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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
As told to Doosie Morris

The moment I knew: I told him I missed other people’s company so he put on a silly accent to make me laugh

Melanie Kinsman and Sam in Italy in 2006
Melanie Kinsman and Sam in Italy in 2006 during their ‘trial marriage before real life set in’ Photograph: Supplied by Melanie Kinsman

In 2004 I was a young writer at the University of Adelaide. I was working as an editor on an anthology of short stories when a piece by Sam came across my desk. We emailed back and forth for a while, working on the story, but I never met him in person.

A few months later, I was out in town with some friends and noticed he was there. While we’d never crossed paths in real life, I knew what he looked like. In my fairly inebriated state I decided a great way to introduce myself would be to walk up to him and start reciting excerpts of his story. I don’t know what I was trying to achieve, but I made an impression and he was obviously flattered.

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