Fairies are booming. Everywhere you look in the bookshops or online they glitter and shine out of their pretty pink covers. They went really big with Rainbow Magic, devised by Working Partners, published by Orchard Books and written by "Daisy Meadows" who is a composite of many authors, including Linda Chapman.
"Titania Woods" has had eight books from Bloomsbury in the Glitterwings Academy series this year, with more to come. Liz Kessler, after producing three books about Emily Windsnap, the girl who finds she is sometimes a mermaid, is now writing books about Philippa Fisher, a girl who is befriended by a fairy.
And Elizabeth Lindsay has six books coming out next year from Usborne in a series called Silverlake Fairy School which is, like Glitterwings Academy, about a training school for fairies.
Given that last October I wrote an anti-pink article for the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/oct/12/booksforchildrenandteenagers.gender) criticising the books-for-girls phenomenon with its emphasis on princesses, fairies, mermaids and unicorns, I thought it was only fair to give four creators of successful works in this genre a space to put their own views.
I started by asking them if they had ever received any flak from people about the "pinkness of their books and received some very robust replies!
"Hate to say it but the only thing I've ever received resembling flak was in that article, Mary!" said Liz Kessler. Lee Weatherly agreed: "Any flak that exists often seems to come from other children's authors ...I would love to see us move away from this perception that a book has to be serious and issue-driven to be worthwhile."
I then asked what had attracted each of them to writing this type of material and got the following very different answers:
Lee: I've always loved reading fantasy, and imagining things about magical worlds, so that was what drew me to it in the first place. As to what keeps me there, writing this sort of lighthearted series fiction is tremendous fun! When I first started writing Glitterwings I was at a really low ebb with my writing, and it was wonderful to rediscover what pure joy it can be. Playing with the fairies usually feels like just that: play. Then of course there's the practical side: it pays more (hurrah!), and the books themselves, at around 15,000 words each, take much less time to write. I don't have time to get bored, and I love being able to explore different storylines with the same characters.
Liz: I don't think that I actually feel 'attracted' to writing about mermaids or fairies. I am attracted by an idea for a story, and by characters, in the same way that I imagine all writers are. What does attract me is writing stories that are set in the real, ordinary, contemporary world, with ordinary contemporary kids but where there's a sprinkling of magic thrown into the mix. The kind of stories that might make kids think - hey I wonder if that could happen to me!
Elizabeth: I have always thought of myself as a jobbing writer, doing what is needed to create some form of drama or fiction that children will enjoy. My fiction usually has some form of fantasy characters in it. Now, it appears I have become a writer of "pink" stories for the first time. I began writing about a world that has taken me several years to create. It is richly in my head now. I cannot believe I have done it as I would have thought it was so "not me".
I interviewed three sisters asking them to tell me what they liked about fairies. "Pink" poured from them: shoes, wings, frocks, sparkle. And much inspiration came from my friend Susie, who has Downs Syndrome. She is now in her twenties but always has a wand close by if not carrying it and dances with an elegance and beauty. I think the most important thing when writing for children is to give them your best, well constructed prose around a compelling story with feisty characters and to keep within your own moral parameters and it doesn't matter whether it's fairies or scarecrows or knights or dragons or the gang down the road.
Linda: Why do I write books that are 'pink' and magical? I would say the main two reasons I write books about mermaids, unicorns, fairies and other magical creatures because that is what feels right to me and because, as Lee says, it's fun!
Armadillo: Is it unfair that these books are stereotyped as being "girly"?
Liz: I know that my books are read almost entirely by girls, and I don't mind that - but I guess I do find it slightly frustrating that selling the idea to boys is so hard. I do accept that the world is like this, but I think it would be lovely if boys who would actually ENJOY these books could somehow be able to pick them up without it being so difficult for them to be seen doing so.
Lee: I agree with the others about this sort of fiction actually being empowering to girls. I think that's true of most of the genre. I don't really know why, just because a cover is pink or pretty, there's an assumption that the main character is going to be weak, passive and fluffy. I would go so far as to say that I think this reflects some of the assumptions that we as a society make about what being female entails, and that this then translates into what we think 'girly fiction' must be. But I think the vast majority of it, under its pink covers, is actually saying something very powerful and positive.
