It’s hard to believe that it’s been a decade since my first book was published. I’m not sure of the etiquette. Cakes? fireworks? Say nothing?

It was due for release on 17th June 2013, on Icelandic National Day but Jeff Bezos and his corporate crew decided that 1st June would be good enough. Best laid plans and þetta reddast.

Iceland, Defrosted has friendship and patience at its heart; over a beer, my good friend Einar suggested that it would be a good idea to capture my obsession with Iceland in writing and that itself is a very Icelandic thing to do, with – top fact! – 1 in 10 Icelanders being published authors. From Llandudno to Snæfellsnes, rotten shark tasting to Airwaves, none of it would been possible without Einar.

During 6 years of ‘research’ trips to Iceland involving puffins, Arctic fox and the northern lights, and often a very patient wife, to a crowd-funding appeal that thankfully took off with friends (and friends of friends), a determined Rough Guides editor, an encouraging publisher in Silverwood, Icelandic language checking from Eygló at Iceland Review, and an ever evolving cast of supportive Icelanders, Iceland, Defrosted was born.

From there it took on a life of its own. It’s launch at the Icelandic Embassy in London with the very talented Irís sold out (the first and last time, I’ll sell out a venue, surely?!), the lovely Anna at Wenlock Books couldn’t do enough to help, causing frequent deliveries of more copies, Andy at Left For Dead helped by both hosting an in-store with Hafdís Huld, and even signing copies himself (well, he is in it…). There was more madness too; glowing reviews from National Geographic and Wanderlust, a hardback version, and for reasons that I’ve forgotten, a single copy smaller than a one Krona coin.

In 2022, nine years after being released into the wild, I received a tweet from a stranger to tell me that he’d found a copy in a bookshop in Flateyri, probably the remotest bookshop Iceland, if not the world. I was thrilled. Iceland, Defrosted had made it home.

The success of Iceland, Defrosted has been a constant and very lovely surprise. I’m hugely grateful for the messages, photos and reviews (or most of!). A sincere thank you to everyone who supported this daft book over the past decade. It’s sold thousands of copies worldwide, and continues to sell. Not enough to make me rich (thanks again Jeff Bezos, no really, you shouldn’t have), but enough for return airfares to Iceland and Sigur Rós tickets. Better than that, it’s a reminder of the power of friendship, a love letter to everything Icelandic, and a lasting legacy to leave behind. Takk.