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.
Inspired by the lists and favourites posted on the ABC Book Club Facebook group, I checked my bookshelf, Kindle and Audible library for the titles I've read and listened to in 2022. The results were interesting: I read six paper-based books and seven ebooks last year and listened to thirty-one audiobooks.
I fell in love with live theatre when I saw my first London West End play as a newly-arrived backpacker in 1987. Over the next eight years, living in Brighton and Windsor, I attended countless professional and amateur productions. But I didn't think in 1987 that one day I'd be up on stage, too, taking a bow.
In May 2022, a post by Penguin Books Australia popped up in my Facebook timeline memories from 2017, challenging readers to finish this sentence: "I like reading because ..." A keen reader since childhood, I'd responded, "Because it opens my eyes and mind to other places and possibilities."
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.
Tall And True Short Reads is a storytelling podcast featuring short stories, blog posts and other writing written and narrated by Robert Fairhead from the Tall And True writers' website. Launched in September 2020, Season Three starts in September 2022 with a "story that begins at the end", Once Upon A Time.
My first experience with 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?
While sorting through storage boxes at home, I found an old notebook belonging to my son. It wasn't a school exercise book but something he'd jotted and doodled in as a twelve-year-old. Among its random pages was a short story he'd written in 2014 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.
