Season Two: Episode 52 (8 May 2022)

The Special Tree 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/short-stories/the-special-tree

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 Special Tree was my entry for the Australian Writers’ Centre’s December 2021 Furious Fiction. The brief for the month’s 500-word short story was:

• It had to include a TREE.
• Something BEING TAPED.
• And the words DANCE, SEARCH and CHANGE (longer variations were acceptable as long as they retained the original spelling).

Like December 2020’s Furious Fiction brief, where the story had to include a GIFT of some kind, the temptation was to fashion a festive season scenario. However, as I did with last year’s entry, The Gift, I decided to write a short story that had nothing to do with Xmas or Xmas trees!

Instead, I drew on my experience as a boy for my protagonist and plot. A tract of undeveloped land surrounded my boyhood home. We called it the “bush”, and within it stood tall trees that I loved climbing. But one day, bulldozers rolled in and cleared the trees, and builders followed. The bush that had seemed so vast to me as a boy became a row of boxy suburban houses.

For my story, I condensed my boyhood bush into a vacant block with a favourite climbing tree out the front. My young primary school-aged protagonist, Matty, finds a sign on the tree and asks his big sister to help him read it.

Back home, Matty’s mother searches the council website for the development application and confirms the builder wants to remove the tree. Matty is distraught, but his family promise to contact the council and rally support to save the tree.

As a writing device, I simplified the third-person narrator’s language because I wanted the story to be from Matty’s point of view without making it first-person.

Does the “mean builder” remove the tree? I leave that for the podcast listener to decide. But I hope Matty has more luck with his tree than I had with mine in the bush all those years ago.

I also hope you enjoyed listening to The Special Tree. You can read this 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 and Kobo online bookstores.

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 Seasons One and Two.

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

You can support this podcast by making a small regular or one-off 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:

• Birds Song: https://freesound.org/people/ken788/sounds/386732/
• Computer Keyboard: https://freesound.org/people/D4XX/sounds/567266/
• Door Slammed: 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 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 Two: Episode 51 (24 April 2022)

Departure 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/short-stories/departure

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 Australian Writers’ Centre moved their 500-word short story writing competition, Furious Fiction, from monthly to quarterly in 2022.

As I admitted in the introduction to my second short story collection, Twelve Furious Months, I’m addicted to writing short stories. So to help cope with the loss of my regular hit, I decided to attempt unofficial Furious Fictions on the off-quarterly months. And thankfully, the Writers’ Centre’s website has an archive from which to randomly select briefs.

In January 2022, following the usual Furious Fiction rules and deadline, I wrote my first unofficial short story, The People Were Happy. And for February, I selected an airport brief from September 2018 for my second attempt:

• The entire story had to take place in an airport
• Include the word SPRING (or plural)
• And the phrase: IT WAS EMPTY.

Part of my Furious Fiction writing routine is formulating plots and characters while walking my dog. And this worked well for me on our Friday evening and Saturday morning walks. By the time I sat down to write the first draft, I had Declan and the German couple in the terminal with their fellow delayed passengers. And as the story developed, I added Declan’s absent girlfriend, Molly.

It can be argued part of the story takes place at the coastal resort. But these are only reflections by Declan and the third-person narrator. And both are firmly in the airport for the entire story.

Anyone who’s spent an unscheduled late night in an airport departure terminal will recognise the phrase, “it was empty”. And backpackers and other regular travellers will know the importance of staying hydrated with a bottle of “spring” water.

As for the denouement, I toyed with several endings, but Declan feeling “Britta’s deep voice breathing in his ear” sent a tingle up my spine. And what does she mean by her comment, “Everything has a natural ending”? I’ll leave that to the podcast listener to decide!

I hope you enjoyed my second *departure* from official Furious Fictions. You can read this 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 and Kobo online bookstores.

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 Seasons One and Two.

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

You can support this podcast by making a small regular or one-off 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:

• PA Beeps: https://freesound.org/people/stib/sounds/493697/
• Announcement: https://freesound.org/people/Tito%20Lahaye/sounds/319406/
• Cheering/Applause: https://freesound.org/people/JacksonMiller0/sounds/371602/
• Airport Terminal: https://freesound.org/people/dkaufman/sounds/387565/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity.

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 Two: ​Episode 50 (11 April 2022)

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

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

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 celebrated my sixtieth birthday in March 2022. Milestone birthdays, like sixty, are times for reflection. And as my big day approached, I recalled a treasured photo of my Nan with her grandmotherly arms wrapped around my younger brother and me.

When I dug out the photo and looked at my boyhood brother and me, I realised it was from shortly after we’d moved in with our grandparents in 1967, following our parents’ separation. And that meant Nan was sixty in the photo.

Grandparents (and parents) always seem old to children. But looking at the photo of Nan with my middle-aged eyes and then at myself in the mirror, I see things differently. And writing Milestone Reflections was my attempt to put things in perspective.

Is sixty really the new forty? Is age a state of mind? And did Nan act old in her conversations, reading and TV habits or taste in music? Or was my boyhood perspective of her a generational response, like my neighbour’s daughter’s guess about my age?

I hope you enjoyed my Milestone Reflections. You can read this and all my blog posts, short stories and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections from the Amazon Kindle and Kobo online bookstores.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, don’t forget to check your feed or the podcast website, for earlier episodes from Seasons One and Two.

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

You can support this podcast by making a small regular or one-off 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:

• Happy Birthday: https://freesound.org/people/theuned/sounds/391869/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity.

