Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Motivator & Shift Miner Feedback

Edition 76 of Shift Miner Magazine is out. You can always download the latest issue as a pdf from their website. My story for this edition of the 5 Minute Fiction column is called The Motivator, and is on page 19. While I've tried to keep the first few stories up-beat and humorous, this one's a bit on the sad side.

My inspiration for this piece comes from the many stories I've heard and the few instances I've seen of marriages pulled apart by the time and distance of working a FIFO shift roster in the mines.

I did once work with a man at Southern Colliery who had a laminated copy of his payslip in his pocket. He was only to happy to explain that it was to remind him why he was there. That was some place to work: we all needed a motivator from time to time.

While you're reading the Shift Miner, take a look at "Stuff to the Editor" on page 16. Shane Garven wrote:
G'day guys,
Thanks for the mag. It's always a good read and full of relevant information, and some good laughs. Really like the addition of the 5 minute fiction stories. Old Bernard might ahve a new career on his hands. Keep up the good work.

Thanks heaps to Shane for expressing his support. That's the kind of feedback that makes it worthwile. While it is a dream to be able to support myself from writing, I'm not about to quit my day-job!

5 comments:

Angel Zapata said...

That was sad, but very well-written. It's not enough to spend our lives making money for the family, more importantly, we need to make time for them.

Shane Garven said...

Another well-made point about a subject that affects a lot of blokes, and women, within the industry, I'm sure. Looking forward to the next story.

Dee Martin said...

visited the magazine - congratulations on having your story published there. I love the idea of someone wanting to work the mines and being afraid of getting dirty!

Matt Rosinski said...

Can you please post the full version of The Motivator on your blog as the link to Shift Miner is no longer useful?

Bernard said...

@Matt: Thanks for your interest in this story. I've just posted the story in full here.