Deirdre did basically start out as just Ciara's mother. The reason that Ciara is only twelve years old in the prolog of Oseille was that I had originally thought that she would stay that age throughout the story. I hadn't actually meant for either of her parents to become major characters in the story. They were introduced because it didn't seem right for a twelve-year-old to just be running around loose with no connections to anyone. But then the story and the characters kept evolving and the more I got to know them, the more they became who they are today. It's kind of funny, in a way, because Deirdre is rather closer to your traditional fantasy hero than Ciara is, despite Ciara's royal parentage. Deirdre's the one with the real combat experience and the keen sense of wanderlust. She's the one who ran away from home to make a name for herself.

As for her personality, I think "cocky" might be a better word, though a certain amount of regal bearing might have rubbed off from her association with Connor. But she's a tinker's daughter, born in the back of a wagon somewhere in the wilds of Oseille. What's more, her parents were immigrants which meant that they, and Deirdre, were considered outsiders by most of the people on the island. Between that and the fact that, as a pure-bred swift fox, she's significantly smaller than even most foxes on the island, she has always had to rely on attitude and her supreme self confidence to make herself seem bigger than she really is. In some ways, her whole life has been practice for becoming the mother of the Queen of Cearnach and, by extension, an extremely important person on the island in her own right.

I have tried to make sure that Ciara and Emer shared enough traits with her to make it clear they were all family. Her attitude and her confidence certainly run through the generations, as does her desire to help make the world a better place. Needless to say, she is very proud of both her daughter and her grand-daughter.