Award-winning author Louise Kennedy, best known for her debut novel Trespasses, which was adapted into a Bafta-nominated TV series, is currently working on her second novel, Stations, which is being serialised on BBC Radio 4. A former chef with decades of experience in the kitchen, Kennedy says she was not intimidated by the so-called "second book syndrome," a term used to describe the pressure and anxiety writers often face when producing a follow-up to a successful debut. She admits she could have continued her career in the culinary world and says her life "wouldn't have been thoroughly miserable." Kennedy began writing in 2014 after a friend invited her to join a writing group. Trespasses, published in 2022, is set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and explores a forbidden love between a young Catholic teacher and a married Protestant barrister. Her new novel, Stations, traces the evolving friendship between Róisín and Red, spanning 25 years from rural Ireland to London. Kennedy describes her connection to Róisín as "unfinished business," and notes that while Róisín shares some traits with the unsympathetic teenage character from her 2021 short story collection, The End of the World is a Cul-de-sac, she is not the same person. Kennedy explains that she changed her accent after moving to the Republic of Ireland in the 1970s, and this shift is reflected in Róisín’s character. She also reflects on the loss of her Belfast accent, noting that her internal voice still carries a northern Irish cadence, even though her current speech is more neutral. Kennedy emigrated to England in the 1980s for economic reasons, a common experience for many Irish people at the time due to better job opportunities and fewer visa restrictions. She reflects on earlier waves of Irish emigrants in the 1940s and 1950s, many of whom were better educated but faced similar challenges. In 2019, she was diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer, which progressed to stage 4. Rather than focusing on her prognosis, she turned to her writing as a way to cope. She acknowledges the medical team who continue to care for her and pays tribute to the scientist who developed a treatment using Chinese hamster ovary cells against melanoma. Kennedy’s debut novel, Trespasses, was adapted into a Channel 4 drama starring Gillian Anderson and Lola Petticrew. While she has not yet considered specific casting for a potential adaptation of Stations, she jokes that her grandmother would have been "tickled pink" to see Gillian Anderson playing her character. As she approaches her 60th birthday, Kennedy reflects on her unexpected success as a writer, contrasting it with her earlier career as a chef. She encourages others to "give anything they fancy a lash," a phrase that captures her open, adventurous spirit.