As I’m posting a chapter of Seven Graves, One Winter on my Patreon page every Sunday until the end of the year, I thought I would add a few related “behind the scenes” anecdotes and photos here on the blog. These posts will include things like the thoughts I had when writing the book, what happened during the publishing phase, and the events and places that inspired elements of the story.
No spoilers, just background.
We’ll start with the graves!
In 2010 Jane and I left Uummannaq. We were moving to Qaanaaq. Jane and her twin sister spent the summer touring southern Greenland. I went on a month-long solo kayak trip. My trip was a sponsored expedition, and the idea was to visit each of the seven settlements in Uummannaq Fjord. I visited five of them and one of them was Niaqornat. This settlement has a population of around 40 people, and even though I didn’t know it at the time, it was the perfect place for Maratse to “retire”. I renamed the settlement Inussuk for my book, and of all the seven settlements Maratse and Petra visit in my stories, Niaqornat remains the only one to have a fictive name. I’ve got lots of other fictive settlements and places in my stories, but they are simply made up. Inussuk is real, although the events that occur there are not, fortunately. 😉
The settlement itself has a beach on both sides with a small lake of brackish water between the beaches. The beaches are volcanic black, with a lot of pebbles on the southern side (above) and mostly sand to the north (below). Niaqornat is often the first place cruise ships visit when they enter Uummannaq Fjord.
The photos above are taken from the graveyard (below) which looks out onto Uummannaq Fjord. It’s important to note that Seven Graves, One Winter is complete fiction, I just happened to be inspired by this fabulous settlement.
You can get a better idea of where it is by looking at this map I drew of the area. Niaqornat is above the airplane in the middle of the map.
There are 22 Sundays before the end of the year, so I’ll leave it there for now. If you’d like to read along and support my work at the same time on Patreon, you can subscribe for as little as 25 DKK (roughly $4 USD + tax) per month. I’ve got a lot of stories on Patreon now, with a lot more on the way. Here’s that link again.
Alternatively, you can buy the Seven Graves, One Winter (digital and physical formats) starting from $0.99 USD.
Chris
