I went down such a research rabbit hole when writing about Kodiak, Alaska and the Coast Guard located there. I had such a hard time imagining the life there that I realized it was better to just base it off the real thing...which actually turned out even harder than I thought. Kodiak is so remote that Google Maps doesn't even have streetview for it.
Did You Know ?
Here is the annoying part where I share some things I found in my research
So in the beginning of this Rhett is in Cold Bay, a real island at the very end of the Alaskan Aleutian Island chain with a population of about 100, it only has one school aged child named Wake Kremer (Yes, yes I'm stealing that name) living on the island. They had to close the schools because there were no more children. There is also only one restaurant.
Speaking of the Aleutian Islands, during WWII the Japanese tried to occupy them and there were quite a few battles over them and makes them one of the two attacks on US soil during WWII. I'm not sure people really talk about the war in Alaska. While it wasn't a state it was a territory.
Research Hole
Like I said I really went down a research rabbit hole. I'm honestly probably on a list somewhere. Here are all the crazy places on the internet I've been
- I downloaded a blueprint of Kodiak Airport to get a sense of the size
- I may have stalked the USCG Kodiak Base Facebook Page
- I lurked hard on Coast Guard forums that talked about transfers
- I literally have pdfs of USCG policy manuals / moving guides downloaded on my computer in case they go away and I need them.
- There is a Coast Guard member who has been making YouTube videos for a few years. about camping. He has about 0-48 views per videos and he may have noticed a spike in his views for videos that involve the Coast Guard.
- I read a lot of local newspapers and NPR articles. In fact a lot of the Katrina stuff is based on NPR articles and interview. I tended to steer away from the official USCG blogs because I wanted unfiltered information.
- Wikipedia rabbit holes. So many Wikipedia rabbit holes.
Note to Lile
All your mentions of Goodwill in my comment section will lead to your laptop mysteriously vanishing from your house.
Chapter 25 + Chapter 26
So, you all must have seen the pregnancy coming since Juliana is preggers in the prologue. The reason this chapter brought so much clarification to me is because I could not figure out how to work the pregnancy in.
I think a lot you are picking up on Rhett's anger issues and Juliana's impulsiveness and flightyness that were apart of the characters in UL that cause a lot of their differences.
I am getting closer and closer to writing the ending so I don't want to say too much because I feel like I'll reveal something. I almost did it with a blog post
Chapter 27
Recap
Rhett has been in Kodiak, Alaska for 8 weeks and Juliana comes for a visit and surprise! she's detoxing from heroin also...surprise ! She's pregnant. Rhett wants her to have an abortion because he knows her anxiety and pregnancy don't mix...and he's not sure the dates add up. Juliana gets upset and leaves.
Back in Freeport Juliana has the same argument with Rhett's mom and she walks out of her house. When she gets home she finds a message from Rocket wanting to meet. On impulse, Juliana decides to go to Rocket
Chapter 27
Playlist
-1- Wilderness by Jon Bryant
-2- Embers Upon The Wind by Whitaker
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