Ice Blink

Author's Note

The main reason I wrote this book was for the story. I had a good story in mind and I wanted to tell it so others could enjoy it. The Inuit setting was something I loved and have been researching for years. However, when reading, writing and catching glimpses of the Inuit way of life, their history, and culture, other factors naturally reared their heads, and I want to talk about them.

First of all, I want to make it clear that I have the utmost respect and admiration for the Yupik, Aleut and Inuit peoples. I am aware there are people who believe you should 'write what you know' and refrain from depicting people of other ethnicities or cultures which creates the risk of inaccuracies or causing offense, but authors also get criticised for not including enough representation in their work. I admire the Inuit culture and I acknowledge that indigenous communities have been oppressed and repressed by colonisers.

There is a long way to go before we achieve true equality. As I am not of Yupik, Aleut or Inuit descent, any mistakes in my writing are due to gaps in my knowledge and understanding, and if offense is taken from my work, let it be known that that was far from my intention (and if you are part of these communities and have any advice or information I do not know that may help make this book better, it would be amazing if you could tell me your thoughts).

Everything I have written is intended to be respectful and as accurate a reflection on these communities as possible, and I admit I have taken some artistic liberties due to the novel's fantasy setting.

The Vikings, who settled in Greenland during the period in which my book is based upon, could be seen as the precursor to the colonialist invasion – the Vikings were the Inuit's first encounter with white people (as far as I know).

I want my story to be an enjoyable read primarily, but I also want it to open people's eyes to the unique, different world of the Inuit. I want them to realise, through recreational reading, that cultures and worldviews like this exist and are far removed from what we know. I think listening to the Inuit – who knew about climate change and melting ice long before scientists 'discovered' it – and taking into consideration other hunter-gatherer communities and their ways of life can really give us a new perspective when considering our society's problems. It may make the reader think about problems they had previously accepted as being set in stone, but which do not exist for the Inuit – or, at least, did not exist prior to colonialization.

I think if ways of life such as that of the Inuit can be brought to the public eye in a consumable way, it will give people a new understanding of the world. (I'm aware of the irony of what I'm saying as I pursue publication, which ultimately makes money, but at the end of the day I wrote this story for myself, because I was passionate about it – publication is simply a bonus, a way to make a living out of doing something I love. I'm writing this without a book deal, without a literary agent – writing is just my passion, my hobby, and my ambition.)

Without perspective gained from knowledge of others' lifestyles, and the ways we lived in the past, it is easy to get lost in the normality of day-to-day life. As an archaeologist, I know we have only been living the way we are now for a fraction of our existence. We were hunter-gatherers for far longer than we were anything else. What does that say about the human race?

Hunter-gatherers still exist but that does not mean they are remnants of an archaic past – they have had just as long a time to adapt and change as those in First World societies. What they have works. They have the highest life satisfaction of any type of community in the world. What does that imply? All we humans want, after all, is to lead happy lives.

I hope those who read my Inuit story are filled with wonder and admiration, as I was when I began my research as a teen. I hope they come away from the book happy to have learned about a group of people (albeit through a fantasy lense) which I believe have not been represented enough in the media. I hope they enjoy the twists and turns of the plot and grow attached to the characters the way I did while writing.

I hope you root for Nuna, a kind, gentle Inuk trying to find her place in a cold, competitive world.

BOOK 2: MOCK MOON COMING SOON...