Armadillo: Lee, you are Titania Woods and Linda, you have been Daisy Meadows and many other names. How did you choose and do you become someone else when you sit down to write under those pseudonyms?
Linda: I have written under pseudonyms in two quite different ways. I decided to write a series aimed more at boys called Superpowers and used the pseudonym Alex Cliff because I was worried that the name Linda Chapman is so associated with pink and sparkly fiction, boys might be put off. I chose Alex Cliff because Alex could be a boy or a girl's name and Cliff is a family name and near Chapman on the shelves. I have written under about eight different names for Working Partners where I am only one of a number of writers writing books within a series like Rainbow Magic or Animal Ark. I have no choice in these names. As for whether I become someone else, well I think the answer is no; essentially I would say my style doesn't change. I always write from the main character's point of view whatever name I am writing under and the balance of action/dialogue/description tends to stay the same even though word length will change. When I am writing Alex Cliff books I do switch into a slightly different style but that is not because I am writing under a different name but because I am seeing things from an eight year old boy's viewpoint and so there tends to be fewer inner thoughts and analysing and more action and yelling. (I have never been Adam Blade, author of Beast Quest. Pity, because the books sell very well!)
Lee: Bloomsbury thought that a pen name wasn't necessary, '...but it's such a great fairy name.' I agreed, and so Titania Woods it is! It's never been a secret who I am, though. I actually really love the name Titania Woods - having had an androgynous name all my life, it's a lot of fun to be a glamorous 'Titania' for a change!
I agree with Linda that when I'm writing, it makes no difference - it's all me. However, where it really DOES make a huge difference to me is when I'm doing public appearances. I had a huge pair of gorgeous pink and lavender fairy wings made especially, and I wear them with a bright purple dress and lots of glittery make-up and sparkly jewellery.
This has all become part of Titania's character, which is distinct from my own. I wear fairy wings and a tiara, and wave a fairy wand about, and it's definitely not Lee, because Lee would crease up in hysterical laughter at the thought of doing this in public. When the dress and the wings and the make up are on, I'm Titania, not Lee.
Armadillo: Do you think there is any danger of the market becoming saturated with this kind of material or will there always be an audience of young girls eager for such books?
Linda: I think the market is pretty much saturated right now. It is much harder for a new series to make a significant impression, but it does still happen. If you are lucky and your series takes off then sales can be really high and I do think that there will always be readers who want to read about unicorns, fairies and mermaids. Publishers are aware of this and in my experience do still seem very keen to commission/publish this type of series. What does seem to be happening though is that a series will have a much shorter shelf life. A new series is generally given a lot less time to build and establish a readership than used to be the case, if it is not a instant hit then the publishers and booksellers will lose interest and want the next new idea hoping that will be the one that catches the public's attention.
Lee: I agree with Linda that the market is already full to bursting with this sort of series, and that it's a lot harder now to make an impact than it once was. Publishers seem to want instant results these days, in a very unrealistic way. A series needs time to build a readership, yet publishers don't have that sort of patience anymore - there's a huge amount of pressure on a series from the first moment it's on the shelves. And from the reps' and booksellers point of view, I think a lot of them are really tired of seeing similar types of 'pink' series coming out, and so you keep hearing this doom and gloom about how it's all about to peak, fairies are on the way out, and so on. Yet I don't actually see any evidence of this. I think it's the adults in the publishing world who are feeling a bit jaded, not the children who these books are intended for. The fact is, a great many little girls of a certain age absolutely LOVE this type of fiction, and seem to have an insatiable appetite for it - plus, of course, there are new readers coming to it every year.
Liz: I think everything has fads and favourites and these will always be determined by what people buy - so even if it does seem to become saturated, it's only because people are buying the books, and if people are buying the books it means children are enjoying them. I think that if girls stop wanting to read about fairies and mermaids and unicorns then the shelves will very quickly stop being so full of them.
I also just wanted to respond to some of the things that have been said about a series having to be an instant hit. I know that in some ways this is definitely true, but I think I've had a different experience from this. I don't think my books are exactly a series in the same way as the kind of thing you do, Linda, or as Glitterwings, Lee, but they're still a series of a kind, and I've found that my publisher (and also foreign publishers) seem to have been getting more and more behind the books up to now. For example when the third in the series came out in paperback in the states, the US publisher really got behind it and the sales increased quite a lot, and Orion have been similarly more and more behind me up to now and this kind of slow build feels much better to me than having an overnight hit and burning out within a year.
