Young adult fantasy to hit bookshelves next week.
Laura-Louise Slattery will launch her new book next Wednesday evening, 3rd December. Princess Pineberry and the Sky Paladins of RAM is a young adult fantasy novel, and will make its public debut at a free event in Bookworm, Thurles, at 7pm.
A native of the Cathedral town, Laura-Louise was a pupil at Gaelscoil Bhride and the Presentation Secondaty School, before going on to complete a BA honours degree in media production management at DCU.
And she caught the writing bug early.
“I started writing stories when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I completed my very first novel when I was 15, which was a fanfiction novel based on the role-playing PlayStation 2 video game, Final Fantasy X. I played video games voraciously as a child, and I started writing stories about my favourite games, thus kickstarting my love for fiction writing and storytelling.”
Her fantasy/sci-fi writing really started to take shape during her teenage years, when she became obsessed with books like The Lord Of The Rings byTolkien, and the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.
“I fell in love with the beautifully-crafted fantastical settings and compelling magical systems presented in these books, as well as the various creatures, races, cultures, and the political infrastructure of these worlds. Reading them growing up really made me want to create my own fantasy worlds.”
Her literary heroes also include writers like Ursula Le Guin, Rick Riordan, Diana Wynne Jones, Richard Adams, Margaret Atwood, and Robin Hobb.
Laura-Louise –who is also an illustrator and comic book artist – has written countless books over the years, and her new book is her second published novel.
“I published my first novel back in 2012, when I was 18. But it’s not exactly a novel I’m proud of. This new novel is my first proper time venturing into self-publishing.”
The novel’s heroine is Princess Pineberry, a video game NPC sprite from a fantasy role-playing game, who is sick and tired of being the fragile damsel in distress, always getting kidnapped and always being rescued by the hero. So she embarks on an epic adventure of her own, alongside a crew of renegade video game sprites who call themselves ‘sky paladins’. The princess intends to discover what lies outside of her video game world, as well as learning about friendship, and what it means to live on her own terms. Pineberry wishes for nothing more than to fight her own battles, and explore the world outside of her beloved Mooncake
“At it’s core,” says Laura-Louise, “this is a story about what it means to be human from the perspective of someone who is not human. The main theme of the novel is breaking tradition – just because you are programmed to play a certain role, it doesn’t mean you are destined to play that role forever.”
While Princess Pineberry and the Sky Paladins of RAM is a young adult novel (age 9+), Laura-Louise says it’s a story anyone at any age can read. “I like to describe it as an all-ages novel.”
Her hope for the book is that it will reach a wide range of readers and build a fanbase for her future works. “I would like this book to be read and enjoyed by people who both love video games, and who also are perhaps unaware of the litRPG (literary Role-Playimg Game) genre, and would like to dabble in it.”
So will this be the start of a Princess Pineberry series?
“Sadly, no. This is a stand-alone story, so it will not be continued as a series. But my next book I’m planning to publish next year is a young adult Irish superhero illustrated novel, set in Dublin in the 1990s. I’m hoping to release it next autumn, and that will be the first book in a planned series.”
Does she have any advice for aspiring writers out there?
“My biggest advice to writers is to keep going and never quit, even if you think you’re the worst writer in the world. There’s an audience for every genre out there. Everyone has different reading tastes. It’s important to believe in yourself and your story, no matter what.
“I wrote the first couple of drafts of Princess Pineberry and the Sky Paladins of RAM over three years ago, and I queried literary agents for a long time and faced so much rejection. But the story was too important to me. I needed to put it out there in whatever way i could, so I did. I plucked up the courage to self-publish it, and out it out there despite whatever criticism it may attract. If you love writing a certain story, regardless of how weird or quirky or out-market it may be, chances are there will be people out there who love it too.”
Princess Pineberry and the Sky Paladins of RAM is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, and through the Irish-owned independent bookseller Buythebook.ie – a great way to support Irish authors, and help them to sell their books directly to their readers.
Follow Laura-Louise:
Instagram and Bluesky:
@redheadpinupreader
TikTok: @redheadpinupdrawe
You can also subscribe to her Substack newsletter, Redhead Pinup Reader.
Loughtagalla Times 
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