Just because we think of wolves (or the wilderness, or another race) as wild and fierce, doesn't mean there isn't another side to them.
Gypsies are, to say the least, underrepresented in literature and film.
I don't use real people for inspiration.
I don't think I could write about someone I didn't feel some sympathy for.
I definitely do feel a pull toward people and places that are far from my own life.
Initially I only decided to try and write a novel because I wasn't getting enough screenwriting work. It wasn't a long-held ambition, and certainly the idea came first.