Linda: My point with the 'instant hit' thing is really that the kind of slow build up you have had which is brilliant and exactly what happened with Secret Unicorn (it didn't have amazing figures initially but over the first three years it built up a loyal reader base and then the sales grew year on year) is much less likely to happen now. I wonder if you were just bringing Emily no. 1 out now in 2008 whether you would be given the same support, whether the books would be given the time and faith and nurturing? Maybe they would. And your books prove that this is exactly what they SHOULD do. Your books are going from strength to strength, building a readership, becoming more and more popular.
I absolutely believe that a series and a writer should be given time. My point is that publishers are increasingly wanting instant success and it is harder to build a readership and establish a series in that environment. The majority of pink girly series tend to have a lot of books published within a year and maybe that makes a publisher see the series as more disposable, to expect more of an instant hit.
Elizabeth: I'm afraid I never have any clue about what the market is doing. I work from a base of real ignorance. But mythical characters have been challenging the imaginations of humans for thousands of years. These, the fairies, unicorns, mermaids and princesses, witches and wizards too, are old characters, worn with time, sliding deep from our collective unconscious with each new generation ready to receive its fill.
There appears to be a need in us to create characters that have power and magic beyond the human. Therefore, I imagine there will always be an audience of young girls who can aspire to being a fairy or a princess and wish and or imagine riding on a unicorn or befriending a mermaid or whatever it might be. Elevated heroes, heroines and villains are what it is about.
I then asked those who had written for Working Partners - the originating packagers for Rainbow Magic, Beast Quest and many other best-selling series - to describe what that had been like and how it differed from writing their own books. Linda Chapman has had the most experience of this and replied as follows:
Linda: Writing for Working Partners and writing a series that is my own original idea are very different experiences. Taking the traditional WP series, where maybe you come in as fifth author on a series and start writing book no. 31, you really cannot change the style of the books. Your job is to write so that no one would guess it was a different author. It isn't quite writing by numbers though. However good a storyline is if you are to write a book that is satisfying, you have to take it back to the characters and start by working out how they need to feeL and think, what needs to go on in their heads and lives, in order for the plot to get convincingly from point A at the beginning of the book to point B at the end. When I get given a story brief I aLWays take the plot down to its basics and then start again with the characters, working out where they are in their lives and what kind of emotional journey they are going on. I've always added in sub-plots that then tie in with the main plot to add interest and I've always seen it as my job to make what happens seem believable. That's why I love writing for WP - it's a challenge to write within the constraints of someone else's storyline and make a book really work, and it's fun.
I write the book I want to write, that I love, and then I let go. I hand it over and don't see it as mine any more. I make any editorial changes that are wanted without quibbling unless I really disagree that a character would behave in a certain way.
It's obviously all very different when I write my own original books. They are mine and no one else's. I have complete say on the storyline, I fight any editorial decision I don't agree with, I never have that feeling of handing a book over and letting it go. I love the fact that the book is all my own, that the buck stops with me, but then I also don't get that real buzz of having made an unpromising storyline work that I get from my WP books and I find with my own books I always feel they could have been better, I'm never completely satisfied, whereas with WP books I find it a lot easier to feel good about myself and what I have achieved.
Elizabeth: I've tried writing for Working Partners and failed. I did several trial scripts and they kept telling my agent that I was nearly there. But I knew I wasn't giving them what they wanted. I was weaned on Chekhov and there has to be subtext for me and unspoken depth of background. I'm getting better at writing it in but I don't think a richer writing was what Working Partners wanted. They appeared to desire instant story whereas I work my way in and go back to the beginning again and re-write and re-write. There was no time or patience for any of that.
Lee and Elizabeth are both writing about schools for fairies so I asked if that had caused them any problems, since they know each other.
Lee: It sounds mad, but I really don't know whether Liz and I are on common ground or not, beyond both writing about fairy schools. I wasn't aware that she was working on a similar project until last year, when I read aloud a bit of Flying High and found out that she was also doing a school for fairies! However, we've never discussed our respective projects in any depth, and though I'm sure Liz's books are brilliant, that's how I want to keep it for now. Since the two series do have this rather major thing in common, I'd rather not find out more about Liz's fairy world until Glitterwings Academy has come to an end, as it's so easy to have your confidence thrown or to feeL that you've picked up on someone else's ideas. So I'll probably stay firmly away from Liz's fairies until my own are finished, at which point I'm sure I'll be snapping them up to read them!