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 Two: Episode 49 (26 March 2022)

A Night Out 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/short-stories/a-night-out

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 Night Out was my eighteenth entry for the Australian Writers’ Centre’s short story writing competition, Furious Fiction, in November 2021. The story had to include:

• Someone PACKING A SUITCASE.
• The phrase “ACROSS A CROWDED ROOM” (as dialogue or narrative).
• The words CHARM, CRUSH and FAINT (longer variations were permitted as long as they retained the original spelling).

PACKING A SUITCASE and ACROSS A CROWDED ROOM suggested several romantic plots, likely involving a broken relationship. And that was the premise of November’s winning Furious Fiction story, with the protagonist watching his partner pack her suitcase.

But I recalled being burgled in Bondi in the mid-1980s. And how the thief used one of my bags to carry off my goods and chattels. And it occurred to me I could combine a “romantic” night out in a crowded cocktail bar with a twist ending for the suitcase.

Finding places for the required words in the cocktail bar setting was straightforward. However, the story’s point of view [(POV)] shifted between the first and final drafts.

In the first draft, the point of view [POV] was third person omniscient. As in the final draft, I didn’t dwell on the characters’ internal thoughts, but I portrayed them equally in narrative and dialogue. While editing the story, I realised I needed to emphasise my female protagonist’s actions and words. And so, the point of view [POV] became third person limited.

Apart from the POV, the most significant change in the story between drafts was the female protagonist’s occupation while overseas. Initially, I had her in “public relations”, a play on words for the sting she was hatching. But I thought a “barista” would have more chance of slipping something into a late-night coffee back at the apartment.

I hope you enjoyed A Night Out and the nightcap twist. You can read this 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 and Kobo online bookstores.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, don’t forget to browse your feed or the podcast website, for earlier episodes from Seasons One and Two.

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

You can support this podcast by making a small regular or one-off 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:

• Cocktail Glasses Clinking: https://freesound.org/people/KenRT/sounds/319994/
• Loud Voices in Bar: https://freesound.org/people/Zac_Gist/sounds/457286/
• Woman Laughing: https://freesound.org/people/sagetyrtle/sounds/33658/
• City Sounds: https://freesound.org/people/AApolo/sounds/590763/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads produced using Audacity.

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 Two: Episode 48 (14 March 2022)

Judgement 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/short-stories/judgement

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 Judgement in October 2021 for the Australian Writers’ Centre’s 500-word short story writing competition Furious Fiction. The brief was:

• The story must be set in a COURT of some kind
• Include a character who measures something
• And contain the words BALLOON, ROCK and UMBRELLA. (Longer variations were acceptable.)

After writing and submitting the story (my seventeenth straight entry), I shared a blog post on Tall And True about the experience, Writing True Sentences. I revealed recalling Ernest Hemingway‘s advice to writers to write one true sentence. And how I started my story with, “The policewoman at the front of the Court is trying to catch my eye.”

I had a COURT setting and an opening scene to build upon with more true sentences, half-truths and pure imagination. For example, it’s true a policewoman once tried to catch my eye in Court and mouthed, “Guilty or not guilty.” But my wife’s never been a nurse. However, I dated a nurse before my marriage, so that part was a half-truth. The rest is imagination.

As for BALLOON, ROCK and UMBRELLA, I felt confident I’d find a place for the first two words. And I sweated on the third until it occurred to me why “Dolled-up” might be attending Court.

In the Writing True Sentences blog post, I also quoted George Saunders, who observed, “A short story will undergo hundreds of edits. It’s done when it’s done. I know it when I see it.”

It’s the same for me and my stories. A shiver ran up my spine when I wrote the last sentence, “And I feel the Court’s judgement.” That spine-tingling feeling is how I know when “it’s done”!

I hope you pass favourable judgement on this episode. You can read all my blog posts, short stories and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections from the Amazon Kindle and Kobo online bookstores.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, don’t forget to browse your feed or the podcast website, for earlier episodes from Seasons One and Two.

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

Please remember, you can support this podcast by making a small regular or one-off 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:

• Judge’s Gavel: https://freesound.org/people/theneedle.tv/sounds/376667/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads produced using Audacity.

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 Two: Episode 47 (4 March 2022)

Memories of Tuesdays with Morrie 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/memories-of-tuesdays-with-morrie

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 the Memories of Tuesdays with Morrie blog post in August 2018, after sharing the book on my #bookcovers and #firstsentences homage series on Instagram.

A year earlier, I had written another blog post in response to a question posted by Penguin Books on Facebook: What is the last book that made you cry? The books could evoke tears of joy or sadness. And three sprung to mind, all sad tear-jerkers:

• Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
• Marley & Me by John Grogan
• The Book Theif by Markus Susak

(I’ve read several other tear-jerkers since then.)

What struck me about Tuesdays with Morrie and inspired me to write this blog post was how re-reading the final chapters set the tears flowing again. It was like I was back in the park with my son in his pram.

And yet, fourteen years had passed since I’d read Tuesdays with Morrie. And my then-toddler son had grown into a strapping sixteen-year-old.

So was it Albom’s account of his last days with Morrie that had me crying again? Or fond memories of early fatherhood, reading the book in the park, while my son slept in his pram? From my Morrie-like life experience of four more years of being a dad and seeing my son grow into an adult, I can safely say it was both!

Thanks for listening to Memories of Tuesdays with Morrie. You can read all my blog posts, short stories and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections from the Amazon Kindle and Kobo online bookstores.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, don’t forget to check your feed or the podcast website, for earlier episodes from Seasons One and Two.

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

Please remember, you can support this podcast by making a regular or one-off 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

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 produced using Audacity.

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.