recording tips and tricks.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the land of the traditional custodians of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

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