Christoffer Petersen

Authentic Arctic Thrillers

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We lived here!

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I miss this house! There are steps everywhere on the island of Uummannaq (and Greenland in general). Everything is built on the rocks. The steps were our early warning system for guests, but more importantly, we got a few seconds warning when the guys came to collect the toilet bucket. As soon as you heard the first rumble on the steps… well, you can imagine.

The toilet crew had a key to every house in the village, and they let themselves in. It’s one of those awkward dilemmas. You don’t want to be disturbed, but you really want them to take the bucket – can’t leave it outside as it will freeze!

Anyway, you’ve got the picture now. Thankfully, I don’t have the photo of when I was cutting my hair (naked) in the bathroom when the toilet crew arrived. They had a new member of the team – lighter, no rumble on the steps. And then… Surprise! 🙂

Yep. Greenland.

Chris

Petra lives here!

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Moving south to Nuuk, here’s a photo from February (2013). The apartment block is one of five in a row in Qinngorput, a new (at the time) area in Nuuk across the fjord from the city centre. I took the photo from my balcony in an identical apartment block.

When I needed a place for Petra to live in Nuuk, it made sense to put her in my apartment. So this was her view looking to the right from her balcony.

Chris

The hill!

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A few blogs ago I mentioned a hill that I carried dog food and water up and down when we had the dogs camped on the ice. Well, in the photo above you can seen our spare room more or less dead centre in the photo. The crazy piping is for electricity and water.

The photo below is the hill zigzagging down to the heliport and the ice where we had our dogs.

Yep, it’s a as slippy as it looks. But when not sweating, slipping, and cursing, the view is quite good. 😉

Chris

Ice fishing: part 2 (ish)

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We got better at ice fishing. Correction. Jane got better at ice fishing. I got better at taking pictures of Jane while ice fishing. 😉

This February day was just perfect. Yes, the ice was crazy, with lots of currents, thawing, shifting, and a generally chaotic surface, but the weather was balmy. Most people were out for a stroll, including young families.

We set up “camp”. I dug a hole (you can see the ice staff stuck in the ice), and Jane and a friend got busy.

So it starts with a tug on the line. Now, Uummannaq fjord is really, really deep, and so it’s easy to have a line that is fifty metres or longer. Easy. So there’s nothing but hard work when you get a nibble. Which makes it very important for me to preserve my role as photographer!

If you’re unlucky you snag an old fishing line on the bottom – feels like you’ve got a whale on the other end – and it’s hopeless. But, if you’re lucky, this happens:

Followed by this:

And this:

Depending on “where” we were fishing, the dogs got the catch.

Chris

Coming soon!

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A quick post to mention the following books coming out in February:

The Boreal Tattoo

Greenland Missing Persons #13

While convalescing in her hospital bed, Constable Petra Jensen is given a Polaroid photo of a traditional Inuit tattoo and encouraged to track down the artist who made it.

The Boreal Tattoo is scheduled for release on February 24.

You might remember me mentioning The Crocodile Beat. Well, it’s on its way, but The Boreal Tattoo sneaked into the series.

I’m still trying to figure out exactly where best to place The Crocodile Beat, and I think it might end up as a Greenland Missing Persons stand-alone novel.

Yep, pretty sure about that. 🙂

and

The American Artisan

Constable David Maratse novellas #23

When ghosts from an old case haunt an American artist as he walks the streets of Nuuk, Constable David Maratse is recalled to Greenland’s capital to investigate.

The American Artisan is scheduled for release on February 26.

Both these books are novella-length and introduce new characters inspired by/based on (you decide) backers of a previous Kickstarter campaign.