Limerick author's twist-filled new novel unfolds on Treaty City streets

Irish Independent

01-05-2025

'I was having these nightmares all the time,' Karen says, reflecting on the early days of COVID-19.
'Planes crashing, trains crashing, the world blowing up, because we just didn't know what was happening.
'One night I dreamt my daughter, who lived in Madrid at the time, wasn't communicating with me, so I showed up at her door and there was a baby in her arms. I brought them both to the airport to go home, and she just vanished in the crowd, leaving me alone with her daughter,' Karen recalls.
That eerie visual became the heart of her upcoming novel, which centres on the mysterious disappearance of a young mother at Limerick's Colbert Station and marks the return of Private Investigator Lana Bowen to solve the case.
A Limerick resident for nearly three decades, Karen grounds her fiction firmly in the streets she knows so well.
'I've been living in the city for almost 30 years, walking it, running it, I know all the little side streets,' she explains. 'It was important to me to capture that.'
This authenticity is something readers have come to appreciate, particularly for those who call Limerick home.
Her writing process, by contrast, is far from methodical. 'In every other part of my life, I plan everything. But when I write, there's no plan at all,' she chuckles.
'I just sit and make myself write a certain number of words, four days a week.' That freedom fuels her creativity, even if the plot often unravels into chaos that needs careful stitching together.
The development of Never Look Back, the second instalment of a three-part series, was no exception. 'Twists, I love them,' she smiles, 'but you've got to untwist them,' she adds. 'I think I drove my editor nuts last summer. We had to untangle everything. It took weeks!'
ADVERTISEMENT
That editor is Gaye Shortland, a veteran in the industry since 1998, who Karen describes as 'the biggest gift of all' from her publishing journey.
'She won't let anything go if it doesn't make sense. I've learned so much from her,' Karen states.
The novel itself took four months to draft, just like her first, but the road to publication was far longer.
'I started writing it in September 2021,' she explains. 'I'd already had rejections for my premiere novel, The World's End, and I became kind of cross. I thought to myself, 'You think it'll be easier than it is', but it's not.'
And yet, the Casteconnell native persevered. 'There's always a solution to writer's block. Even if you're walking the dog or out shopping. Something clicks and you go, 'That's it.''
Her storytelling is layered with shadowy clues and red herrings that leaves the reader 'guessing all the time.'
The Limerick arts scene has been a rock of support to Karen during her writing journey.
Deeply involved in local theatre, including with Northside Misfits, Southill Community Drama Group, St Saviour's, Thomond Studio, and more, Karen says: 'They've all been amazing. So many of them were at the launch last year, and they're excited again this year. Working with them, creating plays, characters and fixing plot holes, it taught me I could write a book.'
Never Look Back is set to hit the shelves of O'Mahony's Booksellers on May 8, 2025.