Family lores makes us who we are or become. In my case, the amazing stories of my mother's mother sister Ota, and also my father's sister Sofia were defining. They both migrated at young ages and the myth of their heroism were inspirational with surreal consequences for me and media dragons ... It was in champagne region where story of Aunty Zofka aka Sofia began.
Bits of Imrich exile stories are mentioned at abc tales and cold river.
Coda:How to write a 400-page, historically accurate stories in five months? Take pains in the research, of course. And listen to the voices in your head... Well all those childhood voices …