In November 2024, I met with the Volunteer Coordinator for my local MP, Allegra Spender, who asked if I'd help with the 2025 Federal Election campaign. I'd campaigned for Allegra in 2022 and assisted with her post-election events, so of course, I said yes. But I didn't expect that six months later I'd end up with a heart-shaped teal tattoo!

A Heart-Shaped Teal Tattoo is a blog post by Robert Fairhead from the Tall And True writers' website.

Read the post with a photo of the heart-shaped teal tattoo on Tall And True:

https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/a-heart-shaped-teal-tattoo

Read An Independent Candidate on Tall And True:

https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/an-independent-candidate

Listen to Tall And True Short Reads Season Five episodes:

• Season Five Trailer: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/introducing-season-five/

• The Nine Lives of Leo Roberts - Prologue: The Clinic: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/the-nine-lives-of-leo-roberts-prologue-the-clinic/

• The Nine Lives of Leo Roberts - One: Rock Fishing: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/the-nine-lives-of-leo-roberts-one-rock-fishing/

Support the podcast on the Acast Supporter Page: 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

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:

• Tattoo Needle: https://freesound.org/people/BeeProductive/sounds/430066/

• Glass Bottles: https://freesound.org/people/14G_Panska_Vagnerova_Adela/sounds/419471/

• Cheers/Applause: https://freesound.org/people/deleted_user_2104797/sounds/324892/

• Computer Keyboard: https://freesound.org/people/D4XX/sounds/567266/

• Car Revving: https://freesound.org/people/EwanPenman11/sounds/659548/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity.

Episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Indigenous Eora Nation.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Uncle Bernie parked his car alongside the dunes behind the rock fishing beach. Nursing a bucket in the back seat, Leo had vomited several times during the drive, and the last bumpy section on the off-road track leading to the beach hadn't helped. "Chuck up in the bucket," Uncle Bernie had warned him. "I don't want any stains on the upholstery."

The Nine Lives of Leo Roberts — One: Rock Fishing is a short story by Robert Fairhead from the Tall And True writers' website.

Read Robert's writing on Tall And True: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au

Listen to podcast episodes on Tall And True Short Reads: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Listen to the Season Five Trailer: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/introducing-season-five/

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

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:

• Car Driving Interior: https://freesound.org/people/NachtmahrTV/sounds/556692/

• Car Door/Boot: https://freesound.org/people/deleted_user_7146007/sounds/383835/

• Waves on Beach: https://freesound.org/people/VMan533/sounds/575894/

• Wind and Waves: https://freesound.org/people/nickmaysoundmusic/sounds/585622/

• Seagulls: https://freesound.org/people/plantmonkey/sounds/377107/

• Fishing Rod Reel: https://freesound.org/people/170129/sounds/408252/

• Heart Monitor: https://freesound.org/people/samfk360/sounds/148897/

• Underwater: https://freesound.org/people/DCSFX/sounds/366159/

• Bubbles: https://freesound.org/people/felix.blume/sounds/209459/

• Cheering/Applause: https://freesound.org/people/deleted_user_2104797/sounds/324892/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity.

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 http://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The terrace house door creaks open, and the women sitting in the converted front room glance at the newcomers: another nervous-looking young woman in her late teens or early twenties and an older woman, probably her mother, judging by their shared chubby features. The two women cross to the receptionist's desk.

The Nine Lives of Leo Roberts — Prologue: The Clinic is a short story by Robert Fairhead from the Tall And True writers' website.

Read Robert's writing on Tall And True: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au

Listen to podcast episodes on Tall And True Short Reads: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Listen to the Season Five Trailer: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/introducing-season-five/

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

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:

• Creaky Door: https://freesound.org/people/deleted_user_7146007/sounds/383816/

• Wall Clock: https://freesound.org/people/Richard1052/sounds/585774/

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 http://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tall And True Short Reads is a storytelling podcast featuring short stories, blog posts and other writings from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

"Most episodes from the past four seasons of the podcast are standalone, but I've also released multipart episodes for longer short stories. For Season Five, I'm doing something different. I'm writing and narrating a series of interconnected short stories titled The Nine Lives of Leo Roberts."

