Limerick author discusses her work so far as she releases two books

ABUSIVE marriages, cervical cancer, road deaths and extra-marital affairs.

Dooradoyle author Laura Gallagher, who has just released her fifth book, never shies away from tough subjects in her writing.

“I don’t write the easiest of books. The subjects I write about are very heavy,” she acknowledges as we sit down for a coffee at her father Billy Fitzgerald’s pub in Thomondgate, on the city’s northside.

“I always say my poor husband lives with about 100 different personalities! Whatever I am writing about, I am so immersed in it, that I live through it. I always say to people - don’t ever look through my Google search history,” Laura smiles.

A prolific author, she’s just released her latest book, a story called Holly Ever After, out in time for the Christmas market.

It represents a departure from her normal work, where she deals with tough times, often lacing her writing with much-needed humour.

Laura spoke to us a short time after her fourth novel, It Should Have Been You was launched by Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Gerald Mitchell.

It marks the start of her second trilogy, all focused on the lives and loves of the three King brothers - Logan, Archer and Jaxson - in small-town USA, a location the author has left to the reader’s imagination.

We get to talking about her fourth book, and she laughs after I ask her to give us a précis of it.

“This is always the worst question an author will ever have because we will write an entire book, and suddenly someone will ask us what it's all about,” she grinned.

As in her first trilogy, this book follows one of the King brothers, Logan, and another character also seen before, Beth.

“Initially, they spend this random weekend together. Nothing happens. Fast-forward 10 years later, in that time, they have separated. Beth goes through an abusive marriage and at the end of it, she moves to a small town where Logan now lives. Sparks fly,” she revealed.

Born and reared in Pennywell in the city, Laura moved to Dooradoyle as a teenager, and it was then her creative juices began to flow.

It was at the age of 18 that Laura, now 31, wrote her first book.

“I was always a reader. When I got into my teens, myself and my grandmother were quite close. We used to share stories. A lot of the time they were crime novels and mystery novels. Every so often she would give me a romance. I could be 17 and there might just be a kiss in it, but she'd ask my mother’s permission first!”

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There was one book the young Laura was given, covering the devastating World War II conflict.

For whatever reason, that led to her beginning to seriously write her first book.

Four short weeks later, Watch Over My Life, the first book of her first trilogy, was complete.

“I wrote this when I was 18, and the basis around it is that the principal character had cervical cancer. I ended up getting it myself. It was like I'd written my own plot,” said Laura.

Fortunately, she has recovered from cancer, but still battles multiple sclerosis, which she contracted later in life.

After Laura’s first book, writing was put on the backburner while she had her son Liam aged 22, and worked as an office manager.

But the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic when most of us were stuck at home, reignited her creative spark, and she finished off her first trilogy, two more standalone stories.

“The first one looks at cervical cancer, the second one follows Mandy, who lost a childhood sweetheart in a car accident, and the third follows two other characters from those first two books, with one working for a domestic abuse shelter,” she explained.

As any writer will tell you, the thrill of seeing one's name in print never gets old.

When her first book hit the shelves and she saw it in shops, Laura said it felt “surreal” and compared it to an “outer body experience.”

She's been lucky in her writing career that she's had a lot of success - It Should Have Been You sold out within hours of going on sale through Amazon - and part of that is that she's taken advantage of the various social media channels.

Having written about tough subjects, and gone through very difficult times herself with her own health, Laura praised her “most amazing support system”.

“I have my husband Shane at home and he is my rock. I have my son Liam, who is now nine. He tells anyone he comes across - you know my mum wrote a book,” the author laughed.

On top of this, she also pays tribute to her parents Billy and Breda, and sister and best friend Liz.

Laura's books are available from all good booksellers online worldwide.

Locally, you can pick them up at The Crescent Bookshop in the Crescent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle.