Illness in the Fairy Kingdom is relatively rare.  Get the wrong side of the Queen, Eileen, Hanastrew, the Chief Witch and/or Brankaresh and they won't curse you with a disease or anything like that.  They'll just kill you and have done with it.

There had been concern expressed by the Council what when visiting other worlds, Earth especially, Eileen could bring back human type viruses and illnesses but, to date, this has not happened. 

Youngsters in the Kingdom have a series of jabs against human diseases when still at school but there isn't anything available anywhere that would protect them from a curse spell.  They are also expected to use their common sense if they come across gingerbread houses covered in sweets.  Not only are they warned of the dangers of witches using this as a device to snare children (whom she intends to cook), but the perils of diabetes, obesity and tooth decay are also emphasized.  The result has been nobody goes near a gingerbread house (much to the annoyance of the witch who originally patented the idea).

Humans are despised by the magical world for its warlike qualities and our capacity for polluting anything.  Illnesses just stress how weak we are in the eyes of magical beings generally. 

Writing for pleasure in the Fairy Kingdom is done mainly by school age children as part of their lessons.  They are encouraged to write their own fairytales.  The Fairy News Network broadcasts many of these (not because of the literary merit of the stories but because everyone likes to see their kids doing well at something like this).

Where fiction begins and non-fiction ends can be difficult to tell.  Many would say Roherum gave up trying decades ago, a charge he denies.  Both forms of writing are appreciated.  No one form is considered superior.

Books of fairy tales can be published by individuals and usually are.  The Queen's Council will, on instructions from the monarch, release older tales in collections so people's knowledge of the tales stays updated.

Most historical writing in the Fairy Kingdom, as we understand the term, is actually what we see as the classic fairytales.

The Queen's Council, led by L'Evallier, keeps an official record or diary of its activities but there is no question of this ever being published.  Neither monarch nor Council members would stomach that.  It's a pity because the diaries are very frank though it would be inevitable if publication was an option, that frankness would go.  (The best reason for not publishing them is that Roherum on the Fairy News Network would almost certainly exaggerate them and there is a genuine feel this would add nothing to the cause of good journalism).

There is no 30, 50 or 100 year rules in the realm.  If something is not to be published, it is either destroyed or buried in the royal archives.  These go on for miles under the Palace and even with the best location spell at your disposal if the Queen and her Council don't want you finding something, you won't.

Eileen wrote her own version and thoughts on various Kingdom historical incidents.  These were published but only because of her royal status.  Her books are safely buried in the Palace Library.  Those who want to read them have to give their name to the stern Librarian and, surprise surprise, it puts people off.  The Queen is very good at subtle censorship.

This is based on observation and what I've learned over the years.  These are not in any particular order.

A good writer will:-

1. Seek feedback on their work and know criticism is never personal.
2. Learn how to work out what criticism is valid and should be applied and which is an opinion you have good cause not to agree with or implement.
3. Know the first draft is always rubbish.  Ruder versions of that phrase are available...
4. Accept that whether it's a short story or a novel, multiple drafts are a fact of life.  Far from being a depressing thought, a good writer will realise their own imperfections and see drafts as a chance of ironing out at least some of them!
5. Reads a lot - and realise non-fiction can help spark ideas for stories so reads plenty of that too.
   
6. Writes a lot and across genres.
   
7. Never gives up.
8. Accepts that Murphy's Law for Writers includes the premise your toner cartridge will always run out without warning when printing out anything, usually a novel, to be sent to a publisher/agent.  This is becoming less irritating with the increasing use of email for submissions.  I welcome that development as I couldn't tell you how often I got caught out by this law!
   
9. Gives out (especially on social media) and shares what they like (and it's not always about their own work either).
10. Backs up their work frequently.  Backs up their work frequently...  Backs up...  I once was caught out by a power cut and lost an evening's work.  Fortunately I had notes and I have a good typing speed but I swore at the time never again.  I also just swore... 
    

The clever trick in getting it wrong in the Fairy Kingdom is to do it in such a way, the end result is not your immediate death usually in a cloud of smoke because you've annoyed some witch or wizard.

Honestly, those people really ought to go for anger management counselling but until such time as they do, visitors to the magical realm would do well to know what they are visiting, what the etiquette is and have a powerful fairy godmother or someone of that ilk as their guide.  That at least improves the chances of leaving the place (a) alive and (b) with all of your bits, personal and otherwise, being where they should be or where they were when you first turned up.

