Author Colin Barrett has said he was not expecting to be longlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.
It was announced on Tuesday that the Mayo man's debut novel, Wild Houses, had made it to the 13-strong longlist for the coveted literary award.
"I knew I was eligible but I hadn't thought beyond that," Mr Barrett said.
Mr Barrett added that he knew he was proud of the book but was not sure what the reception would be like.
Although a full-time writer since 2014, after his short story collection Young Skins was published, it took Mr Barrett six years to write his first novel.
"I'm a slow writer," he said, adding "I've learned to trust my editors."
Wild Houses
The main theme of Wild Houses, according to Mr Barrett, is community.
"I mostly write about communities in the West of Ireland - it's what I know," Mr Barret said.
He added that although the novel had crime in it, it is not about crime.
"It's about inescapability," Mr Barrett said.
The novel is set in Ballina, Co Mayo. Mr Barrett is from Knockmore, a small village outside Ballina.
Wild Houses follows Dev, a reclusive young man in his 20s. One day he gets a knock at the door and it is his two cousins - they have just kidnapped someone and need to use Dev's house to keep their victim.
Nicky is the girlfriend of the man who has been kidnapped and she is trying to find out what is going on.
The point of view alternates between Dev and Nicky throughout the book.
Mr Barrett is currently a writer-in-residence at University College Dublin.
He has two published short story collections: Young Skins (2013) and Homesickness (2022).
Young Skins won the 2014 Guardian First Book Award.
The Booker shortlist of six books will be announced on 21 September and the winner will be announced in November.
