Let us start with selkies.

Much maligned and often dismissed, dreary and sad, victims of allowing their pelts to be stolen. Held as captives and forced to bear children.

That was not the life I wanted for my selkie, Even before The Skin had officially begin, At least one of the selkies in this series had appeared in a short story, as did Sirena. Both those characters became the core of the Skin. I knew that to find the depth I needed, I had to hunt further afield, look beyond the romantic tales, beyond the southern tales softened for our palettes, further north to Orkney and beyond, to tales of the Finn Folk and their shared origins from Shetland, although some would say their origins are further afield still, going right back to Norse folklore.

For those less familiar with selkies, I highly recommend diving into this wonderful website filled with tales and lore.

http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/selkiefolk