to Roxanne Doty

the novelist has a dozen dartboards/one for gender one for ethnicity one for occupation and so forth

she has thrown her darts and now her main character is a dwarf from lithuania/who is a cis-male entertainer/with three sisters

well, this will be a roller coaster

doing her due diligence she searches on “lithuanian dwarf”/and learns some history/specific to the grand duke of lithuania/known as vytautas the great

he had done time in the german order/and returned to court in 1392/with a taste for entertainment/in the form of jesters and dwarfs

the novelist’s eyes widen

she realizes that writing way-back, way-elsewhere historical fiction/is something she has needed to do

and that the future henry IV fits right in is a fine bonus

but–all that RESEARCH! all that WORK!

she shrugs and then squares her shoulders

i am no stranger to either

it will broaden my horizon

build toughness of character