Residents of the magical realm from all species and abilities get it wrong too but they are schooled at a very early age on all those things which will result in their death.  They are taught the "What Not to Do" school of thought and have this reinforced with workshops (attendance compulsory), lectures (attendance compulsory) and must re-read the classic fairy tales at least once a month (this is also compulsory.  There isn't much that is voluntary in the Fairy Kingdom).

This should make one thing clear.  The world of magic definitely has its downside.

Storytelling in the Fairy Kingdom follows the way it developed on Earth but with one proviso. 

The oral tradition is still alive and well in the magical realm.  Every village and town has twice weekly readings (usually up to ten stories per session).  Stories are chosen to reflect the type of resident.  Each magical species has its own version of what we consider to be the classic fairy tales.  (For example, the trolls have their own version of The Billy Goats Gruff and it ends with a barbecue!).

The Lord Chamberlain organizes twice weekly meetings in the Palace for all Household staff.  The Queen attends one of these sessions, believing the staff will welcome the other one without her.  She loves reading in bed for preference.  Eileen never attended these sessions.  After a hard day's monster fighting and once she'd freshened up and eaten, her idea of bliss was to read quietly in her luxurious Palace suite.  She definitely didn't want the shared experience.

Fairytales are taken seriously here and are seen as factual reports, almost like news items in the more reputable papers on Earth. 

The Fairy News Network has a story reading session broadcast from around the realm once a week.  It's a little like Songs of Praise in that whichever location is chosen for this honour, the hall concerned is packed with residents hoping to watch the broadcast and spot themselves on screen later.

There's more to being a fairy godmother than just waving the old wand about (though Eileen is phenomenally good at that).

Crucial job skills for those who want to make a living in the magical world and, most of all, get to live longer than the average mayfly include:-

1. Summing people/foul fiends/monsters/other magical beings up quickly and accurately.  You've got to know who you must zap and why before they get to sum you up and zap you.
2. Being able to use magic appropriately.  There is no point in wasting magical energy.  It only drains the user and so can make them more vulnerable.  Eileen doesn't believe in being vulnerable to any other magical being.
3. Having a wide range of spells to call on in an emergency.
4. Knowing which of those spells is most appropriate for said emergency.
5. Having a very wide range of defensive spells.  It's vital not to be caught out.  You are rarely given the equivalent of a magical fine here.  You live or you die.  That's it. 
   
6. Knowing the pattern of stories.  History (and in the Fairy Kingdom fairy tales belong in that category) repeats itself.  Eileen knows this and tries to use this to her advantage.  It also helps with 1 above.
7. Reading widely on the latest magical practices, being aware the more astute of your rivals are doing exactly the same thing. 
   
8. Practising spells regularly and safely.  You don't want the things rebounding for one thing.  Regular practice here is the magical equivalent of athletic training, writers practising their craft and so on.
9. Not being taken in by the glib.  For Eileen this means roadtesting new spells and magical techniques and deciding for herself what most suits her.  She only uses reviews (where given) as a rough guide only.  And she is always suspicious of anyone trying to charm her.  She believes they're after something she's not ready to give.  This attitude has stood her in very good stead over the years.
10. Never ever letting any kind of apprentice work for her.  She regularly advises the more honourable wizards of the perils of this, advising them if they must take on help, never let them do the cleaning magically.  It rarely ends well.
    

I think the biggest peril of world building is you can get so engrossed with that, you forget to write the story or don't remember that the story is the most important thing.  It is the tale you want to get across, not your background notes.

Another peril is getting on with the lovely creative stuff and forgetting your characters have to live somewhere and that the mundane things of life need to be covered (if only briefly.  Unless you are a dragon who can incinerate your own rubbish, a bin collection or waste disposal system of some sort is always needed, just to name one example).

A third peril is falling in love with your created world so much, you forget you actually live in this one.  (This one is understandable given how grim the news usually is).

The fourth peril is going for one of the two extremes.  You go into too much detail with your world building or, conversely, not enough.  Finding the happy medium is not always easy.  I've had a great deal of fun in exploring things (such as songs that fit my characters) which won't ever appear in my novels or short stories.  (Good material for a blog though!). 

And to finish I suppose I would name the fifth peril is of reading back the material you've created to help you write your story/know your characters better before writing them or both and it is lovely and clear to you.  It's hard to take a dispassionate look at material you are sharing or which is crucial to your story and think well is this clear enough?  (The reverse of this, of course, is to spell things out too clearly and come across as patronizing.  Hmm... perhaps that last sentence...   time to go I think!).

