This week the dragons are delighted to welcome back Laura Laakso, author of the paranormal crime/ urban fantasy series Wilde Investigations. The main character of the series - Yannia Wilde - suffers from a chronic illness, which means that her exploits in magical London, solving mysteries, are always a bit more challenging. It also makes Laura the ideal person to join Jules and Madeleine for this discussion. Like many aspects of representation, chronic illness is sometimes conflated with being the entirety of a character which does more harm than good, as does some ill researched or thoughtless inclusion of chronic illness or disability. This episode is a lively discussion of exactly what you can do to create more realistic chronically ill characters and why you might want to include one in your work. Aside from which, SFF can be the perfect place to explore the subject. Under the microscope this week: The Fault in Our Stars, the Goonies, Wilde Investigations and many more.

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic