Starquest:
I buried a jewel and wrote a book containing clues to its location.
In 1982 I wrote a book, Starquest, which contained encoded clues to the mystery location of a jewel, which I designed myself and then buried within a 15 mile radius of Sheffield. The basic concept was inspired by and based upon Kit Williams' book Masquerade.
The project has had a somewhat chequered history, but to this day, no one has solved the code.
Here is the story so far.
The History of Starquest
In the spring of 1982 I wrote this story in a single morning;
for some strange reason this story for me was a 'natural write' which just fell
out of my mind and onto the paper. The jewel was buried in November of that year, whereupon the
books then appeared in all the major bookstores in South Yorkshire. However due
to poor sales the project ran until 30 March 1983 when after consulting my
lawyers I withdrew the stock,
supplied no further books and gave the public 30 days to find the jewel or it
would be dug up and scrapped.
In fact I waited until 1984 before I did this, and was frankly surprised after
all that extra time to find the jewel still undiscovered and intact. I kept all the unsold
and withdrawn stock until 1 January 2000 when, having been piled behind my house
for years and half rotten from rain, that too was destroyed in a major file cleanout I carried out at that time.
However I kept a handful of copies and I guess there was always a part of me that wanted to re-launch it, and at that time, around the turn of the 21st century, the internet came along which might make it possible for me to do this without going to the time, trouble and expense of paying for another print run and its physical distribution.
But alas! Behold the twists and turns of fate! I had not at that time the money to build a new jewel, and so, one thing leading to another, as in life it does, the project remained on the shelf, I emigrated from the UK in 2004, worked in various jobs, started a company, made a fortune, and then found myself caught up and tied down in the demanding complexities of the monster I had created.
However I am finally retired now, with my tropical apartment, my lump sum, and all the time in the world. A new ball game!
The prize
So, at last it is now re-launched! There is no jewel, just a prize of GBP 5,000 for the first correct solution sent to me, together with the decipher. But remember, you must also supply the decipher, as I can't award a prize just for guessing because I have no gaming licence.
So what's in it for me?
Nothing. I have enough money these days to do this and again I always wanted to re-launch it. There is no book to buy -- it's right here below -- and no charge for sending in entries. I don't want to bury another jewel because in the past this led to people digging up all manner of places, causing much inconvenience, and so it's better if the reader studies the pages below and then sends me their solution.
I also took a chance when I re-launched, that no one would have solved the book in the meantime and upon re-launch would now quickly send me the decipher and claim the prize. This would be improper on their part because they would have solved the book on the old competition, sometime between its ending and its re-launch, i.e out of time -- but they're not going to tell me that. However immediately prior to re-launch, in January 2024, I revisited the original site and found the ground undisturbed, and then dug up a message I had left back in 1984 to the effect that the competition had ended. Its seals were still intact.
Don't dig! Write in!
So, there's nothing to dig up anymore, so please don't go digging holes. Send your entries to me at [email protected] and I will reply to as many as I can, and very certainly of course to the first correct one! But if you do not receive a reply, then your entry was not correct. Note: For security purposes this email service is encrypted and will require a password to read my reply. Use STQhcraeS (it is case sensitive).
Here is the book! Good reading -- and good luck!
Remember at this point that there is no longer a jewel buried, and that you must now write in!
Good luck!