Christoffer Petersen

Authentic Arctic Thrillers

Christmas

Christmas 2006

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Ah, you thought you’d escaped the dreaded external hard drive, but I found it again, and I found the folder called “December 2006”. It was our first Christmas (and winter) in Greenland. And vanilla cookie production was in full swing! I think we even brought some twisty branch thing with us from Denmark as about the only thing we knew about Greenland was the fact there were (are) no trees. I remember that meat grinder for the cookie dough. Rather my arms remember it.

There was time for a game of Starship Catan – which we need to do more of. Yep, Jane’s going to love me for this photo!

Followed by the all important Skype with family in Denmark. The tiny daughter in Jane’s sister’s lap is all grown up now, and I still can’t find that ocean map!

And then a very modest (decoration was modest, there was plenty of food) but very tasty Christmas dinner for two.

This was a short blast down memory lane. I hope your Christmas was fun, too.

Chris

Challenge the Northwind!

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I dropped the teaser yesterday. Today I’ll tell you a little bit more about Northwind.

The format is a daily episode posted here on the blog. Each episode is roughly five pages long if you were to read it in a paperback. Hopefully your tablet or phone is comfortable on the eyes to make the reading more enjoyable. Each episode will take you and the characters one day closer to Christmas, and, hopefully, many steps further away, as the whole point is to make you wonder if Christmas will come this year?

Did I just ruin the ending?

Yes, perhaps, and yet not at all.

I think most people understand the ups and many downs of a classic Christmas movie, and look forward to it all working out in the end. The journey is what’s important. Northwind, inspired by the Scandinavian Christmas Calendars, uses the same framework, with 24 days of adventures.

So once again, Luui Angakkuarneq, the shaman’s daughter, now in her late twenties, faces a challenge to be overcome in the far north of Greenland. She is ably assisted by Kalaagi and Naaluk, the Qamaarlutik brother and sister you may have met in Yule at Aurora Station. And then there is Aunix Cobick, the pilot, also from Yule at Aurora Station. Aunix is flying home for Christmas, but is delayed, and more besides, by the sneaky Northwind, and it’s up to Luui to secure safe passage for her friend to get her home for Christmas.

That’s it in a nutshell.

What happens in the dark December days leading up to Christmas Eve is something else entirely.

I look forward to sharing a new episode of Northwind with you every day in December, from the 1st to the 24th. And, if we’re lucky, Luui might just save Christmas!

Northwind is set one year after the events in Yule at Aurora Station. It is not necessary to read the first book, but it might enhance the story if you do.

Also, Northwind will debut here every day in December, but will available to purchase in a polished and revised edition in eBook format on December 25th this year (2022). I’ll put the link up as soon as it is ready.

Chris

Come back on December 1 for the first episode!

Baking in Qaanaaq!

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Jane bakes every Christmas. She uses her mother’s old mincing machine to make the dough for the vanilla cookies, and I help. When I say help I mean I push the button to start the machine, and stuff the dough into it. I’d like to say I’m a valued part of the operation. 😉

While the vanilla cookies are good, I have to say the brown biscuits are better. I just can’t remember what they are called right now. The only problem with the brown cookies is the dough – it’s seriously edible! So Jane never tells me when she’s made it. I mean, I have to go looking!

I said Jane’s cookie baking was an operation and I wasn’t joking. When Jane’s not making cookies for the family – we spent nearly all our Christmases in Greenland – she made more than enough to give away with plenty for the kids in my class. Jane’s cookies gave me a serious boost in the popularity charts!

Chris

Singing the last wild song of winter!

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I’ve mentioned the advent books, and this is just a quick plug to mention again The Last Wild Song of Winter. Maratse, in his own quiet way, suggested he might need an advent calendar, and this is it – and a very Jack Londonesque one it is too.

The basic premise is a story for each day in December from the 1st to the 24th when the Greenlanders celebrate Christmas.

Maratse is his usual reserved self, but he has company as he and a criminal – that’s up to you to decide – are trapped in an isolated cabin as the temperature drops. They tell stories to get through the worst of the endless night each night, and each story leads Maratse closer to a conclusion, and helps him decide on the necessary action he must take before Christmas Eve.

It’s a simple concept which I hope will have you hooked this December.

Here’s the book page, and the shameless Amazon link! Just 0.99 until the day of release.

Chris

Extra leg room!

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Facing the rear of the aircraft

We didn’t drive home for Christmas, we flew. Practically from the North Pole! (Just 800 miles shy of it.) The flight to Qaanaaq had already been delayed due to weather – I can’t remember, but let’s just say “fog in Upernavik” because it was probably true. But then, snow, high winds, and everything in between is more likely. Suffice it to say, we were late departing, but we did depart, and once the ground crew had emptied the plane of a couple of passengers and a lot of Christmas cargo (including potatoes preserved in glass jars – very important!) there was plenty of leg room.

Facing the cockpit

In fact, we got up for a stroll halfway through the flight to have a look at the island of Uummannaq, where we used to live. The only thing missing was a tray to put our cups of coffee on during the flight. 😉

While I have never flown First Class, not even Business Class, in my mind, there’s nothing classier that flying in a de Havilland Dash 7, in the Arctic, in winter.

And that, folks, is why my characters always fly in Dash 7s. Because I love ’em!

Chris