My first experience of Dry July was in 2012. A trainer at my gym mentioned he was going dry for the month to raise funds for a cancer charity. Both sounded worthy causes, so I donated $20 to his fundraiser. Little did I realise it was the beginning of a long-term relationship with Dry July.
Instead of a to-be-read pile, I have a bookcase of books beckoning me. I'm currently whittling down the "pile" by reading three books in three different formats — two of these won't help clear my bookcase. And all are nonfiction, which is unusual because I enjoy reading (and writing!) fiction.
The candid photo of my son and wife in Sydney's Centennial Park was taken by a friend in March 2005. I had met Marie, and her husband, Drew, a retired couple, one weekend through a mutual park and dog-lover friend. My son was two-and-a-half and had long hair. And Marie dubbed him Christopher Robin.
In 2018, I shared a blog post about My Week in Politics, handing out how-to-vote cards for Dr Kerryn Phelps, an independent candidate for Wentworth. Kerryn won that by-election but lost the seat in the 2019 Federal election. Three years later, I spent six weeks in teal helping another independent, Allegra Spender.
My parents separated in 1967 when I was five, and my younger brother and I went to live with our grandparents. Nan looked old to my young eyes, and leathery Pop ancient. But born in 1907, Nan was only sixty when we moved in, a cause for reflection when I reached my milestone sixty in March 2022.
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?
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".
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.
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.
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.
In my writer bio on Tall And True, 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.
My son loved books. And I loved reading to and with him in his early years and watching him grow into an independent reader. However, in his teenage years, he became a "reluctant reader". Thankfully, my son found audiobooks. And with a family account, he and I are building libraries of our favourites.
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."
In September 2020, I launched the Tall And True Short Reads podcast, featuring short stories written and narrated by me that I've published over the years on Tall And True. My goal with the podcast was to share and showcase something I love doing, writing, on a medium I also love, podcasting.
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.
A question posted by Penguin Books Australia in 2017 popped up in my Facebook timeline memories: What's the longest book you've ever read? Back then, I'd responded Gone with the Wind. But after sharing the old post on the ABC Book Club, I realised there are longer books, and I'd read one of them.
Michael Palin embarked Around the World in 80 Days in 1988 and again from Pole to Pole in 1991. My wife and I were avid watchers of his adventures on BBC TV. And inspired by Palin, we left England to travel overland to Australia following his "Pole to Pole" route and means of transport in 1995.
