The last ten months of my life have been spent in a frenzy of “hurry up and wait,” as we like to phrase it in the military. Life has been a rollercoaster from the moment the announcement was made at the end of August 2019, that my business unit had been sold, until the last week of June when I shut down my email and handed in my laptop and badge.
Many people were disturbed by my decision to package out. I was too young—committing career suicide. Shouldn’t I want to continue to work, develop my career? Some were jealous, chained to the need for a steady paycheck for personal or family reasons.
It wasn’t an easy decision, but as time went by and the date got closer. Any doubt in my mind that it was the right one disappeared.
Am I quitting working forever?
Not necessarily. I’m taking a pause to re-evaluate what’s important in life, and how much I really need to work, while Ray and I turn 31 acres of Alaska wilderness into an artists’ retreat and our future summer retirement getaway.
Alternative Energy
I’m definitely going to be putting my technical skills to the test, working on our new solar kit and performing a battery study this summer. I also plan on doing a wind study to eventually install wind turbines to complement our system
Writing
Even with all of the physical work we have going on, being disconnected from the constant chatter allows me to focus on my story and blog writing in a way that I just can’t in town.
Collage of the Lilly of the Valley sculpture in Chicken. Many more to come as we turn 31 acres of Alaska Wilderness into an off-grid artists’ retreat.
Stepping off the Merry-Go-Round
Take care everyone. I’ll have some auto-posts on social media over the next few weeks, and when we come back into range for supplies, I’ll post updates on where we are at with our off-grid adventures. Hopefully someday some of you can come join us.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go.’—
T.S. Eliot
Thanks for reading. Follow my blog or sign up for my newsletter if you would like to find out more. My first self-published novel, The Dark Land, is Available on Amazon.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. It’s hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be tested to the limits on the isolated boundaries of The Dark Land.
How has Individualism gone astray in America in 2020
And how can we bring it back on track?
“You wouldn’t abandon a ship in a storm because you couldn’t control the winds.”
Sir Thomas Moore
Everywhere I turn lately I either see the mantra of:
“I have the right to do what I want and you can’t make me do anything against my will.”
And Conversely
“The government needs to come in and force these people to do (what I deem) is the right thing.”
As a Libertarian, both these statements disturb me highly, though I understand where both sides are coming from. To say 2020 has been tumultuous would be an understatement. Adding fuel to the simmering cauldron is the amount of misinformation available through the media. The emotions are a maelstrom:
Confusion
Anger
Fear
Frustration
Despair
Hopelessness
On this eve of our nation’s conception, I decided to put together this short blog on my take on Individual Liberty, and what it means to me. Here is a link on the history of Libertarianism for those who are interested:
“Laws could be passed to keep a leader of a government from getting too much power.”
Sir Thomas Moore
Libertarians Believe in Anarchy, Right?
No, not as a whole. Libertarians just believe in limited government. The core belief of Libertarianism is that the individual best knows how to govern themselves.***
The government’s role should be to protect the rights of citizens, and should only enable them to act when rights are infringed upon. The laws should restrain the government more than the people.
***Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my moments lately, shaking my head as I look around at what is going on and thinking that if this is the best our society can do, we’re screwed
So That Means I Can Do Whatever I Want?
Nope, not so fast
“…Individuals should be free to behave and to dispose of their property as they see fit, provided that their actions do not infringe on the equal freedom of others.”
Their identity of community centers around consent, rather than coercion. We can make laws to protect rights, but we cannot legislate human behavior.
“The fact that the majority wants something good does not give them the right to use force on the minority that don’t want to pay for it. If you have to use a gun, it’s really not a very good idea. Democracy without respect for individual rights sucks. It’s just ganging up on the weird kid, and I’m always the weird kid.”
Penn Jillette
Winds of Change
I hear so many people crying that they are ashamed of America and they want to leave, but what I see gives me hope, despite the violence and disorder that other countries mock us for while they ignore their own problems.
