Season Three: Episode 65 (22 December 2022)

The Kris Kringle stories in this collection first appeared on the Tall And True writers’ website and were written and narrated by Robert Fairhead:

• The Gift: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/short-stories/the-gift.
• The Special Tree: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/short-stories/the-special-tree
• The Spirit of Xmas: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/the-spirit-of-xmas

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

I’m taking a short break from writing and podcasting over the Xmas/New Year holiday period. But as a special treat for podcast listeners, I’ve put together a Kris Kringle collection featuring three “festive” episodes from the Tall And True Short Reads archive:

The Gift was my short story for the Australian Writers’ Centre’s December 2020 Furious Fiction writing competition, and it had to include a GIFT of some kind. While I didn’t opt for a cliched Xmas theme, the story proved to be an early Xmas “gift” for me as it was one of the most fully formed I’ve devised and written, submitting it 12 hours before the competition’s midnight deadline.

The Special Tree was my December 2021 entry for Furious Fiction. Part of the brief was the story had to include a TREE and, once again, the temptation was to fashion a festive season scenario. As with The Gift, however, I wrote a short story that had nothing to do with Xmas or Xmas trees. And instead, I drew on my boyhood experience of climbing trees for the protagonist and plot.

The Spirit of Xmas is a blog post I shared after spending Xmas 2019 with my West Australian family in Margaret River, south of Perth. Unfortunately, COVID and state border closures meant I couldn’t return to WA for another three years. And I released this episode in January 2022, dedicating it to my family and other families who spent Xmas 2021 separated or alone due to COVID.

At the end of each Kris Kringle story is an expanded explanation of when, why and how I wrote it.

I hope you enjoy this collection. You can read all my short stories, blog posts and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story ebooks, Both Sides of the Story, Twelve Furious Months and Twelve More Furious Months, from the Amazon Kindle 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, check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from Seasons One, Two and Three.

And follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite app — doing so helps me share my stories with other listeners.

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

And 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:

• Santa’s sleigh bells: https://freesound.org/people/BrianJamesLong/sounds/330415/
• Male laughter: https://freesound.org/people/Eneasz/sounds/119459/
• Female laughter: https://freesound.org/people/sagetyrtle/sounds/33658/
• Party background: https://freesound.org/people/dbspin/sounds/396684/
• Footsteps: https://freesound.org/people/Anthousai/sounds/398782/
• Champagne cork: https://freesound.org/people/ultradust/sounds/166923/
• Clock ticking-alarm: https://freesound.org/people/gecop/sounds/522119/
• Door closing: https://freesound.org/people/sgcardinal/sounds/395753/
• Bird song: https://freesound.org/people/ken788/sounds/386732/
• Computer keyboard: https://freesound.org/people/D4XX/sounds/567266/
• Slammed door: https://freesound.org/people/TiesWijnen/sounds/455540/
• Chainsaw: https://freesound.org/people/piwilliwillski/sounds/548411/

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 Three: Episode 64 (12 December 2022)

Memories and Imagination is a memoir piece from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the piece: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/nonfiction/biography-memoir/memories-and-imagination

Link to my #5YearOldSelfie tweet on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tallandtrue/status/1159625729455222784

Young Minds UK: https://www.youngminds.org.uk/

John Banville: http://john-banville.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

I wrote Memories and Imagination in August 2019, inspired by the hashtag #5YearOldSelfie challenge on social media. And the “Memory is imagination, and imagination is memory” quote by Irish author John Banville, whose 2005 Booker Prize-winning novel, The Sea, I’d just read.

As I admitted in the piece, I invoked a writer’s licence for the challenge. For a start, I didn’t “tag three friends to help spread the love” on social media. And in the photo posted, I was closer to four than five. But unlike my son and his generation, born and raised in the digital age, I don’t have hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of photos of the younger me.

The three things I told the child in the photo, however, were from the heart:

• Don’t cry, you’re not the only one in the world whose parents have separated.
• Tomatoes and peas aren’t that yucky, but you’re right about Brussels sprouts.
• And save up your pocket money and buy Apple shares.

And sorry, Mum, I didn’t imagine the guinea pig. I remember having one when I was five.

I hope you enjoyed my memories and imagination. You can read this memoir piece and all my short stories, blog posts and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections, including my latest collection, Twelve More Furious Months, from the Amazon Kindle 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, check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from Seasons One, Two and Three.

And follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite app — doing so helps other listeners find my writing.

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

And 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:

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

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 Three: Episode 62 (8 November 2022)

Timeline Memories 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/timeline-memories

Blog Post with photo of Jet: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/introducing-tall-and-true-short-reads

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 Timeline Memories in July 2022 as my entry for The Big Issue’s September 2022 Fiction Edition. The magazine received more than 900 short stories and selected 12 for publication. Unfortunately (for me), mine was not one of them, but I enjoyed the writing process.

The story draws on parts of my life — I post to Facebook, my son’s grown up, and I have a rescue dog — and pure imagination — I’ve never been to a toga party.

I suspect older parents (like me) will recognise the melancholy felt by my main character scrolling through his family posts. And dog lovers (also like me) know the comfort of having a dog on a mat beside your chair. And if you read my September 2020 blog post introducing the Tall And True Short Read podcast on the Tall And True website, you’ll see a photo of my rescue dog, Jet, on his mat beside my desk.

I hope you enjoyed my melancholic tale. You can read Timeline Memories and all my short stories, blog posts and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections, including my latest collection, Twelve More Furious Months, from the Amazon Kindle 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, check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from Seasons One, Two and Three.

And follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite app — doing so helps other listeners find my writing.

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

And 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:

• Post Notification: https://freesound.org/people/yfjesse/sounds/235911/
• Background TV: https://freesound.org/people/o_ciz/sounds/475477/
• Roller Coaster: https://freesound.org/people/tec_studio/sounds/98181/
• Dog Barking: https://freesound.org/people/16FVolejnikovaA/sounds/498394/
• Dog Tail Wagging: https://freesound.org/people/tallandtrue/sounds/657779/

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 Three: Episode 61 (16 October 2022)

Council Clean-ups and Recycling is a blog post from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the post: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/council-cleanups-and-recycling

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

I wrote Council Clean-ups and Recycling after a fine Sunday in October 2020. And if you visit the blog post on the Tall And True website, you’ll see photos of my neatly arranged pile on the verge, my son’s 2017 haul, including the drill press, and the books I rescued in 2020.

Although the mature, middle-aged me is less of a “Magpie” than my son nowadays, I still feel the thrill of discovery when I come across a box of books and have added to my bedside “to be read” pile several times since I wrote this post in 2020. And returning from my walk with my dog this morning, I noticed neighbours putting out their junk on the verge. So the annual Council clean-up must have come around again, and I wonder if I can find some more books?

I hope you enjoyed my short tale of rummaging and recycling. You can read the Council Clean-ups and Recycling post and all my writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections, including my latest collection, Twelve More Furious Months, from the Amazon Kindle 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, check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from Seasons One, Two and Three.

And follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite app — doing so helps other listeners find my writing.

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

And 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:

• Garbage Truck: https://freesound.org/people/rodrigocswm/sounds/449437/

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.