Practising magical skills is a requisite for all social groups.  This resembles the medieval requirement for all men to practice their archery. 

There’s much resentment against groups like the elves for having more magical powers than the sprites, though the sprites refuse to acknowledge their tendency to fight means their not having a lot of power is actually a good idea. 

There’s even more resentment from other groups who have to break up the fights sprites indulge in and/or have to clear up the damage.  Sprites also like sex a lot and reproduce a lot.  Female sprites out and about attract a lot of interest.  Some welcome it, some don’t (guess what is a major cause of the fighting!!!). 

Villagers tend to unite in the cause of a decent planning dispute and it’s not been unknown for a local mayor making the wrong decision facing a very unpleasant fate.  That’s the problem with living in a magical world.  Almost any fate is possible!

Travelling is done via the instant transport spell (but it comes with the risk you and your bits may not rematerialize in the right order or at all!) or using the slower, safer transport trees.  The trees appear motionless when viewed from the outside.  The magic is in the inside of the tree (a little like the Tardis) and you set your destination by setting abacus beads to get the coordinates you want.  Therefore geography is an important subject in the Kingdom’s schools.  You have to know where you want to go and what its co-ordinates are. 

Sprites can fly a short distance by powering their boots (this is a bit like having a running start anywhere in that it’s fine to get you going but you can’t keep it going forever).  Fairies of course have wings but to fly any great distance takes time and a lot of physical and magical stamina so they too tend to use the spell or the trees.  The skies can get congested at times.  And there’s the risk of crash landing on some unfortunate pedestrian below.

Out of all the species living in the Fairy Kingdom, the sprites are the ones who tell the tallest tales.  For them exaggeration and bragging is as natural as breathing.  They also have an unenviable reputation for fighting and where alcohol is not the cause, arguments over tall tales will be.

Storytelling is highly prized as an art form in the magical realm and even those on the darker side of magic have their own scribes to write events from their viewpoint.  (The Queen and her Council suppress these.  There is only one authorised version of events - theirs.).

The Kingdom's towns and villages all have their own libraries, the only difference is in their size.  Each has its own resident storyteller.  The dominant species in the town or village concerned supplies the storyteller.  The love of hearing and reading stories overcomes other species' reluctance to listen to a storyteller who isn't from their background.

Storytellers hold two sessions a week in the evenings where the local inhabitants gather around to hear at least three stories per session.  It is believed stories are kept alive by frequent re-reading/re-telling of them.  I think the magical realm is on to something there.

The Queen is careful to not claim she has tamed the Fairy Kingdom but it is true she and her immediate ancestors did rein in the wilder elements and there is a lot less fighting, magical or otherwise, than there used to be.  

The Council system of government with the differing species represented (bar the sprites) is also seen as more democratic than anything the realm has had before.

The one exception is the sprite community and it is generally accepted that short of obliteration of them there is not much that can be done. 

The obliteration option is suggested regularly but the Queen rebuffs it partly because she can be merciful but also she sees the sprites as a living reminder the magical world is not a nice one, it is dangerous and too much power in one species is not a good thing.

The Palace grounds have been cultivated but there are plenty of wild areas in the countryside, which Fresdian loves.  She, like the Queen, does not think everything should be tamed.

Wild areas are needed as a habitat for certain creatures but also as a living, visual reminder magic is a wild force and can't be entirely tamed.

The Queen asks those fairies allowed to visit other worlds to bring back small samples of plants as she likes certain things about other worlds (though usually not the inhabitants, humanity especially) dotted around the Palace grounds as a kind of exhibition. These plants are put in an isolated part of the Palace gardens to see how they grow. 

The Queen, and her gardening team, are generally not worried about contamination from other worlds here.  After all it is the Kingdom that has the magical plants - the ones that eat the unwary passer by, those that grow upside down, those who spray their pollen at great distances and deliberately target the hayfever sufferers and those that give the bees and wasps that pollinate them so much nectar it is not uncommon to see swarms of drunken insects, a known hazard during the early springtime especially. 

There are no plans to bring back examples of wildlife as there are concerns these wouldn’t survive the transportation process yet alone conditions in the Kingdom.  It is felt plants are generally hardier and adapt quicker to a new environment.