Elizabeth: Lee and I haven't conferred once about our series. I heard Lee's reading at Charney but I'm not sure she heard mine. So there could be clashes but I don't know yet the what and if. I must say that I am looking forward very much to getting a Glitterwings Academy story in my hand but have not managed it so far.
Since Lee was writing such different material five years ago - hard-hitting realistic teen fiction like Child X and Missing Abby - I asked her what she saw herself doing in five more years.
Lee: Having already changed genres once (and to an area which I honestly never imagined I'd be writing in) has taught me to never say never. I'm having a lot of fun with what I'm doing at the moment, but I don't know whether I'll be doing it forever. I have a lot of other interests - adult fiction, even non-fiction - which I'd like to pursue some day, though whether this will be in tandem with series fiction or instead of it, I really couldn't say. I'm looking forward to finding out. (And isn't that part of the joy, and the challenge, of freelance creative work?
I asked all four writers to talk about world-building and these were their responses:
Lee: Yes, I spend a huge amount of time on this. It's fairly easy - for me, at least - to think of a basic concept; the difficult part is working out the perimeters of your world and the overall THING that your series is about. This can really take time. With Glitterwings, for instance, I spent ages researching fairies and thinking about what my fairies were like, what their history was, how the magic in their world worked, etc. Though I haven't used all of these ideas in the series, I have used a lot of them, and the world's inner workings hopefully all hang together very logically as a result.
And apart from the fantasy world, you also have to work out the series basics - how many books you're initially planning, how long they'll each be, are they going to be standalones or do you need an overall story arc, will they all be from the same character's POV, and so on.
So by the time I do start to write, I have a really solid foundation upon which to build, and feel very secure about what direction I'm going in (though of course things can still go wrong!). By then I know so much about the world, the backstory, the characters and how these elements all fit together that it makes it much, much easier to write the stories.
I've found that you do have to be very careful not to write yourself into a corner, because once something has been published, you're stuck with it! So I try to keep the rules to my worlds very simple and logical, and also try not to put anything in place in Book 1 that I think may then come back to haunt me in Book 9 or whatever.
Liz: For me, the world building is just part of the whole thing. I think that to some extent, you have to build a world with any book - although I suppose in 'reality' based books, the rules of how the actual world operates are already in place! But you still have to create the world of your book. For me, there's more world-building with the mermaid books as I a whole load of it is set in the sea. I suppose I do a fair bit of this before the actual writing (as I do an awful lot of planning before writing the first draft) but then there are other bits as I go along too. I agree with Lee about keeping it simple. I wouldn't want the novel to get sidetracked by too many geeky rules about the world itself.
Linda: As for world building, I always spend quite a lot of time with any book whether magic or not visualising the place where the characters live/go to school etc. and if I am writing horse books ages working out which stable each horse is in and what each horse is called/looks like etc. but then I imagine most writers do something similar and most of my books are actually set in the real world with magic coming into characters' lives so it's not like I have had to make up a whole new world.
Elizabeth: Yes, I do spend so much time developing the world and because this has been a fantasy world, the first I have created, it has taken me five years. I will never do another fantasy world like this one. But what the slow build up of the world does is enable me to have many opportunities for creating more and more stories. I know the characters. I've been living with them for a long time. I am an actor in my bones. Iknow what they would say, how they would react to the situations I create for them to deal with and I want them to surprise me, which they do.
By the time I get to the end of book six, Lila, my heroine will have neared the end of her first term at Silverlake Fairy School. She's there for five years. There is also the subplot where the political shenanigans of the fairy world are carrying on around my young fairy characters. These events effect them but they know nothing of them.. But I do need that to give this world the depth I'm after.. I do have an ending should anyone want it or if I ever have to write a last book.
I asked each writer to nominate one book they loved as a child and one favourite adult book.
