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Limerick author pens critically acclaimed new crime novel

Donal O'Regan, 11 May

THE ENDEAVOUR of publishing a novel is far from easy, and that ‘pinch

me’ moment came for Karen Fitzgibbon one afternoon when she received a

large delivery to her Limerick city home.

After finally finding a publisher who snapped up her debut novel, The

World’s End - the first installment in a series she envisions - Karen

received a box packed to the brim of her glossy soft-back bound work.

The moment was so stunning to the Castleconnell native, that she left

it unopened for hours, until she was ready for the realisation that she

had achieved ‘it’ - after years of writing, she had just become a

published author.

The premise of the crime fiction debut is one of mystery. On a

beautiful weekend in May, Grace, and her friend Sarah travel to the

seaside village of Castle Cove. After a night of partying, they hire a

boat and sail to a nearby island. Five go out, but only four return,

and a year later, private investigator Lana Bowen is set on getting to

the bottom of the case.

The inspiration for the setting came as Karen reflected on all of the

beautiful seasides she has ever had the joy of witnessing. About 15

years previous to the release, Karen recalls visiting Seafield Beach in

Quilty, Co Clare, in particular the remains of a home her mother-in-law

had mentioned.

“You have to cross the field to get to the beach. And that's where the

ruin of this house is and there's an outline of a swimming pool there.

But you can just see the pale blue paint on the outline, but it's all

overgrown. And I just thought, ‘What is this place?’”

Having been captured by the sights, the cogs of her creative mind began

to turn. In January 2021, as lockdown engulfed the world, Karen sat in

the corner of her living room, to write the first draft of the

page-turner which can now be seen dotted along the shelves at

O’Mahony’s bookshop on O’Connell Street in the city.

Wife to Pat, and mother-of-three to Peter, Lauren and Jonathon

(pictured above), and proud owner of cherished springer spaniel, Major,

the author agrees that while writing is a solitary activity, her family

were always on-side to hear her latest page-turning development,

proofread pages or even listen to how she twisted the plotline entirely

halfway through.

“I changed the perpetrator halfway through the book,” she candidly

states. “So, it could be any of the four who returned, and I explored

each one of them. It was almost like I was investigating the story, as

well as Lana Bowen.”

Having sent three drafted novels, including the first installment seen

on shelves today, to numerous publishers, Karen became used to the

feeling of rejection, adding that it was even something she came to

expect.

However, the moment that faithful acceptance email arrived, Karen

admits to glancing only at the teaser line, which read: “Hi, Karen,

just to let you know that we've read all three novels and…”

“I rang my son, Peter, hyperventilating, I couldn’t open the email, so

I gave him all of my details, he opened it and he said ‘oh mom’, and

that was the best, you know, it was a true pinch me moment.”

The writing process for Karen is unlike that of many other authors. “My

process is that I don't have one, and I discovered that as I went

along,” Karen revealed. “I've made lots of attempts to write books,

I've even finished one but kept getting stuck and found the whole thing

really, really hard, so I originally just thought it wasn’t for me.”

However, after being sent a link to an online writers workshop, Karen

found herself excited to begin writing fiction again. “I've been

writing scripts for theatre and film with Limerick community groups for

donkey's years, and I thought, why not give this another go?”

READ MORE: Crime spree in picturesque Limerick village

So far, the novel is a hit with family and friends alike, with even

reviews from acclaimed authors such as Limerick’s Donal Ryan and fellow

crime fiction author, Patricia Gibney.

Karen's love affair with words stems from her passion for page-turners,

citing Patricia Cornwell as one of many inspirations. “I love reading

and I love page-turners.

“I love when characters are gritty and not too polished,” she added.

However, it also stems from her passion for theatre. Productions were a

calling for Karen over the years, as seen with her own company,

Teaspach, the Irish word which colloquially translates to ‘high

energy’. She brought drama to the Limerick and Clare Education and

Training Board, allowing it to be used as a teaching tool, while also

working with the Northside Misfits, Southill Community and Drama

Groups, St Saviour’s, Thomond Studio, and more.

“When I started using it to teach at first, it was a case of, let's

write the script rather than choose it, because when you have a group

of 15 people, and there's men and women of different ages, it's really

hard to find a script that's going to suit them. So, you have to write

your own.”

Limerick, she appreciates, is becoming a more vibrant scene for the

arts, and culture. With each home-grown project seemingly flourishing,

Karen continues to bring drama to life by writing scripts for

locally-shot short films.

Seeing her previous words jump from their pages has Karen dreaming of

The World’s End hitting the big or small screens, or in whatever format

the production teams see fit!