One of the problems I've sometimes come across when trying to pitch my stories is the attitude some people have towards fairytales.  Part of the reason I use the phrase "fairytales with bite" to describe a lot of what I do is to try to banish the thought that fairytales are somehow twee little tales for kids. 

The moment someone says something like that to me tells me one thing about them immediately.  They haven't read the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson etc as if they had, they would never describe the tales as twee!

There is no way Disney could have made The Little Mermaid exactly as per the original story.  It would've been given an 18 certificate! 

I love fairytales because they're timeless and there is often a moral to them (without being preachy and I have sat through enough sermons to know this kind of thing doesn't work.  What you do want is something that makes you think and this is often a talk/sermon which is to the point and where you feel not one word has been wasted).

Fairytales are economical with words but also conjure up (literally!) images that stay with you usually for life.  I can still see images of Cinderella etc from the Disney films I haven't watched in decades.

I think my favourite thing about fairytales is you know justice will be dealt out to the wicked.  There's no mucking about.  You know they're going to come to a rough end  and that the injustices will be put right.  Then I watch the news and some horror is being perpetuated and I think....  well you can guess the rest I suspect!

Prior to her defection to Earth, Eileen always saw other worlds as potentially interesting places to visit.  The fairy government disagreed.  They saw them as potential hazards but possibly as places to mine for good ideas the Fairy Kingdom could use and adapt.

Eileen, when on assignment, did whatever research she could and then got on with the job in hand.  Now on Earth, Eileen prefers not to think much about her past.  While still working for the Queen, if the monarch sent Eileen somewhere, the fairy godmother just went, knowing which side her bread was buttered. 

Eileen always took the opportunity to visit areas of natural beauty depending on which world she was on.  Earth is very well provided for here and some of Eileen's best photographs have been scenes on Earth.  The Queen has kind of inherited these views as Eileen just left her portraits behind in her hurry to get away. 

Eileen is far more open to other worlds than her cousin is, but this does not surprise anyone in the Fairy Kingdom.

Fantasy and science fiction lead the way in portraying other worlds in fiction, which is one reason why these are my favourite genres.

However, alternative histories (such as imagining what would have happened had we lost World War 2) are also good at opening other worlds.  These books are also excellent at making you think about how history turns on specific incidents.  (In the case of losing World War 2, everything about life in Britain would have changed.  It's a mindboggling thought).

Books can take you to other places (literally in the case of travel books) but those places do not have to exist.  Other worlds can resemble ours on Earth or be totally alien.  But in creating other worlds, the writer has to be able to portray them in a way the reader can identify with, making them want to know more by continuing to read the story.

Other worlds have to have a hierarchy the reader can follow, a system of government which makes sense (if only to the occupants of those worlds), a way of getting news to either all of the people or those the government consider worthy of having the information (there's several stories in that alone).

Writers also need to be able to show what happens when things go wrong in their created other worlds.  They should be able to figure out what would happen if A occurred or if the official plan for dealing with situation B doesn't work out.

It can be useful to give some indication of how their form of government came about (there has to be a reason it is the way it is) and whether people are generally satisfied with this or if there is resentment.

A couple of limericks for fun.  The Poet Laureate's job is quite safe from me!


The joy of all fairytales for me
Is writing about worlds you can't see
The story magic abounds
With marvellous sights and loud sounds
And you may get the odd walking tree!


What you see is not what you may get
In the magical world, never bet
That those with a friendly face
Do not contain any trace
Of evil unleashed on those they've met.

A good story stays with you long after you have finished reading it.  Writers are lucky in that if it is their story coming under this category, they also get the pleasure of writing it (and reading it first!).  Stories, for me, count as good if the characters are memorable, the plot gripping and I like them even more if there are one or two lines that I can recall word for word and which make me laugh.

Other signs of a good story are:-

1. You can't put it down until you have read it through.
2. If you are unlucky enough to have to stop reading it through first time, the very second you are free of whatever called you away sees you back to reading the story.  Nothing but nothing gets in your way.
3. You have to tell others about it.
4. The ending isn't necessarily happy but it is appropriate for the tale and memorable.
5. You feel as if there isn't a word out of place.
6. You feel as if there is nothing that could be added to the tale.
7. You are very pleased if others read the tale and share your views over it.  Equally if you have written the tale, you are thrilled with the good feedback it generates.
8. The story can be a short piece, flash fiction or a novel but whatever the length of the tale, it is right for that tale.
9. The story takes you out of your surroundings for a while - and this doesn't just apply to fantasy and/or science fiction (where other worlds are taken as read).
10. Whenever you re-read the story, you feel the same way you did the first time on finishing it.
11. On re-reading the story, you pick up things you missed first go round and those things add to the depth of the tale.
12. You appreciate the more subtle aspects of the character and plot (particularly on re-reading when you are more likely to be looking for these).
13. If the story is nominated for a prize, you take any opportunities to vote for it to boost its chances of success.  However, if you are the author, this is (a) taken as read you will do this so it reduces the value and (b) is probably cheating as there is something underhand about voting for your own work unless this is specifically allowed.
14. For writers, you appreciate the efforts behind a good story whether it is your own work or not.  For work which is not your own,  you play the "Guess how many edits it took to get to this stage" game!
15. You can quote significant pieces of the tale at will.
    

