The Evolution of a Selkie, a guest post by Linda Crotta Brennan

Novels don’t come out whole and complete. The evolution of The Selkie’s Daughter began when a girl appeared to me during my morning journaling time, standing on a cliff, hurling a prayer over the raging sea, “Bring him home, bring him home, bring him home!”

Who was she? Where was she? And why was she desperate to have “him” return home? 

I journaled further to discover the answers. Her name was Brigit. She was stronger-willed and more distrustful than me. She loved oysters and creating jewelry like her mother. 

She lived on an isolated point on Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. (I had fallen in love with the ethereal coast of Cape Breton during a visit there.) The book would be set in the 1800’s before the invention of cars or planes or telephones, which would make Brigit’s village more remote, more open to magic. Like many men of this area, Brigit’s father was a fisherman. And he was missing, out at sea.

What about her mother? The deep Celtic heritage of Cape Breton gave me that answer. Brigit’s mother was a selkie, a seal who came ashore, took off her skin, and became human. I researched the myths surrounding Selkies. According to one, the children of selkies were marked with webbing between their fingers. What if Brigit was so marked? How would her neighbors in her tiny village treat her? Would Brigit be driven to hide her heritage? Now my story was launched.

I love Celtic music. My grandmother was probably Irish. She was an orphan, so we don’t know for sure, but her last name was originally Connell. My husband is Irish, too. Though The Selkie’s Daughter is set in an area of Cape Breton settled by Scots, selkies are rooted in both branches of Celtic culture. My story is steeped in the music and legends of the Celts, with their selkies and their hero Finn MacCool, and his son Oisín, who Brigit sees as a reflection of her friend Peter. 

Other elements of the story were plucked from the stew of my life. Peter sports a curly hedge of white-blond hair, like my friend’s son. I’m a birder, and like me, Peter has a passion for naming the creatures he encounters. And like a woman I knew, Peter was orphaned and raised by his uncle, a priest. 

Brigit goes through some dark times, and I sought a way to give her some lighter moments. When he was alive, my golden retriever Willow brightened my life and he became the inspiration for Tolly, who is a Nova Scotian Duck Retriever, a small, hyper, golden-retriever look-alike with a piercing bark. 

Most of my body of work is nonfiction, so of course, even though this is a fantasy, I did tons of research: into the customs of Cape Breton and its diphtheria epidemic, into the creatures one might encounter there, and into the lives of seals. One fascinating fact I discovered is that seals have whiskers so sensitive that they can follow current trails through the water, even without scent to guide them. Isn’t that cool! 

As the saying goes, “There is no such thing as a published writer, only published rewriters.” The Selkie’s Daughter began as a novel in verse, but when I brought it to workshops to be critiqued by industry professionals, I was told it wasn’t viable in that format. So, I rewrote the whole book, fleshing it out to create a novel in prose. I had to agree, it was much better in that format. But writing the book first in verse wasn’t a wasted endeavor, since it gifted the book with lyric language and gave me insight into the book’s emotion.

Was it ready now? Not yet.  My trusty critique group, the Story Spinners, helped me throughout the seven long years of writing and rewriting and rewriting again. Don’t make Peter so perfect, they said. Give Tolly a larger role in the plot. Let Brigit take the lead in solving her story’s conflict. 

Refining the plot. Finally, The Selkie’s Daughter was accepted by Della Farrell at Holiday House, but I wasn’t done revising yet. As a writer, I am most interested in the relationships between characters and in evoking a vivid sense of place and time. But from my years as a reference assistant in charge of YA programing at a public library, I knew that kids are hooked by a story with an exciting plot. So how could I create one? Della guided me in creating a well-paced story with plenty of drama and action, one where Brigit was the true hero.

Della also taught me the importance of the magic, the sparkle that would draw a young reader into Brigit’s world. I had tremendous fun creating Sule Skerrie, the rocky fortress of the Great Selkie with its whale music, undulating anemone décor, and pet octopuses. 

Since my book takes place in another country, I had someone who lived in Nova Scotia read it through for accuracy. And before final revisions, my husband and I took another trip there to nail down the setting details, the red sand beaches, the wind-stunted spruces, the howl of the winds…which we got to hear plenty of as Hurricane Fiona chased us home.

Yay! It’s a book! The Selkie’s Daughter, which had been living in my imagination, is out in the world. Is it done yet? I’m not sure, but now it’s up to its readers to absorb it and complete it. 

Meet the Author

Linda Crotta Brennan is the author of two picture books and over twenty nonfiction books for young readers. The Selkie’s Daughter, a middle grade fantasy, is her debut novel. She holds a master’s degree in early childhood education and has worked as a library assistant, teacher, and an instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature. When she isn’t writing, she can be found hiking with her husband and rambunctious new puppy, Tansy. You can learn more at www.lindacrottabrennan.com or follow LindaCrottaBrennanAuthor on Facebook. 

About The Selkie’s Daughter

A richly imagined fantasy set in Nova Scotia where a young girl—part selkie, part human—must save her family.

I am human upon dry land. I swim as selkie on the sea.

Brigit knows all the old songs and legends by heart: of Neve, the daughter of the sea god; of the warrior Finn MacCool; and of people who are not quite human. But Brigit knows the truth. It’s evident in the webbing between her fingers–webbing that must be cut. She’s the daughter of a selkie. A truth she must keep secret from everyone.

But someone in her village is killing young seals. Angering the king of the selkie clan, who vows revenge. A curse that will bring storm, sickness, and death. To protect those she loves, Brigit must find a way to Sule Skerrie, the land of selkies, to confront the Great Selkie and protect the young seals from harm.

Like sitting by a warm fireplace, The Selkie’s Daughter is an imaginative fantasy, steeped in Celtic mythology and rich with detail. Perfect for fans of mermaids and Studio Ghibli-esque stories.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

ISBN-13: 9780823454396
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication date: 01/02/2024
Age Range: 8 – 12 Years

Filed under: Guest Post