Liz: A couple of favourite books as a child. One was The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I think the lasting influence of this book for me is that I love the way it plays with ideas and words. I don't think I do that so much in my writing, but that kind of thing will always entertain me and I love people who think in silly clever ways like that book does. Another was The Wishing Chair (Enid Blyton I'm afraid!) One of the main attractions of this book for me was that it made me wonder if the same thing could happen to me (that I would sit in one of our ordinary chairs at home and it would sprout wings and fly, taking me off on exciting adventures.) This kind of wish fulfilment is something that I think has seeped into my writing and which I would love to think little girls feeL when they read my books. Whether it's "Maybe one day when I go in water, I'll grow a tail and become a mermaid," or "Perhaps if I pick the right daisy, it'll turn into a fairy" that kind of "what if it could happen to me" feeling is one that I love, as a writer and a reader.
Linda: A favourite book of mine as a child was 'Five Children and It' and it influenced me hugely. When I was younger, I loved the fact it was about real children who had magic come into their everyday life and obviously I have followed that with my own writing. 'Genie Us' which I wrote with Steve Cole, was written as a modern day 'Five Children and It' and is dedicated to E. Nesbit.
I don't really have a favourite adult book.
Lee: I always find 'favourite book' questions really difficult, because I have so many of them! I was a voracious reader as a child, and had lots and lots of favourites. But one that I loved a lot, and have recently re-read, was called 'Hitty: Her First Hundred Years', by Rachel Feilds. It's about the adventures of a small wooden doll who was first made in the early 1800's - the various girls who owned her over the years, and things that happened to her.
As an adult, one of my favourite books is 'Marjorie Morningstar', by Herman Wouk. It's about a girl in the 1930's who wants to be an actress, falls in love with the wrong man, etc. - it's a rich, wonderful book; I return to it every few years like a delicious treat that I save for myself.
Also, I totally recommend Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' series, if anyone's in the mood for a very sexy, addictive teenage vampire love story!
Whether these have influenced my own writing or not, I can't really say. I don't really know whether I'd point to any particular book of my childhood for inspiration; I think what I'm writing now is more the result of the sum total of all the wonderful stories I read - they each played their part in making me want to write stories of my own.
Elizabeth: One of my favourite books as a child was Five on Kirren Island Again. I loved that book. It was islands, boats, tunnels, tomboy. I was oblivious to the strange dysfunctional family that Enid Blyton created. It was adventure. I loved Timmy the dog. I loved the freedom of it and children being heroes. But I also loved Swallows and Amazons. Again, islands, boats, self-sufficiency, no parents. And I replicated adventure in my daily life, I swung from trees, cut things with knives, including myself; my mother despaired with all the scars I acquired and thought I had ruined my knees,legs, fingers for life. The scars are still there but faded. I didn't care then and I don't care now. I loved running wild. Those books replicated my inner desire to run free.
Now I read and re-read Northern Lights for all the above reasons. It sits by my bed. It has all the above elements in a vast expansive world. And that's before you get to the Subtle Knife when you go beyond one world to find another! It has everything, kids against the adults, air ballooning, bears, boats, arctic wastes, comradeship, witches. I don't think there's much Philip missed out plus, it's driven by such an intelligent mind and a truly brilliant storyteller. You always want to know what happens next. If only I could have read that when I was ten!
All four writers are in the "Other SAS" - The Scattered Authors Society - of which I'm a member too. I asked them all how helpful they had found it being in this support group.
Linda: I have gained hugely from being part of such a support group. When I joined I had been writing for seven years and the gloss had worn off slightly and I was beginning to feel quite isolated and lonely. It was amazing to realise there were so many other people out there who were doing the same thing, going through the same emotions when writing a book, people who could really and truly understand what my life is like and what writing for a living is like in a way that non-writer friends just couldn't. I love the fact everyone writes such different books and writes so differently and yet we often find we have so much in common - and the differences that come out are interesting too! One of the most useful things for me has been the awareness I have gained that every writer if they write for a significant length of time has ups and downs in their career. Knowing that has really helped me appreciate when things are going well and also got me through times when things have been going less well. I always find any SAS meet-ups very inspiring and thought-provoking and come away feeling energised and positive, I love listening to other people's news and experiences and thoughts on writing and love the fact that the SAS gives us a chance to share those things.