Change takes time, and is often painful. People inherently resist change, even if what they have at the moment isn’t so great. If you don’t believe me, just google search, “Why do people resist change.” I’ve even included an article below.
But what gives me hope is that people are talking and acting, rather than just sitting by passively letting things fester and spread like a cancer between the surface. And I hate to break it to you, it is probably going to get even uglier before it gets better. But if we are to survive as a country, we have to change.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.’
-Barack Obama
Thanks for reading, these are my own personal thoughts on Individual Liberty. I hope it gave you some food for thought, or maybe I just stirred up the internet Trolls a little.
Take care and have a safe and happy Independence Day Weekend. My self-published Alaska horror novella is available on Amazon. Subscribe to my newsletter to get sneak peeks and updates.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be stretched to the limits in the frozen boundaries of The Dark Land.
I truly feel blessed to be able to get off the grid and away from the constant barrage of bad news. For the next three months, Ray and I will be unplugged (with the exception of coming into town for supplies. We are thinking of getting a satellite internet connection since we’ll be gone so much, but we haven’t made any solid plans yet.
View of the sunset from our cabin. Time is approximately 12:30. The sun will slowly move to the right, hiding behind the mountains for a few hours before popping up again. It will never really get dark.
Sunset/Sunrise times
This year’s Solstice Noon occurs at 1:43 pm on June 20th. The sun will set at around 12:45, and rise again around 2:45***.
***this is approximate per the sunrise/sunset calendar.
Weekend Plans
This weekend we plan on focusing on the upcoming construction in July. The foundations are almost ready, and we will start building structures for the new cook shed and shower facility in July.
Artist’s Retreat!!!
We’ll also start earth work for future guest cabin. Our dream is to turn our 31 acres into an off-grid artist’s retreat so we can share the beauty and inspiration of the Alaska interior with others.
We also we spend time researching, reading, writing and reflecting. Without the constant rattle and distraction focus and clarity on what truly matters is much easier.
Ray’s sculpture, the “Lilly of the Valley.” We have been installing multiple large metal sculptures around the property.
Thanks for reading! My horror novella inspired by my adventures in the backcountry of Alaska is available on Amazon.
Writing and describing Permafrost, Frostjacking and Frostheave in Northern Climates
If it’s frozen, keep it frozen. If it’s thawed, keep it thawed
-First rule of arctic engineering.
Nope, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. This building leaning and coming apart at the seams, a victim of subsidence.
Not only does a structure build in northern climates have to survive the harsh elements, but it has to be able to interact with the phenomenon of permafrost. When permafrost is not taken into account during construction, warmth from the structure causes it to melt. This in turn causes the soil beneath to collapse. Then subsidence of the structure occurs.
I decided to write this blog post to help people understand this phenomenon when they are looking through pictures of Alaska and see the building leaning and sinking.
This old cabin in Chicken, AK has subsided to the point where the floor is overtaking the window.
As mentioned in the website above permafrost is defined as a ground with a temperature that remains below freezing for more than 2 consecutive years. Most of the southern half of Alaska (including Chicken, where our cabin is located) is a region of discontinuous permafrost.
Construction in Discontinuous Permafrost
This creates a quandary to the rule above. How does one keep something frozen and thawed at the same time? In the region of discontinuous permafrost, where the soil may be expanding, thawing and melting at different rates, this leads to heave and jacking if not done properly.
This is also problematic where you have different soil types that absorb moisture, then freeze and thaw at different rates. The City of Dawson, built on the mudflats of the Yukon and Klondike rivers is notorious for this type of subsidence and jacking. In the winter, the ground would freeze solid, but in the summer, the streets would turn into a quagmire of sloppy mud and gravel as the different soil types thawed and subsided.
From the Alaska Archives, picture of a cart stuck up to its axles in Dawson City in 1898. During the summer thaw, Dawson’s Streets turned into a quagmire of mud. Wickersham State Historic Collection ASL-P-277-79
Some of my civil engineering friends can discuss at length the various gravel types used for construction and their merits when it comes to cold region application. But for the purpose of this blog, I will stick to what we did for construction of our cabin.