Seasons in the Kingdom are the same as on Earth but certain areas keep their favourite seasons far longer than we do.  For example, there is a Winter Wonderland area in the Kingdom so the other seasons are brief.  Flora and fauna again resemble that found on Earth but there are species in the Kingdom that could never be found outside a magical environment. 

There are trees and beanstalks that grow and grow and where climbing is very much done at the climber’s own risk.  Not only is there the terrifying thought of what you might find at the top, the creatures that live in these plants need facing as well.  Not all are friendly! 

The giant flowers in the Palace gardens really are giant, as are the bees that pollinate them!  Colours are brighter than on Earth.  The subtler shades are not appreciated by most in the realm, the attitude being if you’ve got colour, you may as well have as much of it as possible!  Colour blindness is unknown in the Kingdom though given the brightness of the hues this counts as a miracle though the Queen and Eileen believe eyes react to whatever environment they cope with and magical eyes are used to such brightness.

Writing fairy tales is huge fun but also, given the wonderful work of Hans Christen Andersen, the Brothers Grimm etc, quite daunting at times.  You want to add to the work that has gone before and then realizing just how brilliant the others are, that can stymie you.  I aim to write the best fairytale I can and leave it at that.  I think it's what any writer in any genre should do.   You just write it, leave others to judge it.

The range of fairytales is bigger than I think a lot of people expect.  There are sad ones (The Little Mermaid, The Little Match Girl etc) and happy ones (Cinderella, Snow White etc).  There is room for one liners in your tale and the best stories have deep meanings which may bypass some readers.  How many youngsters watching Frozen pick up on the message of sacrifice and love?  I guess they kind of absorb it but when do they realise they've picked that message up I wonder?

I have a list of favourite stories.  There's no way I can stick to just the one.  I'm also like that with chocolate!  The list shuffles around, depending on my mood, but it always has a mixture of humorous and straight stories on it.  The world would be a much poorer place without these stories.  My list is made up of short stories and novels.  So my list is:-

1. The Lord of the Rings
2. Pride and Prejudice
   
3. A Christmas Carol
   
4. Men at Arms
   
5. The Accident Syndicate (short story by Wodehouse)
   
6. The Daughter of Time
   
7. The Reader's Digest Complete Fairytales Collection (2 volumes and all original stories)
   
8. Murder on the Orient Express
   
9. The ABC Murders
   
10. Code of the Woosters.
    

These are not in any particular preference order. 

All groups and ages are encouraged to study regularly.  Education is free regardless of age.  Most content themselves with developing a really good knowledge of the fairytales but others will branch out and study the realm's history and/or geography.  Most learning takes place during the winter months when short days encourage people to spend such days indoors!

The Queen's Library is frequently visited (it is open to the public) and each town and village has its own "mini" library so there are more than enough places to carry out research.  Our fairytale writers are considered heroic here and their works cherished.

The Queen and her Council encourage learning for pleasure (though this hasn't gone down well with those of school and exam age, who feel that because they must do it, nobody else has the right to get any kind of enjoyment out of studying given they don't!).  

As with any story, the point of fairytales is to entertain but they are also a marvellous way of getting your viewpoint across without preaching.  I think you can gather from Hans Christen Andersen what he would have thought about bullying simply by reading his wonderful The Ugly Duckling, which remains one of my favourite stories.

Perhaps fairytales are also a way of putting the world to rights as most of them do show justice being done to those who are cruel.  They also show redemption and a happy ending happening to the virtuous and, well frankly, how often does that happen in life?  They can also be a kind of wish fulfilment (some pun intended) given the idea of a fairy godmother turning up to put matters right would appeal to anyone feeling remotely downtrodden.

And, of course, fairytales are a great way of introducing the love of stories and books to children in the hope they will go on to develop good reading habits.  I have fond memories of my first fairytales and the wonderful illustrations that went with them.  (I still have those Reader's Digest Complete Fairytales collections - and they were the original tales by Andersen, Grimm etc.  The books are bound up with tape and I couldn't tell you how often I read them).

Ironically not all fairytales are happy, some are pretty violent and what happens to the wolf in The Three Little Pigs (in the original version) is definitely not for the very young, but I know I relished justice being doled out to the wicked.  Roald Dahl knew that too.  If ever there was an author who knew his audience, he is it!

My Fairy Kingdom's most infamous sprites are Whespy (later West) and Stanrock (later Stan), who were exiled to Earth for their continual fighting, angering the Fairy Queen, and sent there with Eileen when she defected.  Had someone been able to advise them earlier in their "careers", it might have looked like this.

1. Don't cause so much trouble it ends up affecting the Fairy Queen... oh...  too late.
2. Don't cause so much trouble you end up being put under Eileen's guardianship, she will resent it.  Oh... too late.
3. Work out when causing trouble will rebound on your head and try to avoid this.  Oh... too late.
4. Just cause trouble for each other in future.  Nobody else will mind then.
   
5. If you want an outlet for all that energy, help the fairy godmothers fight the magical evildoers by causing trouble for them, escaping before they zap you, leaving the likes of Eileen and Hanastrew to deal with said evildoer.
   

Roherum, as the Fairy News Network's main news presenter, must remain neutral and generally he does but there are reforms he would like to see.

1. He would like to find a legitimate way of getting rid of his taunting rival, the weatherman.  Given Roherum hasn't come up with ideas here, he would like the government to help him here.  Roherum honestly believes it would be in the national interest (he does sometimes confuse his interests with those of the realm).
   
2. Being allowed to have at least an hour a night on air to share his views with the realm.  The Kingdom is glad this isn't allowed.
   
3. Eileen having to answer his questions.  Mind, the Council would like this too and neither they nor Roherum have any chance of achieving this.
   
4. Journalists being taken more seriously by law.
   
5. Roherum would like Eileen's history books made more widely available to himself so he can exploit the juicier bits for his broadcasts.
   

Coming to terms with finding that magic not only exists but you yourself have a magical background is the theme of many a great fantasy.  (Think Harry Potter's reaction in book one of the series.  He couldn't believe it either). 

I think out of all my characters, Jenny has the most emotionally demanding role.  Eileen can and will happily continue to blast villains away.  Jenny has to accept her mother did that for a living and still sometimes keeps her hand in to help her old world out.  (This is particularly true when in my second novel, The Cherry Tree, Eileen is trying to put the Queen back on her throne).  And it is not going to be a case of suddenly accepting that magic will be a major part of Jenny's life (she has no real choice over this as Eileen and the Queen know.  Once magic makes its presence felt in someone, it doesn't go back in the metaphorical genie's bottle).

Jenny is going to spend years adjusting to her new reality.  Accepting your mother is a fairy godmother is one thing but it is not the kind of news you want to broadcast unless you want  your sanity questioned.  So Jenny is going to have to find ways of covering up her mother's past and ensure both husband, Paul, and father, Derek, continue to remain ignorant of what's going on here.

Out of all my characters, Jenny is the one I feel most sorry for!

The Chief Wizard has many more than five hates but as I don't write a treatise on this, the limit is useful.  His top five hates are:-

1. Eileen.  For being a woman, for daring to challenge him, for catching him out with magical misconduct, for raising doubts in the Queen's mind about him, for being an excellent fairy godmother and simply for being Eileen.
   
2. The Witch.  For being one of the three magical beings who could really challenge him. 
   
3. L'Evallier and Rodish jointly for being incorruptible.  Brankaresh hates beings like that.  There is nothing he can do with them other than to kill them.  He likes people he can use and exploit.
   
4. Roherum.  For the journalist's inane mutterings on the Fairy News Network.  Roherum also gladly reports on Eileen's acts of derring do, which is another reason to hate the goblin presenter.
   
5. The Council.  Brankaresh wants absolute power and the Council, for all its failings, would stop him.
   

One good thing about living in the Fairy Kingdom is political broadcasts, as we know them, don't exist there. Nor are households inundated with leaflets!

The nearest they get to political broadcasts are the Queen's periodic broadcasts to the realm though the Council does issue a review of its work every quarter.  It is the bane of L'Evallier's life to have to go on the Fairy News Network and explain Council progress to Roherum but the monarch makes it clear other Council Leaders did it so the elf cannot expect to be exempted.  Naturally L'Evallier keeps his appearances here as short as possible.

