Year: 2018

Driver Unknown

Driver Unknown is not a nice story. In fact, it is a Cautionary Tale, once known a story with a moral, or a message.  What that message depends on the reader and how it is read.

While it is our last podcast for the year, we hasten to add that the next pod will be coming out very soon, and will be very different. So please bear with us while we impart a simple story from LifeInTheSlowLane, that MakesYouThink, while also being a candidate for the CrimeWithoutGrime series.

See you in a happier story next year.

 

 

 

Festive Greetings

The FastFictionPodcast team would like to thank you, our listeners, for your support throughout the 8 months we have been running.  During that time we have brought you 32 podcasts ranging from the lighthearted Home Alone, 5m.54 to the ambitious bush story with a chiller ending, A long time waiting, 31.m.31

While we have tried to make sense of the analytical data available, it would seem there is no one popular length or genre. Best of all, those of you who listen once, seem to enjoy going back through the previous pods to see what you have missed.  (For instance, A day too long, published over a month ago, is currently very popular.)

We admit to being surprised at the coverage off countries and cities tuning in to us too.  Our most popular being San Jose in America, and Ijmuiden in the Netherlands.  And by the look of it a very new listener in Wolverhampton. (As a one time Pom my only knowledge of this city is through the famed football club Wolverhampton Wanderers!)

As 2018 comes to an end we will be bringing you two new podcasts. The first one – to be released on 30th December, is a hard-biting cautionary tale, called Driver Unknown. And the next day, with the first day of the new year, a nostalgic look back to 1975, with a very modern twist, The Straight Line. More later ….

In the meantime please keep tuning in, posting reviews, and we look forward to catching up again at the very end of the year – and the beginning of the next.  Take care.

An ordinary couple

An ordinary couple: This little story has a subtle undertone.  It begins with a simple accident leading to a visit to a friend. Here our key character makes an extraordinary discovery. which will change their friendship for ever.  The moral of the story once again  is – Sometimes people you think you know best, may turn out to be those you know least.

This will be the last podcast before Christmas. So we take this opportunity to wish all our listeners a Merry Festive Season.

 

 

Time

Time: 23 minutes.

Don’t be confused by our podcast cover showing the 8th December. We want to be well prepared ahead of time. You see for those fans of the Fab Four that is the day that John Lennon was killed by a crazed Mark Chapman in front of the Dakota building in New York back in 19880.  While it is just possible that those younger listeners may ask ” Who were the Fab Four,” and “Who is John Lennon,” it is more likely they really know. But it is unlikely they feel as much anguish as Violet Flaherty, the luckless lady in our recent podcast.

The Beatles: While not only admitting knowledge, but admiration of The Beatles, I also remember those traumatizing headlines, and news headlines of December 8th, 1980. and how the world seemed to stop rotating in disbelief.  Remember, this was long before 9/11 and all the subsequent horror days that have united the entire globe in a mixture of incredulity, skepticism. shock and personal tragedy.

But while undoubtedly a serious continuum of events for our players, we assure you that our new release is not to be taken too seriously.  Just allow yourself time to listen, 23 minutes in fact.

Oh, and by the way…  If you enjoyed the story, please give us a review on your favorite platform, or iTunes. And if you would like a copy of the manuscript, or any others, just pop across to our Contact page.

 

 

 

 

A Day Too Long

A Day Too Long: Our latest pod is another story that is difficult to classify.  Although we have tagged it as one of TheSpouseTrap series, it does fit the CrimeWithoutGrime series too. But if you give thought to the story a little more, it could easily classify as MakesYouThink. Why? Well, usually our Spouse Trap stories cover marital discord in some way.  But this marriage has lasted for over 40 years. Yet it would appear that 40 years is A Day Too Long

 

Anne of 1000 Days

Anne of 1000 Days is  a true story. Not much action it is true,but plenty of emotive value. Not only that but it represents a vast number of our elderly citizens. To say they are a ‘dying breed’ is literally true, for age is their enemy, and one that everyone must face eventually.

Of course each generation will have its own story to tell. But not everyone is a hero. In fact, let us go back to the days before Womens’ Lib – or more exact, the womens’ liberation movement. This was led by people such as the irrepressible Germaine Greer), and the launch of her revolutionary book The Female Eunoch. 1970. This was a time when women didn’t work (ir again, more exactly, have paid employment. Instead they looked after the house, husband and family, which was not considered work. But sometimes they would gain a little recognition. And more so if they could claim to be part of the saying, “Behind every great man, there is a little woman.” On which note, I leave you with Anne of 1000 Days, part of our series, LifeInThe Slow Lane, but  hopefully it will also MakeYouThink.

Armistice Day

100 years since the GREAT war.

Today we pay tribute and homage to  the millions who served and lost their lives in the 1914-1918 war. It was the war to end all wars, and possibly the last one where face-to-face combat was the norm. Servicemen suffered two horrors.  That, of being automatically enlisted into war, and expected to kill the enemy. And second, to be prepared to die or be maimed while doing so. A no-win situation.,

100 years later and there are more wars raging around the world than we can name – or even know about. Warfare has changed, in many ways it has become simplified. The enemy doesn’t even have to be in sight. Yet people are still dying, or if fortunate, survive –  and carry the battle scars physically and mentally – for ever.