A good editor is worth their weight in gold (or other precious metal of your choice!).  Some of the things a good editor can do to help make a writer improve their work are:-

1. Spot the errors you miss.  This covers everything from spellings to grammatical mistakes.  Spelling is not just about the correct version for the word in question.  For example US spellings differ from ours in the UK.  What version you use depends on what market you're writing in/for.
2. See things in the piece you miss.  This can lead to developing good links, helping you create other articles/stories and can give depth to your original work.
3. Spot your repeated favourite phrases.  (All writers have them and they are as natural to write as it is for us to breath so you can develop "blindness" to when you have used these expressions too often).
4. Steer your piece in the right direction for the market you're writing for.  The editor knows what their market is, who their readers are and how best to reach them.
5. Stop you making an idiot of yourself!  This can range from picking up silly errors that a professional writer would not make to showing you unintentional meanings from your piece so  you can correct them before the piece appears.

To my editors, past and present, thank you very much!

I love reading and writing short stories.  I like to think of them as a snapshot in time, focussing on one event affecting the main character.

I'd like more time in which to read, which I suspect is the wish of most writers, but short stories give you a chance to read a complete tale in a short amount of time.  I like the 1500 to 2000 words type of short story and these are the ones I write the most of, but flash fiction is something I've taken up comparatively recently.

I have some collections of short stories on my shelves (mainly by P.G. Wodehouse).  One day I'd like at least one of my collections on that shelf. 

As a writer, the other thing I like about short stories is I can write them reasonably quickly, submit them and generally know whether they're accepted or not before too long.  If one place doesn't like a story, maybe somewhere else will. 

Equally rejection means I get a chance to look at the story again.  To date, every story where I took another look (and carried out another rewrite) improved it.  I have had pieces rejected, rewrote the piece, re-submitted it to the place I had in mind for it and then had the story accepted.  And knowing that rejection is never personal and it is a chance to review and improve the piece makes rejection much easier to handle.  Given every writer needs to get used to rejection, this is no bad thing.

Magic in the Royal Household is  used routinely as we use machines.  The only spell that is banned outright is the one that a certain apprentice used to help him do the cleaning for his boss, a wizard, who was not thrilled at the resulting mess. 

The Lord Chamberlain uses magic to get around the vast Palace quickly and to help him organise his paperwork.  The Housekeeper uses magic to keep stores up together and to fetch ingredients (though when she cooks, she prefers to do so manually.  She cooks mainly for the staff.  The cooks, come the end of the day, are glad not to have to do so again.). 

Magic is also used to help with awkward cleaning (but no water based ones are allowed as mentioned).  The Queen's pictures are cleaned manually but by senior maids who have had training to do it properly.  And they are trained by the Housekeeper who had spent some time on Earth, studying how art galleries look after their exhibits.

The gardeners use spells to help boost plant growth (it's their version of adding fertilizer!).  Water for the plants comes from the lakes that feed the Fountain of Youth.  Plants grow quickly in the Palace grounds which in one way is great but does mean the gardeners end up doing a lot of pruning as there is a tendency for plants to "over grow".

The Chief Witch has a wide range of favourite spells.  Some of them are:-

1. A successful spying spell in which she can gain information without being spotted by Eileen or the Queen. 
   
2. A decent transformation spell.  Unlike Eileen who uses it as a punishment for offenders, the Witch transforms herself.  She is far too well known and if she wants to take people by surprise they literally shouldn't be able to see her coming.
3. Invisibility.  The Witch uses this to aid spying.  She always uses this when trying to spy on the Queen.  Hanastrew and the squad know to look for this.
4. A boost the broomstick spell which the Witch uses a lot to boost flying times and speeds.
5. A shield spell.  The Witch is well aware there is little that can stop Eileen in her tracks when on the warpath but the Witch sees that as no reason not to try.