Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 133 entries, all of them here in full.
July 9, 2019 · 106 words
Frozen Giants
This was once a giantess who had captured a ship, and was towing it to shore to devour the crew. Unfortunately she lost track of time, the sun rose, and she was turned to stone. Seems kind of unfair that the ship and sailors were turned to stone as well. Also, Iceland must be hard […]
Read entry →July 4, 2019 · 334 words
Newly Arrived
Come just in time for the Glorious Fourth was a box of the uncorrected proofs of Quillifer the Knight, which will be available in bookstores the first week in November, the date having been moved, apparently, from the first week in October. All the better for the holidays! Here’s the flap copy: Rogue. Joker. Lover. Rel
Read entry →June 30, 2019 · 161 words
The Whale That Didn’t Get Away
Finally a whale lets me get close! This is the skeleton of a long-finned pilot whale, floating eerily with a number of other whale skeletons in the attic space of the Whale Museum in Húsavik. Most if not all of the whale skeletons were from strandings, though Iceland still does catch whales, some to sell to […]
Read entry →June 29, 2019 · 661 words
Breach
This is the less successful of the two photos I managed of breaching humpbacks. But then any photo you get of a breaching whale is a success, no? I shouldn’t have written “humpbacks,” because there was only one humpback jumping this day, and he kept it up for some time, as if he were indulging […]
Read entry →June 28, 2019 · 55 words
Chris
Taos Toolbox 2014 veteran Chris Cornell died unexpectedly a few weeks ago, and his family has set up a memorial page for those who knew him. They have very kindly approached me to establish a scholarship in Chris’ name, and the page includes a link to Taos Toolbox, for those of you inclined to donate.
Read entry →June 26, 2019 · 167 words
Hidden
This was described to me as “a church of the Hidden People.” The Hidden People are, well, people— they’re not dwarves or elves or trolls, who are supernatural beings who also hang around in Iceland. They’re just people who are hidden. (Some people think the Hidden People are the same thing as elves, but Arni assu
Read entry →June 26, 2019 · 61 words
Pod People
Friend of the blog Pete Johannsen and his pal Connor (who seems not to have a last name) interview each other about my novel Voice of the Whirlwind. Interesting ideas are raised, some of which I will have to think about for a while. It’s entertaining, it’s smart, and it’s about me! Good Lord, how perfect is […]
Read entry →June 24, 2019 · 647 words
Debatable Ground
So here we are atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, on the neutral ground between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate. Because the land here is very new, there’s not much in the way of bedrock to support it, and in places it’s sort of collapsed— though not here, where this lake can be […]
Read entry →June 17, 2019 · 367 words
Springtime
Here we are, just a few days from Midsummer, and the temperature is 7º Celsius (44 Fahrenheit), with a wicked cold wind. That’s southeast Iceland for you. This photograph was taken near the pleasant fishing town of Höfn (“Haven,” or “Port” if you like), which is currently suffering from a weird tertiary effect of globa
Read entry →June 16, 2019 · 800 words
Turf
I should make the point that my Iceland posts aren’t made in any particular order, but dictated by what I feel like writing about and how much time I have available. So if you’re familiar with Icelandic geography, you may suspect that I’m teleporting randomly about the landscape. Whereas to those of you who don’t [&hel
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