Tag: writing

A Fresh Look and Focus

When I launched Tall And True in August 2017, I realised a dream to provide an online forum for writers, including myself, to share and showcase our writing. In 2020, I updated the design, labelling it as a “new chapter” for the website. And two years on, I’ve given Tall And True a fresh look and focus.

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Twelve More Furious Months

In September 2022, I published my second collection of Furious Fiction short stories, Twelve More Furious Months. As with my first collection, the stories are presented chronologically, from The Lucky Country (April 2021) to Stuck in Time (March 2022). And include writer insights and podcast episode links.

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Favourite Book Covers

On a recent ABC Nightlife episode, host Indira Naidoo asked, Do you judge a book by its cover? I have blogged several times about my #bookcovers and #firstsentences homage on Instagram. But the focus has always been on first sentences. And this episode had me wondering, Could I pick my favourite book covers?

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Inspiration

Sorting through storage boxes recently, I found an old notebook belonging to my son. It wasn’t a school book, but something in which he’d jotted and doodled as a twelve-year-old in 2014. And among its random pages was a short story he’d written about a father who doesn’t have “great ideas”.

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600 Book Covers and First Sentences

On 11 January 2018, I started a #bookcovers and #firstsentences series on Instagram. One of my goals was to showcase and pay homage to the books and writers in my bookcases. Another was researching the effect of book covers and first sentences on the reader. And on 28 January 2022, I shared my 600th post.

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My First Friday Fix

Since April 2020, I’ve submitted twenty-one short stories for the monthly Furious Fiction writing competition. However, in December 2021, I learned Furious Fiction was shifting to a quarterly competition in 2022. Like many fans, I felt bereft. Until the Australian Writers’ Centre announced First Friday Fix.

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My Top Six Books for 2021

It’s that time of the year when we reflect on our “top things” for the past twelve months. Unsurprisingly, three months of COVID lockdown is not on my list. But when ABC Book Clubbers started posting their six favourite books for 2021, I joined in with my top six paper-based, e- and audiobooks.

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My One Night Stand

In my website profile, I mention I’ve enjoyed a one night stand. It was November 2003, but I remember the night like it was yesterday. I had worked up to it for two weeks. However, though I’d practised my lines, I suffered first-time jitters as I took the stage to perform my stand-up comedy routine.

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Writing True Sentences

The brief for October 2021’s Furious Fiction was to set the short story in a COURT, include a character who measures something, and the words BALLOON, ROCK and UMBRELLA. Recalling Hemingway’s advice to write one true sentence, I wrote, “The policewoman at the front of the Court is trying to catch my eye.”

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Read Like A Writer

The ABC RN Bookshelf podcast episode looked interesting: “What does it mean to read like a writer? Twenty-five Australian writers give their thoughts.” And then I recognised two of the contributors, Belinda Castles and Nicholas Jose, whose books I’d read and reviewed for Writing NSW. So I clicked play.

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Published September 2022

I hope readers enjoy the short story journeys in Twelve More Furious Months and make it home in time for dinner. ~ Robert Fairhead

Twelve More Furious Months by Robert Fairhead
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Published April 2021

I look forward to the Writer's Centre's monthly Furious Fiction competitions because I've become addicted to the escapism of writing short stories! ~ Robert Fairhead

Twelve Furious Months by Robert Fairhead
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Published March 2020

This slim book is hard to put down. And the only regret we may feel after reading it is that we reached the end too quickly! ~ Denise O'Hagan

Both Sides of the Story by Robert Fairhead
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Share Your Writing

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ~ Maya Angelou

Share your untold story — fiction, nonfiction and reviews — on Tall And True, an online showcase and forum for writers, readers and publishers.

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