I started working on the story for GYPSY 83 in 1997 during a difficult rewrite of EDGE OF SEVENTEEN. I even thought of putting EDGE aside and diving into GYPSY instead, but my boyfriend, Tim Kaltenecker, talked me out of it. The initial seeds for the story, however, were planted in the summer of 1994 -- the first time I saw Stevie Nicks in concert.
I had been a casual Stevie fan up until that point, but not enough to buy any of her records. Tim noticed she was performing at Jones Beach and we decided to go on a lark. This was during Stevie's "Street Angel" period, when she was at her heaviest. Several years later Stevie would spin back into fashion, but at this point many considered her a joke.