A writer inspired by his own chance encounters and whose work often has an underlying theme of mental health is giving a talk at Tavistock Library

Author Laurence Shelley, who is intrigued by life’s coincidences, has just published his novel Visions of Wilderness which is inspired by his own experiences of meeting strangers on Dartmoor and in Tavistock.

The talk is on Friday, June 13, 2.30pm-3.30pm. It is a free event and no booking needed. He will allow time for some questions.

The novelist believes that life can be stranger than fiction and demonstrates this in his book where he outlines a chain of coincidences which began with his wife’s dream and ended with his desire to write about his in novels.

He said: “Where can a dream take you? When my wife dreamt I walked from Plymouth to North Devon, the opportunist that I am just had to do it. I could never have anticipated the most incredible experiences that followed on Dartmoor.

“They began when I attended a play at Mary Tavy and was picked out of the audience to act the part of a dying funeral director. After it finished I happened to win a raffle prize – a splendid desk tidy and notebook. It was the exact prompt I needed to be born again – as a first-time novelist.”

His tales include a story about a character who had to forge a new life after his world fell apart, partly based on himself. And also included the basis of someone he knew who sustained brain damage in a head-on car crash, resulting in short-term memory loss and behavioural changes which broke up his relationship. The overall message was one of hope and how to recover.

He explains: “In my novel – ‘Visions of Wilderness: An Outcast’s Odyssey’ – my protagonist returns to childhood haunts on Dartmoor, hoping to forge a new direction in life after a marriage break-up, with loss of his home and young family. In my research I made exhaustive trips to Dartmoor, wild camping, living rough, sampling Tavistock Goosey Fair many times and even squatting at Tavistock.

“The extraordinary fact is that chance encounters made me feel that I was living his life and reliving my own mental crises. My experiences were telling me that life is stranger than fiction. I will tell the audience how Dartmoor helped rebuild a shattered life.

“I will detail the help available locally and suggest ways in which positive mindsets can be encouraged, drawing on my own experiences .”

The book’s main character was born in a Bedford cottage in Tavistock. In his research Laurence met well-known Dartmoor guide and historian Simon Dell.

Laurence has written previous non-fiction books on a hitchhike from Land’s End to the far northwest of Scotland and on a long-distance walk along Hadrian’ s Wall. In these books and in his novels, his stories are based on many chance encounters with people and places which echo those of his own life and how he has overcome health and redundancy issues.