I recently had the pleasure and the privilege of recording an episode of The Tiny Bookcase podcast with the show’s wonderful and talented hosts, Nico Rogers and Ben Holroyd-Dell. Their approach, so far as I am aware, is unique: guests and hosts each write a short story especially for the podcast, based around a prompt selected (by the guest) from a choice of three. The first half of the podcast consists of readings of all three stories, followed by a discussion. In the second half of the podcast (which will go live next week) the hosts interview the guest about their life, work and any upcoming projects.
I found the whole experience highly enjoyable and one of the most interesting gigs I’ve yet taken part in, not least because the word limit for the story – 1,200 words – presented me with a challenge I had not attempted before. My stories tend to sprawl, rather, and so getting the job done in less than 2,000 words? Not easy. The prompt I chose was ‘Empty Tank’, feeling lucky because the story idea came to me more or less instantaneously. As you’ll discover if you listen to the podcast, the guys interpreted the title very differently – and that is the beauty of this kind of exercise. I have always maintained that one hundred writers sat in a room working from an identical first sentence will each produce a completely different piece of writing and here, in microcosm, is the proof of that.
For those of you who have read The Rift, I’m excited to tell you that ‘Empty Tank’ is a brand new creef story. For those who haven’t, welcome to their world!
Huge thanks to Ben and to Nico for inviting me on to the podcast, and for making me feel so welcome. I had a great time.