Books: 'I had to learn about the drug trade for my new novel set in Cork'

“I need to know how to smuggle drugs.” The young guard at Bandon garda station stared at me in disbelief. This clearly was not the kind of enquiry he usually got.

An older Garda overheard my statement and came to the rescue. “How can I help?”

I explained that I was writing a novel about drug smuggling and needed professional input - from the law enforcement side.

I’d already contacted the garda press office and approached local guards, but could get no information. The Garda promised to see what she could do.

A day later, I received an email from the Chief Superintendent assigning me my very own drug expert detective. Audacity had paid off.

Over several meetings, Joanne O’Brien - now Detective Superintendent - patiently answered my questions and provided a valuable understanding of drug investigations and Garda procedures.

My son Kieran, a former member of the US Army’s elite Delta Force, schooled me in surveillance techniques and clever concealment methods.

Between them, they helped ensure that my fictional world would be grounded in reality, and now the resulting book, Safe Harbours, has been published the start of a series revolving around a garda, Inspector Mossy Farrell.

The inspiration for Safe Harbours came from where I live - the beautiful Sheep’s Head peninsula, between Bantry Bay and Dunmanus Bay.

It draws walkers, cyclists, and nature lovers from around the world. It also, on rare occasions, attracts less savoury visitors.

I was intrigued by tales of storied smugglers and their contraband shipments landing in hidden coves along our rugged shores. I decided to create my own smuggler story.

What I learned during this process is that there are two types of writers: plotters and pantsers.

Plotters neatly map out everything before they begin writing.

Pantsers fly by the seat of their pants. They get stuck into the writing with no idea how the story will unfold.

Despite my best efforts to be a plotter, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool pantser.

Flying blind, my protagonist in Safe Harbours, Inspector Mossy Farrell - a Bantry-based Guard who lives on the Sheep’s Head - and I took the plunge.

At the beginning of the book, the word of a drifter bragging about being at sea in a storm and suddenly being flush with cash coincides with hard drugs surfacing at a local party.

Farrell worries that traffickers may once again be operating in the Bantry area. Cocaine had devastated the community once before. He’s determined not to let it happen again.

Eventually, Farrell and the Divisional Drugs Unit close in on a sophisticated international smuggling operation. High-level surveillance and dangerous, simultaneous raids at sea and on land ensue.

Sergeant Lucy Quinn is Farrell’s long-time colleague and the Garda station’s gifted IT specialist.

Her pragmatism balances Farrell’s impulsivity and impatience, helping to keep him grounded and focused. Away from the investigation, an unexpected romance adds a complication Farrell didn’t see coming.

I wondered how to make Farrell stand out as a character in Safe Harbours. He needed strengths and flaws - and a disadvantage that he was able to overcome.

Once again, inspiration came from close to home. My son Kieran had learned to make his childhood diagnosis of ADHD work to his benefit. He developed a remarkable ability to approach problems from unexpected angles.

His experiences helped me to shape Farrell’s investigative style in my book.

Like Kieran, Farrell sees possibilities where others see obstacles. Although his tendency to anger quickly sometimes gets him into trouble, he redeems himself with a unique thought process that can lead to moments of genuine insight.

Although Safe Harbours is my first novel, writing has always been central to my life. Before settling in West Cork and turning to fiction, I had several careers - public relations, advertising, and journalism - in several countries - the U.S, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Spain).

I also wrote several non-fiction books as well as two humorous memoirs.

In Nice Girls DO Travel, I leave home in Montreal, Canada, in 1969 as a sheltered but determined 19-year-old.

My very conservative grandmother tried to prevent the trip. “Nice girls do not travel by themselves,” she admonished. I proved her wrong, working my way around the world.

Anywhere But Saudi Arabia is a collection of anecdotes of my adventures during nearly 24 years in Riyadh. These included being put in jail by the religious police and getting taken at gunpoint by a tribe in the mountains of Oman.

However, the transition from non-fiction to fiction was more difficult than I anticipated.

From being entirely fact-bound in my writing, I was suddenly reliant on my imagination to make invented worlds feel real. Research was still essential, just differently applied.

To help me find my footing, I signed up for a novel-writing workshop during the West Cork Literary Festival.

To my dismay, all the participants either had a novel well underway or had a workable concept. I had nothing - just an empty notepad and a vague sense of panic. By the end of the five-day workshop, though, my notepad was full and I had a way forward for a story.

The resulting novel still sits in my bottom drawer, but it got me started on a path I’ve been following happily ever since.

The workshop also gave me something I hadn’t anticipated: my first writers’ group.

I’m a better writer because of the encouragement, advice, and constructive critiques of fellow authors. Writing may be a solitary activity, but publishing a book is rarely a solo effort.

Safe Harbours was fun to write. I hope you get as much enjoyment from reading it.

The book is available in Bantry Bookshop and from Amazon.

Book two in the Mossy Farrell series is scheduled for release later this year.