I was inspired to write the series based on fond memories of short bedtime stories my mother made up for me when I was seven. In her stories the little dragon changed colours to show his feelings and he had a definite grumpy streak. Princess Marietta and her older sister Annabel lived with their governess a very long way from anywhere in the stories my mother told me, so I kept the girls’ names as a starting point and the geography. Princess Annabel studying engineering to help her country was my mother’s idea!

Peg is a newer addition to Princess Marietta’s world – I based Peg on a horse I knew but he ended up resembling my beautiful black beauty of a warm-blood horse called Murph. Murph had a strong sense of humour and was a complete gentleman…and when I first met him he was really rather grumpy about being stabled. I sent Murph out to live in a paddock and he became much happier for the change!