Tall And True Short Reads
For the Sake of a Story
Episode 98 (1 September 2024)
The local dog club, where I volunteered as a trainer for twenty years, ran season-ending Fun Days with events like Fancy Dress, Agility Slalom, Waggliest Tail, and other novelty races that changed from year to year. One of my favourites was the Sack Race, where my dear old dog and I always placed third.
For the Sake of a Story
Show Notes
Season Four: Episode 98 (1 September 2024)
For the Sake of a Story 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/sake-of-a-story
Read How to “Kill Your Darlings” and Survive the Process by Ruthanne Reid: https://thewritepractice.com/kill-your-darlings/
Read My Good Dog and Muse on Tall And True: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/good-dog-muse
Listen to Episode 72 of Tall And True Short Reads: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/my-good-dog-and-muse/
Post with a photo of Jet sleeping in the home office podcast study: 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 and microfiction 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 For the Sake of a Story in December 2018, comparing the lengths I’d “hop” to for third place in the annual sack race at my local dog club and in “killing my darlings” when writing, both for the sake of a good story.
Dear old Harry crossed the “rainbow bridge” in October 2011. He was such a big part of my life for a dozen years that I also wrote a blog post dedicated to him approaching the seventh anniversary of his death in September 2018, My Good Dog and Muse, Episode 72 of Tall And True Short Reads.
In the post, I recount a favourite quote by Agnes Sligh Turnbull, “Dogs’ lives are too short. Their only fault, really.” I also observed how Harry had brought so much joy into my life that it seemed wrong to feel sad about him. But as other dog lovers know, that’s not how grief works.
And if you can hear heavy breathing or scratching in the background of this episode, it’s my current dear old dog, my almost 13-year-old black lab, Jet, who brings joy to my life as dear old Harry did — and likes his treats, too!
PS. I held off releasing this episode until the 1st of September, 2024, to mark Jet’s 13th birthday.
There are links to all these posts on Tall And True in the Show Notes — For the Sake of a Story includes a lovely photo of Harry and me in the Balance-a-Frisbee-on-Your-Head-and-Squeeze-a Ball-Between-Your-Legs Race … before he notices the ball! And there’s a link to a post with Jet sleeping on his mat in the home office podcast studio.
I hope you enjoy this tail-wagging episode. You can read all my posts, selected short stories and other writings on TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story and microfiction collections from the Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Kobo online bookstores — links are available in the show notes.
The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be released shortly. In the meantime, search your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from all four seasons. And please follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite podcasting app — doing so helps other listeners find my storytelling.
You can support the podcast financially by making a small one-off or regular donation via the Acast Supporter Page.
Finally, please share this episode with family and friends and spread the word 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:
- Dogs Barking: https://freesound.org/people/Mafon2/sounds/676407/
- Plane: https://freesound.org/people/bigpickle51/sounds/262753/
- Clapping: https://freesound.org/people/sagetyrtle/sounds/32260/
- Typewriter: https://freesound.org/people/supersupernator/sounds/519622/
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.