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I was inspired to set my third novel in Iceland when I visited the country in August 2003 to shoot a beer commercial. I believe that everyone has a country other than the one on their passport, where they instinctively feel they belong. When I visited Iceland, I felt I could have been born there (well, it is only one letter removed from Ireland).
And so I imagined what it would be like to give everything up and relocate to somewhere that is only a few hours away but a cultural world away from where I live now. Just like my central character Callum, though his move is precipitated by something altogether darker.
I wanted to really push his situation and I imagined the ultimate ‘fish out of water’ scenario: a guy giving everything up, on a whim it seems, to not only live in an alien country but to live with three generations of strong females.
Like other writers before me, I couldn’t resist venturing into the remote and inhospitable expanses that lie beyond cool and popular Reykjavík. Fortunately my experience filming in Iceland gave me a great introduction to its more remote reaches (in other words, everything outside the capital).
As I traveled all over the island, the landscape had a powerful effect on me. I made my central female character a glaciologist because it gave me a chance to explore the landscape and use it to extrapolate the moods and emotions of my characters. I also found that Iceland’s volatile topography could add resonance to the book’s darker scheme and to the relationships that people the novel.
I’d like to think that the book presents a fresh take on contemporary Iceland, the newest country on the planet and one that the rest of the world is only starting to discover. I wanted to write a good story first and foremost, but hopefully I have also written a book that illuminates Iceland for those who have yet to visit it, while remaining true to the fantastic people who live there.
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