Excerpt:

“Once upon a time” is the way all the good stories start. Not only that, those stories almost always end with the words “And they lived happily ever after”. The wolf is stopped, the princess is saved, the bad characters are put in their place, and all is right with the world. I’m not saying that is a bad thing. It is a very good thing, in fact. But did you ever wonder who wrote all those stories down? What really happened to inspire the fairy tales and children’s stories we all know and share with the little ones in our lives? Did the characters really live happily ever after?
This book tells my story. Who am I? I am a nobody really. My name is Miranda, and once upon a time, long ago, I was the junior historian for the Kingdom of Merry Mint. Today you might call me a cross between a librarian and a writer, but back then I had just graduated from the Magical School of Historical Recorders. I was first in my class, had the highest marks, and therefore I was sent to the King’s court for my apprenticeship. I was young, a bit naive, and full of dreams. I quickly learned that things in the Kingdom of Merry Mint were not quite what they seemed. Not everyone wanted stories to end in “happily ever after”.
Let me go back and begin this story properly. I promise to get to the details later, but like any good story, this one begins with

Once upon a time. . .