Richard Shain Cohen started writing fiction over a half a century ago. After being interrupted by school, war and a career as an English professor, the Cape Elizabeth resident has finally been able to return to pursuing his hobby and passion.

“I never gave up on my desire to write,” Cohen said, “even if I had to wait until I retired.”

“Petal on a Black Bough,” his third novel, came out in April and tells the story of a mythological character’s involvement in the struggle for Irish independence. Though the novel is classified as a historical fantasy, Cohen joked that he “read somewhere on some Web site” that it was also being called literature.

After teaching at several colleges, finishing up with 16 years at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, working in the departments of English and Academic Affairs, Cohen, 79, finally retired in 1990. Since then, he has also written a book of poetry, in collaboration with his late brother Alfred Cohen.

Though Cohen was raised Jewish, he always had an interest in Catholic religion and Irish history.

“A scholarly uncle of mine found out I have drops of Irish blood in me on my mother’s side,” Cohen said, offering an explanation for his interest. Cohen said he was always exposed to different types of people growing up in Boston – both from being part of a mixed family and from growing up in diverse neighborhoods.

Cohen’s story contains interwoven storylines set in both Ireland and Cambridge, Mass., and follows the lives of two characters with different spellings of the same name – Medb and Maeve.

Medb is a mythological warrior-goddess who emerges from the past to help find more warriors to fight for Irish independence. Medb, herself, is known for her affinity toward war, as well as for licentiousness and sorcery. Maeve Dwyer is an American girl who is precociously insightful and has inherited the spirit of the warrior-goddess.

Though the story has fantastical and mythological elements, it also deals with real issues, Cohen said, like the discrimination that Irish immigrants faced in America – “the reality of prejudice and what prejudice does to people,” Cohen said.

The story is also about the romantic lives of the two women. Cohen said in mythology, Medb is supposed to have died of a broken heart, but he doesn’t believe that’s true.

Cohen said as he writes, his characters speak to him and tell him what they’re going to do next.

“From my perspective, these people are real,” Cohen said. “I believe any one of these characters you could see in real life.”

Cohen said though he thinks his book, which he self-published, will appeal to people who like history and fantasy in particular, he also believes it has an audience in people who don’t typically read those genres.

“There’s a reality in it you can’t ignore,” he said.

Cohen will be doing a reading of “Petal on a Black Bough” on July 17 at 7 p.m. at Longfellow Books in Portland and is setting up a date for a book signing and discussion at Borders in South Portland this fall. The book can be purchased at Longfellow, Borders and Nonesuch Books, as well as on line through the publisher, www.Airleaf.com.

For more information visit www.blackboughbooks.com.

Cape Elizabeth author Richard Shain Cohen, who has just published his fourth book, said his characters speak to him as he writes.