Viking Voyager by Sverrir Sigurdsson with Veronica Li

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Welcome to It's Raining Books. If you could apologize to someone in your past, who would it be?

I would apologize to my ex-wife for not leaving her sooner. We got together when we were barely adults, and when it became clear that the gap between us was unbridgeable, we hung in there for the sake of the children. But instead of protecting them, we tormented them and ourselves for far too long.

If you could keep a mythical/ paranormal creature as a pet, what would you have?

Iceland is the home of elves, sometimes known as “hidden people.” They live in invisible colonies scattered all over the island. Sometimes they appear in human form, usually to cause mischief, such as kidnapping children and returning them as changelings. Icelanders dare not cross them. Once, the government started building a road that would require cutting into a hill known to house a community of hidden people. The locals objected so vehemently that the engineers had to take the road on a detour around the hill. Locals believe that many a mishap has thus been avoided.

I wouldn’t mind having an elf as a companion. With this creature by my side, he would be my bodyguard against his comrades. By the way an elf isn’t a “mythological” creature. Icelanders swear that he’s as real as you and I.

How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?

Most of the English language publications on Iceland are picture books on Icelandic scenery or academic books on its history. As far as I know, my memoir is the only modern memoir of an Icelander written in English. My book will transport the reader to my homeland and show him what used to be Europe’s poorest country. He’ll go through the years of turbulence with me and watch the Second World War transform the obscure island into a strategic fortress against Hitler’s advance toward America. He’ll understand the Viking spirit that lives on in modern Icelanders, pushing them into the world to seek fame and fortune as their forefathers did. Although this book is my personal story, the reader will see that my family history is the history of the nation, and my adventures are my ancestors’ dream. He’ll discover what it means to be a modern-day Viking.

What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?

I begin my memoir with my grandfather’s tragic accident. A writer friend who read an early draft pointed out that the chapter was all about my grandfather, with hardly any trace of me. As this is my memoir, she felt I should make a strong entrance from the beginning. I saw her point, but I felt inhibited because the event I was describing took place well before I was born. I was also worried about upstaging my grandfather. But as I learned more about creative writing, I realized the magic of a blank page—anything is possible. A writer has the creative license to make anything work. With the help of my wife and coauthor, Veronica, I crossed the boundary of time and came out of the shadows to share the limelight with my grandfather.

The worst piece of advice (from a man, of course) was a suggestion to exaggerate the potentially erotic parts of the book, i.e., the harem I helped build in Abu Dhabi and the near-naked dancing virgins auditing to be the next queen of Swaziland. Not a good advice. I think my life is flavorful enough that I don’t need to spice it up extraneously.

Are the experiences in this book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

This is a memoir about my Icelandic upbringing, which inspired my subsequent Viking-like career. It’s as accurate as possible based on the data that I have available. The accounts of my parents and grandparents are from written and oral records by family members and others. Several books about events that affected the family have also been invaluable. Another great resource is my memory. The mind is a wonderful thing, like a permafrost that preserves everything. The more I dig the more I find. It also helps that I’m a bit of a pack rat. A number of expired passports, employment records, office reports, expense accounts and correspondence clutter my drawers. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to keep track of my frequent travels.

This vivacious personal story captures the heart and soul of modern Iceland. Born in Reykjavik on the eve of the Second World War, Sverrir Sigurdsson watched Allied troops invade his country and turn it into a bulwark against Hitler’s advance toward North America. The country’s post-war transformation from an obscure, dirt-poor nation to a prosperous one became every Icelander’s success. Spurred by this favorable wind, Sverrir answered the call of his Viking forefathers, setting off on a voyage that took him around the world.

Read an Excerpt

One memorable incident took place [in 1968] during our drive through Anbar province in Iraq. The place was unheard of when I motored through, but after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, this Sunni stronghold of Saddam Hussein’s became world renowned for insurgency and suicide bombings. Even during my days, traveling in this neighborhood was dicey. While guessing my way through the desert of Al Anbar, we passed a ghastly sight. It was the charred remains of what looked like a small industrial complex. The scene evoked news articles about an Israeli air raid on an Iraqi nuclear research facility. I knew we shouldn’t be there, but there was no other way out than to keep driving. Soon after, a military patrol pulled up alongside. I stopped the car, and we all got out to show them exactly who we were, a family of dumb, lost foreigners.

A soldier peered into my car. He started shouting angrily in Arabic, his finger jabbing at the camera on the back seat. They hustled us all back into the Peugeot, I in the driver’s seat, Monika next to me, while Steinn shared the back seat with the soldier. I felt something hard poke at my spine. I glanced at the rearview mirror and realized the object was the muzzle of the soldier’s machine pistol. The drive lasted an hour at most, but it seemed like eternity. To prevent an accidental burst from the gun, I took it slow and easy on the desert tracks.

About the Authors:

Sverrir Sigurdsson grew up in Iceland and graduated as an architect from Finland in 1966. He pursued an international career that took him to the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the U.S. His assignments focused on school construction and improving education in developing countries. He has worked for private companies, as well as UNESCO and the World Bank. He is now retired and lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and coauthor, Veronica.

Veronica Li emigrated to the U.S. from Hong Kong as a teenager. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and her master’s degree in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University. She has worked as a journalist and for the World Bank, and is currently a writer. Her three previously published titles are: Nightfall in Mogadishu, Journey across the Four Seas: A Chinese Woman’s Search for Home, and Confucius Says: A Novel.

Veronica Li Website: http://www.veronicali.com
Amazon author page:

https://www.amazon.com/Sverrir-Sigurdsson/e/B08LFYCCPD
ttps://www.amazon.com/Veronica-Li/e/B001JOSCAQ

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/tssigurdsson
https://www.facebook.com/veronica.li.39

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Sverrir_Sigurds
https://twitter.com/VeronicaLi5

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/142534.Veronica_Li

The Book will be $1.99 during the tour.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08MDMRM66/
Amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/Viking-Voyager-Icelandic-Sverrir-Sigurdsson-ebook/dp/B08MDMRM66/

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