"My story was inspired by my own family, by my Romany grandfather and Gauja grandmother who with care and devotion brought me up and treated me as their daughter, their bitti chai, the youngest child of a family of ten. My grandfather instilled in me a pride in our heritage and it was with him in mind that Joe was born, even down to his two gold teeth and cigarette in his mouth. Many of the Romany characters are inspired either by family or friends."