Tall And True website: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/

Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Listen to Five Meet on Zoom (Ep 1): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/five-meet-on-zoom/

Listen to Twin Souls in the Universe (Ep 100): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/twin-souls-in-the-universe/

Listen to Both Sides of the Story (Season One):

• Introduction (Ep 26): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/both-sides-of-the-story-introduction/

• Westminister (Ep 27): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/both-sides-of-the-story-westminster/

• Bosnia (Ep 28): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/both-sides-of-the-story-bosnia/

• A Council Flat (Ep 29): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/both-sides-of-the-story-a-council-flat/

• The Gym (Ep 30): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/both-sides-of-the-story-the-gym/

• Bad News - Part One (Ep 31): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/both-sides-of-the-story-bad-news-part-one/

• Bad News - Part Two (Ep 32): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/both-sides-of-the-story-bad-news-part-two/

Listen to Two Visits to the Berlin Wall (Season Three):

• Part One - 1987 (Ep 69): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/two-visits-to-the-berlin-wall-part-one/

• Part Two - 1995 (Ep 70): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/two-visits-to-the-berlin-wall-part-two/

Listen to Some Things Change (Season Four):

Perth, Western Australia, 1979 (Ep 79): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/some-things-change-perth-1979/

London, England, 1992 (Ep 80): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/some-things-change-london-1992/

Perth, Western Australia, 2023 (Ep 81): https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/some-things-change-perth-2023/

Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads

Read about One Day in the Life of Alex's AI and Other Speculative Fiction:

https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/one-day-in-the-life-of-alexs-ai-book

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

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:

• Hooray!: https://freesound.org/people/Vesperia94/sounds/403057/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity.

Episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the lands of the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since Episode 100, I've taken a break from podcasting to plan a new direction for Season Five of Tall And True Short Reads, which I hope to launch early next year. Meanwhile, I've "gift-wrapped" the first episodes from Seasons One to Four of the podcast for this year's bumper Kris Kringle episode.

The stories written and narrated by Robert Fairhead for The Kris Kringle - Xmas 2024 first appeared on the Tall And True writers' website.

Read the stories on Tall And True:

• Five Meet on Zoom: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/five-meet-on-zoom

• The Last Book That Made You Cry: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/the-last-book-that-made-you-cry

• Once Upon A Time: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/once-upon-a-time

• Some Things Change – Perth, Western Australia, 1979: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/some-things-change

Podcast website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Episode 100, Twin Souls in the Universe: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/twin-souls-in-the-universe/

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

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:

• Santa’s Sleigh Bells: https://freesound.org/people/BrianJamesLong/sounds/330415/

Five Meet on Zoom:

• None

The Last Book That Made You Cry:

• Page turning: https://freesound.org/people/Kodack/sounds/256475/

Once Upon A Time:

• Slow Clock Ticking: https://freesound.org/people/Julien%20Matthey/sounds/457651/

• Conference Noise: https://freesound.org/people/shazam118/sounds/83788/

• Glasses Clinking: https://freesound.org/people/KenRT/sounds/319994/

• Applause: https://freesound.org/people/Breviceps/sounds/462362/

Some Things Change – Perth, Western Australia, 1979:

• Kids playing: https://freesound.org/people/cognito%20perceptu/sounds/61503/

• Glasses Clinking: https://freesound.org/people/KenRT/sounds/319994/

• Car Interior: https://freesound.org/people/devy32/sounds/439252/

• Sipping Wine: https://freesound.org/people/bbrocer/sounds/382656/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity.

The 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 http://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you thought about it, the process for selecting the first matter transference test pilot was archaic, although Mae considered it a lucky omen when she drew the Blue 15 raffle ticket. Blue, not pink, was her favourite colour as a girl, and at 15, Mae had decided she wanted to become an astronaut.

Twin Souls in the Universe is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story on Tall And True: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/twin-souls-in-the-universe

Read the "What's in a Name?" blog post: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/blog/whats-in-a-name

Tall And True Short Reads website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Listen to Episode 8 of Tall And True Short Reads, Splendid Views: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/splendid-views/

Episode 92 of Tall And True Short Reads, The Lost and Found Story: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/the-lost-and-found-story/

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

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:

• Ambient Universe Hum: https://freesound.org/people/FALL-E/sounds/713436/

• Hooray!: https://freesound.org/people/Vesperia94/sounds/403057/

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 http://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm getting too old for this. My speechwriter's pulse quickens as the PM mounts the flag-decked stage, flanked by senior ministers and mining industry executives, to announce her government's green coal plan. Panned by environmentalists and scientists, polling suggests it could be a vote winner … if the PM nails my speech.

My Speech is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story on Tall And True: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/fiction/short-stories/my-speech

Tall And True Short Reads website: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com

Listen to Episode 90 of Tall And True Short Reads, A Good Story: https://www.tallandtrueshortreads.com/a-good-story/

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

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:

• Camera shutter burst: https://freesound.org/people/Lumamorph/sounds/505476/

• Tapping microphone: https://freesound.org/people/susychristiansen/sounds/149034/

• Applause: 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 http://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.