Lost in Time: My first published story

THE two most common questions I’m asked as a writer is where do my ideas come from and what was my very first published story. My first story was called ‘Lost in Time’ and the idea came from the many Saturday afternoons I spent at the footy with my dad. Although I loved the excitement of the game itself, I have to admit that it couldn’t really match the excitement of half time when dad would send me to the nearest kiosk to buy coke and chips. And having been blessed—or cursed—with a wild imagination from a very young age, it wasn’t long before a story was born. ‘Lost in Time’ was first published in Pursuit magazine in 1975 when I was thirteen years old. I was paid ten dollars for it, which in those days bought A LOT of coke and chips: all the motivation that a beginning writer needs. I haven’t stopped writing since. And just in case you missed it, or weren’t even alive in 1975, click here to read the story, exactly as it was printed then. I hope you like it, and if you don’t, well, I hope the next time you’re at the footy and you go to buy coke and chips that you’re mysteriously transported to the 100th century and that you never return!

Posted on 28 October 2008
Permanent link to this post
Comments (4)