All who seek, find. But, all that is found is not sought.   -Gypsy Queen, late 13th century

One of the most challenging parts about writing fiction, to me anyway, is channeling characters that are unlike myself. I draw from people I know and people I do not always understand. But to develop a character, especially one that is smarter than me, takes a lot of work. It is easy to write about the village idiot. That character has no deep or conflicting motivations. And, as a bonus, there is also plenty of “live” material around to observe.

The Gypsy Queen is quite a different story. She has always held fascination for me. She is dangerous, but not threatening. She can predict people with uncanny accuracy, yet lives marginally above the lifestyle of a nun. There is no contract binding her people to her, yet they remain staunchly loyal to one another. And she is self-educated, but at times with much deeper wisdom than those with multiple degrees of education.

In Gepetka, there is an under-story of the development of the Gypsy Queen interwoven into the background fabric of the main story.

In truth, that was sort of by accident. But once I found her, I really liked her. I hope you do too.