The Chief Witch has no trouble in trying to use FNN to get her message across.  Indeed she sees it as the only useful thing the media can do. 

The Chief Witch has hundreds of hates but her top five are:-

1. Eileen blocking the Witch's plans.  Not only is this frustrating in itself, it also brings home to the Witch that she will probably have to kill Eileen.  The two were close as children and Eileen has shown sympathy to some of the Witch's family dilemmas so getting rid of the fairy godmother permanently is not a clear cut thing for the Witch.
   
2. The Queen.  The Witch honestly believes she should be on the Fairy Kingdom throne.
   
3. Hanastrew and the fairy squad.  They're getting far too good at their job.  Their intense training (Eileen trained Hanastrew who then trained the others) shows.
   
4. Brankaresh, Chief Wizard.  The Witch knows he's a treacherous sod.  From someone who is no stranger to treachery and intrigue herself, this is not a compliment, but just an acknowledgement someone else is good at this.  It's that she really hates.
   
5. Not being able to get hold of spell ingredients quickly enough.  Even intimidation doesn't work on some of the Witch's sources.  Some ingredients have become rare thanks to past magical wars making certain areas within the Fairy Kingdom barren.
   

The Queen generally gets on very well with her Council but, as is inevitable in politics, disagreements happen.  The Queen, to her great credit, has encouraged the Council to not be afraid to ask questions and/or be critical.  She doesn't actually want a talking shop.  And they are getting better at putting her on the spot with awkward questions.  Sometimes she wonders what she's unleashed here and then realises it's called democracy.

She does not use her stronger magical skills to get her own way in Council (which most of her ancestors either would have done or did do) and even Eileen acknowledges Roxannadrell is pretty decent over this.  The Queen generally uses reasoned argument against her Council and when that fails shows how their awkwardness might look in the eyes of the people.  Like her ancestors though, she will not acknowledge when she is at fault.  Eileen has plenty to say on that, none of it flattering!

There are plenty of areas where the Queen and her Council act as one.  One of these is in their absolute refusal to allow the Fairy News Network to film them in session.

In my Fairy Kingdom, the role of the fairy tale chronicler is hugely important, being a cross between the medieval ministrel and modern day journalist.  The vital points are:-

1. The story is the most important thing of all and must be conveyed clearly across a wide age and species range.
2. No detail must be overlooked.  Anything from inanimate objects (e.g.  spindle or glass slipper) to a wolf with a taste for cross dressing and an uncanny ability to talk must be included or there is no story.
   
3. Illustrations always go down well with the fairy tales.  Youngsters generally like gruesome pictures (they want to see the big bad wolf, fangs and all.  Later they also want to see him being boiled in the cauldron. Good taste does not come into this at all).  This is true across all known universes.  It makes others wince across the universes too.
   
4. The fairy tale chronicler must be able to trace their sources.
   
5. It is useful to get names wherever possible though some of the witches prefer just to be known as the witch.  Check what they want here or risk facing their wrath.
   

Hanastrew, like her mentor, Eileen, has a range of duties to carry out but certain things are always on the To Do List.  Some of these are:-

1. Kill whatever savage beast is threatening a village somewhere.  Usually a dragon, sometimes an ogre.  All that changes is what spell Hanastrew uses against the threat.
   
2. Eat chocolate.  Hanastrew believes chocolate is the best thing the Fairy Kingdom has ever imported from Earth.
   
3. Practice spells, keep wands fully charged, top up from the Fountain of Youth etc.  All of these help keep the fighting fairy godmother in tip top condition and in a state of battle readiness.
   
4. Tune in to see Roherum's latest inane statements on the Fairy News Network.  Hanastrew does this to have a laugh basically.
   
5. Check the in-depth FNN weather forecast.  The forecast gives the usual predictions plus things like wind speed (and how it might affect someone casting a spell) and the likelihood of sudden tornadoes either whisking someone off to a foreign world or dumping someone from Earth (usually Kansas) in the fairy realm itself.