Goodreads asked Elizabeth Amy Hajek:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Elizabeth Amy Hajek When I was invited to join the series that "The Mermaid and the Unicorn" was originally slotted to belong to, I got the lovely assignment of writing a non-American story. We narrowed down the location to Paris. I immediately thought of the Unicorn Tapestries in the Cluny Museum. Regina Doman had once told me that the Unicorn is a Christological symbol, and that idea has stayed with me ever since, so I knew it would be very appropriate to include a unicorn character in a Catholic YA series.

*MILD SPOILERS TO FOLLOW*

Then, I was trying to figure out what other creature might have a 'French' feeling, and I recalled the story of the water spirit (or mermaid) named Melusina. Several different places claim her origin stories, but France has a couple of strong ones. I thought it would be interesting to explore how Melusina might look in the modern day. The Seine River might not seem the most logical location for mermaids, but Melusina is a shapeshifter who lives only part time in water, so it melds together well in the end.

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