Digging Down
The soil has to be dug down to gravel and the permafrost must be melted completely before construction. When we built our cabin, we spent 2 years moving earth, shoveling gravel, compacting and allowing the permafrost to melt beneath where we planned to build the structure.
Construction
Due to the size of the structure, we built it on jacks to allow for leveling later. We also waited another year to install windows. This not only allows for the gravel beneath the structure to settle, but the expansion and contraction of the logs themselves as they dry out and acclimate.
Jacks on the bottom of our cabin in Chicken, AK
Gold Rush Structures
Due to improper construction and a lack of understanding of managing permafrost, many structures from the era of the Alaska-Klondike Rush are subsiding into the earth. At the time they were built, the miners cared more about digging gold from the ground than building structures that would last. In Dawson, the conditions created by the freeze cycle of the soil from the Yukon and Klondike Rivers wreaked havoc on the buildings. What flooding and subsidence did not destroy, fires did.
Steamers pulling into Dawson and unloading, 1898. When gold was discovered in the Klondike, Dawson became a shanty town of ill-constructed cabins, tents, yurts and cribs right up to the river’s edge as you can see in this photo graph from the P.E. Lars Photograph Collection.
ASL-P-41-212
Thanks for reading! My next post I will be talking more about our building plans and alternative energy project in the interior of Alaska this summer. My Alaskan horror novella, The Dark Land, is available on Amazon.
While I love to write, I love to read just as much. Fantasy, horror, scifi, historical fiction and non-fiction are my favorite genres in which to read. While I have been neck-deep in self-publishing my own book, it is always a pleasure to take a break and review a book from one of my fellow authors.
This past Memorial Day Weekend I had the pleasure out at the cabin of sitting down and reading The Soul Web, by Steven Nedeau. Those of you who follow me know I love to do deep dives on my reviews, but I am going to refrain on this one (as much as I can) because I don’t see how it would be possible to discuss all the things I want to without spoilers. I will share what I enjoyed about my adventure into Nedeau’s world of Melanthios and his complex high fantasy novel.
Definition of High Fantasy
Fantasy is a broad category of fiction with multiple sub genres. The Soul Web fits squarely in the category of High Fantasy. This genre is defined as taking place in a world that is completely separate from our own, usually with magical elements, complex characters and subplots. Oftentimes, this world has a medieval setting and involve a quest. These books are often longer than typical fiction, as the world building involved takes more description than a story set in the regular world as we know it. Examples of High Fantasy are: Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings; The Dragon Lance Series, by Margret Weiss and Tracey Hickmann; A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin.
High Fantasy can also devolve into some very well-known tropes, clichés and traps. I think one of the most well known is bogging down the plot with too much description. Tolkien was infamous for this. As was Martin. This is where Nedeau does a really good job. His story is very plot and action driven. The characters move quickly from one scene to the next, filling in the gaps as they go. I would say there were a few times I could have used a little more description, but all in all a very fast paced storyline.
Revitalizing old Clichés and Tropes of Fantasy
As mentioned above, fantasy and in particular High Fantasy, tends to fall into stereotypes and clichés. Here are 5 of the most well known:
The Chosen One
Oversimplified Good vs. Evil Dynamic
Setting Medieval Style Monarchy
Contrived Romance/Insta-love/Love Triangle
The All-Powerful Magical Object
Nedeau does a great job of turning each on its head or reinventing it in a fresh, engaging way. I will explain how in my review.
The Chosen One
After years of living and working in a library reading history, Jaron learns that he is the son of a King. All of the people around him who he thought were his friends were really assigned to be his bodyguards. Fearing that his father is dead, they are thrust into a quest with a land surging into war. Nedeau does a great job here of creating an awkward, studious teenager that doesn’t magically morph into Superman, Aragorn, or any other legendary character. Throughout the story you do question whether he really is the guy for the job.
Oversimplified Good versus Evil
As the kingdom of Melanthios plunges into war all kinds of creatures come out of the wood work. Unlike in Tolkien where:
Goblins, orcs= bad
Elves and dwarves = good
Humans something in between
There’s a different dynamic here. The races of Melanthios choose sides based on their own political agendas and past histories. Centuries of grudges and bad blood come to light. Nedeau does a good job of creating empathy in the reader behind the different races and helping to understand why they are allying with either side in the battle to come. And even as the story progresses, there’s hints that even the main characters are not as virtuous as they seem at first blush.
Medieval-style Monarchy
Nedeau does use this trope, and it is considered the most forgivable of the High Fantasy trope because the magic and themes blend well into this frame work and are more believable than in a modern setting. It works well for his plot of an ancient king who has in a sense sold his soul and the souls of his knights in a pact for immortality. Now the current rulers are battling for control, and one has made a pact with this Army of the Dead thinking he can control it. This also ties back to the oversimplified good vs. evil above. There are times when you are looking at both sides (kind of like politics today) and wondering why are heroes want to fight for either side. They are being forced to choose between the lesser of evils.
Contrived Romance/Insta-love/Love Triangle
At first when I saw the set up between Joran and his protectors Keras and Ellian I wondered if Steven was going to go in the love triangle direction. I don’t want to spoil anything here, but he takes us in an entirely different direction. He builds Keras as a skilled and powerful female warrior, but also as a charming young woman. So he doesn’t devolve into what I like to call the female stereotype of the “bad-ass.” She’s worthy of admiration, but so is the other companion Ellian. His strength and strategic ability get them out of trouble on their journey more than once. Nedeau uses these characters as foils to show Joran growing and changing as he confronts his own securities as the purported future leader. There is love, but it blossoms slowly. I won’t spoil it, but I will give you a teaser from one of my favorite lines where the three have to crawl through a tight space. I think I really liked this scene because it reminded me of some of my interactions in the Navy.
Before Keras entered she pointed at Joran, “Don’t look at my butt,” and then to Ellian, “Don’t touch my butt.”
“Wait,” Ellian clarified, “So I can look then?”
She hit him and squeezed through the opening.
Scene from The Soul Web
The All-Powerful Magical Object
Instead of the One-Ring, or sword or book, they are searching for something magical. But Nedeau puts a unique spin on this one as well. Once again, I won’t go into detail here, but it involves the title of the book itself. He reveals snippets of what the group is really questing for little by little as the story goes on. The scene between Joran, Sir William and Lord Baros had a definite Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade/Tales from the Crypt feel to it and is one of my favorite scenes.
Nedeau’s addition to High Fantasy is a fast-paced, magical ride with unique and real feeling characters. I look forward to seeing where the story goes next and how the characters develop in the sequel to The Soul Web.
Thanks for reading. I have a great line-up of authors in the queue for this summer while I work and write out at the cabin. Hoping to dive in to Eric Lahti’s The Henchmen, next.
I am also working hard on the sequel to The Dark Land, available on Amazon now. Sign up for sneak previews.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be stretched to the limits in the isolated boundaries of The Dark Land.
“I’m going in to the neurologist tomorrow to get the results-to find out whether or not I have MS,” I told him, I looked up into his eyes, choking on tears.
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer, comforting me in his warm, strong arms. “It’s okay, baby. I’ll be there for you. Call me afterward.”
That was 20 years ago. To this day I can remember how silky the warm sand felt beneath my feet on that South Carolina beach. How the beacon of the lighthouse flashed like a brilliant white star and the salt from the ocean spray tasted on the night wind.
I’ll never forget the pain when he didn’t answer the phone.
It wasn’t the first time I had been ghosted, nor would it be the last. But it would be the first time I was ghosted because of my MS.*** I faced the diagnosis that would end my Naval career alone.
I look at the calendar and realize I am fast approaching my MS diagnosis anniversary (June 1). The year 2000 was a year of tumultuous change in my life. So far, it looks like 2020 will be as well. Not just for me, but for so many others. I find myself once more standing on the precipice of an enormous shift in my life. But unlike in 2000, I am looking forward to the leap, even though I am not entirely certain what the future may hold.
