A writer who is inspired by his own chance encounters is hoping a teenager who features as a character in his latest book will come forward.

Laurence Shelley has just published his novel Visions of Wilderness which is inspired by his own experiences of meeting strangers on Dartmoor and in Tavistock.

One haunting character is called Image based on a young girl he spied from the top deck of a bus sitting outside an empty Tavistock house.

Intrigued by this glimpse, he later visited and briefly stayed at the derelict house, which the girl had vacated, back in 2012 to research his book as authentically as possible.

The book is set on Dartmoor and Tavistock features prominently with his protagonist visiting Goosey Fair, following which he has a notable encounter at a squat with a young woman.

He found clues to her background which has used to add colour her personality. Laurence now hopes she will come forward, so he can meet her and fill in the gaps in her life.

He discovered paintings daubed on the wall, giving away her age, and the word ‘escape’ and two apparently confrontational faces.

Laurence, of Plymouth, said: “I would really love to meet this girl I only saw briefly from the top deck of the bus coming into Tavistock when my car was off the road. She was sitting on the front doorstep as we passed by. Her situation at an empty old house immediately grabbed my attention and interest.

“I began wondering about her, who she was, why she was there and increasingly what has happened to her since then.”

He found a small purse decorated with two cockerels, a CD of 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' and green sugar bowl with a dragon decoration and graffiti and drawings.

The graffiti included 'Happy 16th to me', the word 'escape' and mythological type figures painted on the walls.

“Inspired by what I saw and found, I evolved a character called Imogen, or Image, who spoke about her drawings and shared poems she had written,’ he said.

“However, the thought of a teenager possibly living alone in a squat with obvious artistic talents intrigued and concerned me then and now, in equal measure. She would now be nudging 30 years of age and I'd like to think she'd have come through that experience and perhaps found outlets for her creativity.

“I have donated copies of my book to other contacts in my research and would love to do the same for that squatter, showing how her 'escape' actually fired ideas for a key character and challenging interactions with my protagonist.”

The book’s main character was born in a Bedford cottage in Tavistock. In his research Laurence met 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.