Lee: Writers can be such solitary beasts that it's brilliant to have a network where people share your experiences and know what you're going through. I've made some wonderful, lasting friendships through the SAS, and the support has just been invaluable - both emotionally, e.g. when I was going through an awful year and was convinced that my career would never take off in even the tiniest way, and also on a more practical level, like when I had to change agents and didn't have a clue who to go for. I'm not necessarily a 'group' person, but for me what's great about the SAS is that it can be exactly what you want it to be.
Liz: I just couldn't imagine this life as a writer without it. I've been a member since just before my first book came out and to me is simply an essential and integral part of being a writer. The number of times I've felt grateful is immeasurable. A few examples - at Charney Manor (where the SAS has an annual retreat) when people have helped me get unstuck with various books, when people have helped answer all sorts of queries and problems, or simply providing a laugh or being there knowing what you're going through - as well as feeling really good when I'm able to be at all helpful to others too.
Elizabeth: The SAS offers a constant forum for discussion. We, the members, raise and debate issues constantly. For me, although I often don't take part in the online debates, it makes me feel that we are all collaborating and creating together albeit separate work. I feel I am part of a team trying to bring solidly good writing to young people. Plus, I am always overawed by other peoples' imaginations and how they create books I enjoy reading but would never have had the patience or inclination to write. But I am part of that team. I like that feeling. I'm no good shut in a garret. And when I'm in it, the SAS makes me feel that I'm not. There are others out there who do the same as me. We are in it together. And I like my fellow writers. I am full of admiration and respect for this group of people that I have come to know and well, yes, really, love. It's great.
Armadillo concludes: Although they are all working in a similar genre, I had no sense that these four hard-working and prolific writers were in any sense rivals. They were generous about one another's writing and probably do share at least an over-lapping readership. In fact they are all very nice, friendly, warm women. Quite "pink" in fact as well as naturally sparkly. But I've known them all for several years and am aware of their steelier qualities too: determination, creativity, resourcefulness and initiative. They are a bit like their books perhaps - deceptively undemanding on the surface but with hidden depths of intricacy and fortitude. There is definitely more to the fairy folk than meets the eye.
A bit more about the fairy-writers:
Lee Weatherly is an award-winning children's author. Her popular novels for young teenagers include Child X, Missing Abby and Kat Got Your Tongue. For younger readers, Lee is the author of a multi-book fantasy series called Glitterwings Academy, as well as the upcoming series Pocket Cats; she is also the author of two picture books. For adults, Lee is the co-author of Teach Yourself How to Write a Blockbuster, and is a gifted writing coach, teaching workshop courses across the southeast.
www.leeweatherly.com
Liz Kessler is the writer of the Emily Windsnap series of books and of Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister, which is the first in a new series. She is currently working on a fourth Emily Windsnap book which will shortly be followed by a third Philippa Fisher book. Brand new website online now! www.lizkessler.co.uk
Linda Chapman is a bestselling author who has written over a hundred books. She began her writing life in 1998 writing for Working Partners and now still writes for them and also ghost writes but writes her own series too. Her best-known series are 'My Secret Unicorn', 'Stardust', 'Not Quite a Mermaid' and 'Unicorn School' which all feature animals, friends and magic. She has also written a seven-book series called 'Superpowers', which is under the name Alex Cliff and departs from the usual books in that it is about boys fighting monsters. She has co-written a novel called Genie Us with Steve Cole and is currently working on the sequel(which will be published 2009) as well as a new Stardust quartet called Sky Horses (which will also be published 2009), a six-book series called Ice Princesses about magic and ice skating (which will be published 2010) and a new series she is ghost writing about ballet.
www.puffin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/15/minisites/lindachapman/index.html
Elizabeth Lindsay is an actress, puppeteer, script writer and children's fiction author. Work in Theatre in Education and scriptwriting led ultimately to a television series called Heggerty Haggerty which began her children's fiction career, as stories from the series were published by Scholastic Children's books. Further commissions from Scholastic followed: The Nellie and the Dragon stories, The Midnight Dancer series and Magic Pony. She is currently working on a new series for Usborne, Silverlake Fairy School, to be published in 2009, her first foray into the fantasy world of fairies and, for the past five years, has been working on a picture book with Nick Sharratt, entitled Socks, which she has just heard is to be published by David Fickling Books.
www.elizabethlindsay.co.uk