When I started doing research for Warrior Rising, I already knew it was going to involve killer whales. What I discovered was that the First People tribes of Canada and Alaska had an amazing legend. They avoided hunting killer whales because they quite literally believed that killer whales were their ancestors. Also, when they saw a killer whale close to the shore, that meant he or she was an ancestor looking for a way home. This worked into my story line perfectly as my main character, Max’inux (which means killer whale) is a shape shifter. Very cool!
