Today it's my pleasure to be shining the spotlight on author Su Bristow as part of the
Sealskin blog tour, Louise will also be doing a review next week.
Su Bristow is a consultant medical herbalist by day. She’s the author of two books on herbal medicine: The Herbal Medicine Chestand The Herb Handbook; and two on relationship skills: The Courage to Loveand Falling in Love, Staying in Love, co-written with psychotherapist, Malcolm Stern. Her published fiction includes ‘TrollSteps’ (in the anthology, Barcelona to Bihar), and ‘Changes’ which came second in the 2010 CreativeWritingMatters flash fiction competition.
Her debut novel, Sealskin, is set in the Hebrides, and it’s a reworking of the Scottish legend of the selkies, or seals who can turn into people. It won the Exeter Novel Prize 2013.
If you had to give an elevator pitch for your debut novel Sealskin, what would it be?
What happens when magic and reality collide?
Where did the inspiration come from to rework the story of the Scottish legend about selkies?
I’ve always loved this story. As a young woman I identified with the seal girl, losing her whole world and forced to marry a human. Later, I began to wonder about the fisherman, and how it was for him. Legends often have some grit in them, something that doesn’t quite add up, and there are pearls to be found if you look closely.
The story is set in the Hebrides, had you visited the island before you wrote your story? If not, how did you go about researching life on this remote Scottish island?
Yes, I’d been there a few times, read books – fiction and non-fiction – about the area, and watched BBC Alba whenever I wanted to hear Gaelic spoken and see some Hebridean scenery!
