Tall And True Short Reads
Timeline Memories
Episode 62 (8 November 2022)
I dread mornings like these when Facebook floods my timeline memories with posts and photos of Jas and the kids. On social media, we’re still a happy family. Whereas in the real world, I live alone and only see the kids on weekends. But that’s not Facebook’s fault. It’s just an algorithm.
Timeline Memories
Show Notes
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.