Of Selkies and Weres - Shona Husk

Of Selkies and Weres...

I am a big fan of using unusual mythological creatures in writing, and thankfully so is fellow author Shona Husk!
Welcome Shona - my first ever guest blogger here at Magical Gains!
Shona is a writer of paranormal romance and her latest title Kissing Phoenix, was released a few weeks ago. Shona's other titles include: An Elemental Tail, How to Breathe Fire, and Boyfriend in a Bottle - and many more to come.

Take it away Shona....

I love the idea of shape-shifting. The idea of being able to experience the world though another set of eyes, to have senses beyond the average human, opens up a whole realm of possibilities for a writer.

In Kissing Phoenix I knew how Lilith would be saved but when I started writing I wasn’t sure what type Were she would become. I wanted to give her choices, but at the same time I wanted to go beyond the wolf, the snake or even the big cat (not because I don’t like these animals but because they weren’t right for the story).

Since the story takes place in England I wanted something local. Local shape-shifting myths from Ireland and Scotland are about Selkies. Often living in isolated fishing villages they kept to themselves. They are said to change form by taking off their fur, and if one captures the fur the Selkie will not leave.

A further bit of research revealed that there are several other water based shape-shifter including dolphins from South America, sharks and crocodiles. Stretching the Selkie myth to turn them in to Weres seemed plausible, and fun. It was something different and something local to the story.
In the world I build for Kissing Phoenix Vampirism is genetic (so Vampires can’t turn people) and Wereism is a virus.

So if you could be turned into a Were what animal would you choose?