GEPETKA!

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Gepetka, Prince of Gypsies is now available!

Am I excited? Yes!

In honor of daughter Irene's service in the US Navy, and on the day which she has officially become a civilian again, I present to you Book 3 in the Kingdom of the Falcon series.

Gypsies!

They are short on tact:

Subconsciously she touched the cut on her forehead and asked, “Is it that bad?”

His trance was abruptly broken.“Oh, no,” he waffled, “Well, it is sort of … yeah, it looks pretty bad.”

Long on humor:

She gave him a sidelong look and, leaning toward him, whispered, “An old woman, smelling of liquor, asked if you beat me.”

… “I said I hit you twice as hard as you hit me.”

Completely unpredictable:

The razor-sharp belt dagger was drawn deftly and the frightened Gypsy pricked his thumb deeply. The family of the warlord jumped at the sudden move and the blood welled up deep red and convincing.

And primed for adventure:

The crack across his nose sent him sprawling and, in an instant, Lord Nolridge possessed the sword.    …

Gepetka found his voice first and asked what everyone was thinking. “How did you learn that?”

As Lord Nolridge climbed onto Gepetka's cart, he gave the young man a pained look, then slowly replied, “I suppose the same way you learned to be a Gypsy.”

The Mysterious Gypsy Queen

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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.