Our very first podcast was released on Anzac Day, 25th April. This is a day personal to Australia and New Zealand. But the story, Wheeled Prison, brings to light the simple naivety of young men before going into battle, and the sheer reality of it when facing the enemy, or returning home, often broken and bitter.

Ordinary people can do little to stop this, other than vote for politicians who will do everything possible to avoid this carnage and confrontation. But we CAN be aware of the personal sacrifice given by so many, and often forgotten or ignored.

Ray, the Refrigerator Man

Ray, the Refrigerator Man. While we often say that most of the fastfictionpodcasts have their genesis in true stories, our latest pod is completely true.  It brings to light two factions –  the background and lifestyle of Ray, and our reaction, as a middle-aged couple living in a totally different world.  And yet, with the passage of time,  and the work cycle, we find ourselves sharing a cup of coffee, and his viewpoints.

When you have listened to the pod, why not let us know how you think you would react if you had been with us on the balcony that day.   And in a back-to-front-way, does the #MeToo movement apply in this case?  Lots of questions, but where are the answers? We still haven’t got any. Have you?

 

 

Half Year Half Birthday

We are now at an exact 6 month / half year  mark, with 27 pods, in four genres, available on most formats. This has been a happy journey. We were ready for a learning ladder back on 25th April when our first pod Wheeled Prisons was released, in time for Anzac Day.  And what a beautiful start. One of our team connected his pc to a speaker at Amiens where a group were waiting for the Dawn Service. Thinking of this emotive story being played under such perfect conditions is awesome.

Other stories have not been chosen or released in any particular order, as once again, in these early days it was (and still is) difficult to ascertain what types of stories are preferred.  Do listeners want to laugh or cry? Or are crime stories still the favorite to intrigue?

Now that we can use the wonders of Google Analytics, we thought those questions could be answered. But apparently not. For instance, over the last six months, these three stories have shown to be the most popular.

Wheeled Prison,                   For Sale,                      A Natural Accident 

                    

For those listeners familiar with them, they represent MakesYouThink, LifeInTheSlowLane, and CrimeWithoutGrime series

However, a few surprises have occurred. Namely, the countries where fastfictionpodcasts are most popular. With that in mind we would like to give a big THANKYOU to our listeners in Singapore, Omaha and Birr, who have shown the most support.

                                             

This brings up another surprise. That a few but growing number of listeners have asked for print transcripts so that they may have a fun way to learn English. And, something that will be coming soon, a section for Young Adults. This would be an aid to reading skills. This is a great idea, and we would love your input. So please leave comments or contact us directly at fastfictionpodcasts@gmail.com

And finally. an overwhelming THANKYOU to those organisations who provide free software for production and those folk who provide free sound bites and images.

 

The Law of the Land

The Law of the Land poem has been in my possession for a few decades. The author was unknown, although it was thought it had its origins in South Africa. It was powerful then, and even more powerful today.

It is not meant to moralize, but brings a strong message to Australia’, and indeed the world.

We feel it is particularly relevant today, as the Australian government is finally recognizing the plight of farmers and all those involved with the land, and by default, our lives.

As ‘natural disasters’ begin to abound, and temperatures soar, it is understandably difficult to discern whether man’s influence is at the stem.

But whatever the cause, the farmers combating these horrors of fire and flood, should be acknowledged as our national hero’s.

THE LAW OF THE LAND

Now this is the Law of the Land, son

      as old and as true as the hills

And the farmer that keeps it may prosper,

      but the farmer that breaks it, it kills

Unlike the Law of Man, son

      this law, it never runs slack,

What you take from the land for your own, son,

      you’ve damn well got to put back.

Now we of the old generation

      took land on the cheap and made good;

We stocked, we burnt and we reaped, son’

      we took whatever we could.

But erosion came creeping slowly,

      then hastened on with a rush’

Our bluegrass went to glory,

      and we don’t relish wiregrass much.

The good old days are gone, son,

      when those slopes were white with lambs,

Now the lambs lie thin and starved, son

      and the silt has choked our dams

Did I say that those days were past, son?

      For me they’re good as gone.

But to you they will come again, son,

      When the job I set you is done

I have paid for this farm and fenced it,

      I have robbed it and now I unmask’

You’ve got to put it back, son

      and yours is the harder task.

Stock all your paddocks wisely

      rotate them all you can’

Block all the loose storm water,

      and spread ’em out like a fan

Tramp all your straw to compost,

      and feed it to the soil;

Contour your lands where they need it

      there’s virtue in sweat and toil.

We don’t really own the land son,

      we hold it and pass away’

The land belongs to the nation,

      till the dawn of Judgement Day

Now the nation holds you worthy

      and you’ll see if you’re straight and just

That to rob the soil you hold son,

      is forsaking a nation’s trust

Don’t ask of your farm a fortune’

      true pride ranks higher than gold’

To farm is a way of living’

      learn it before you grow old

Now this is the Law of the Land, son

      to take out you’ve got to put back

And you’ll find that your life was full son,

when it’s time to shoulder your pack.

Taken from The Stellerlander Newspaper,  South Africa, author unknown,