I thought it was lost for good, on a disc of a different format from several computers ago.  I've been thinking about the characters...

Today, rooting through some old stuff I found a hefty taped up bundle in an old typing paper box.  The old quarto sized stuff.

There it was, 60,000 words of it, and when I looked at it I realised why I couldn't find a disc, or a thumb drive with it, or even a file copied from one computer to another.

From 1980.  It was pre-computer, done on a real typewriter.  The font looks strange.  Not weird strange, just unfamiliar after decades of Time New Roman in various sizes..

I shall look at it again tomorrow, in proper daylight.

It was my entry for - I believe I've got this right - The TSB Peninsula Prize.  Open to natives of Cornwall, or people living there.  Apart from a reasonable cash prize there was also a publication contract for the winner.  I didn't win it.

But the dream was there. And my wife was already learning that sometimes when the words called, she'd lose me for a few hours at a time.

Ah well...  I'm glad it's not truly lost.

Gyppo

PS:  It followed one of the golden rules for a thriller.  Body on the first page  ;-).   

Gyppo

Nothing is ever entirely lost...  Though sometimes, it might as well be.