On Monday, I will head into my old office to pack my desk. The end date for the job that brought me to Alaska is coming quick. For the first time in almost 25 years I am going to take a break. Admittedly, I am both nervous and excited at the same time.
The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I look around at 2020 and wonder how I will remember this year 20 years from now. Will it be with a sense of darkness for a year of strife? I’d like to think it will be bittersweet. I want to look back see a feeling of hope, that we, as a society stood at the precipice of self-destruction and chose a better path. What do you think will be the choice? Who will you choose to be? We’re half-way through.
Thanks for reading! Sorry for the rather gloomy blog this week. I promise next week will be more uplifting.
Ray and I have a lot of projects planned for not only this summer but beyond. We’re going to be doing experiments with our solar kit out at the cabin and hopefully some wind studies on our 31 acres in the hopes of putting in some wind turbines eventually. We’re building two new structures on the property this summer.
For those who follow me on Instagram, you know that Ray is working on several new sculptures for the property. In the meantime, my first self-published novella, The Dark Land is out on Amazon. I am working on the sequel, as well as continuing to query some of my other novels.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be stretched to the limits on the frozen boundaries of The Dark Land.
We have some other projects up our sleeves, TBA soon.
Side Note:
***I know some will ask, how do you know he ghosted you because of your MS. This is the cautionary tale of:
Don’t date (then ghost) someone you work with.
This could practically be another blog unto itself. But other coworkers knew we had been dating and found out why he suddenly dumped me. Apparently, he didn’t think it was that big a deal, so he told everyone the truth about what he’d done. Let’s just say the rest of the guys at work let him know what a sleaze move that was. I didn’t have to. The best revenge is sometimes when someone else makes themselves look like a jerk. Even though it really hurt at the time.
True Friends
And to give credit where credit is due, while I got ghosted, dumped and diagnosed, three of the most awesome guys I had the privilege to serve with in the Navy requested leave from the Enterprise and drove down to Charleston to cheer me up. I’ll forever be grateful for their kindness and support. This is also my answer to the question, can men and women be friends. Absolutely. Friends and shipmates.
Mikey, Dave and Drew, three of the greatest friends and shipmates who came to my rescue when I was feeling my lowest. I will be forever grateful for their friendship.
Writing Sex (and other activities) in Alaska in the Summertime
Since many of my followers got a kick out of my last post about sex scenes in the cold, I thought I would follow-up about writing realistic romance (and life) in the outdoors of Alaska in the warmer times of year.
Yes—it does get warm here.
I can already here the question from a few of my followers:
So have you…you know…?
That’s a whole other blog post. For now, I’d like to share some of the more realistic parts of writing steamy romance in the great outdoors in Alaska (or extreme northern climates) in the summer.
The Midnight Sun
Whenever I have friends from other places visit in the summers, I always give them a beautiful sleeping mask as a gift—because while the midnight sun seems great at first, it makes it impossible to sleep. People always ask me if I have trouble with the constant darkness in the winter. Not as much as the perpetual light in the summer. Picture this…the sun is shining and everything is green, with a perfect temperature of 70 degrees. Sitting up and reading a book on the deck with an extra glass of wine is too tempting. Doing more yard work or taking another walk is too hard to turn down. Up north, in Prudhoe Bay and Barrow, the sun will be above the horizon for 24 hours a day until August. By fall, I’m exhausted and you just can’t override that diurnal urge to be awake when the sun is up.
View of the sunset from our cabin. Time is approximately midnight. The sun will only dip below the mountains for a few hours before rising again. It never gets truly dark this time of year.
Here’s a great article from 2019 explaining the phenomenon.
One of the things to keep in mind is in the summer is that there won’t be any real darkness. Unless your characters have great blackout curtains, they still be able to see each other when they turn off the lights. At the same time, the low light is gorgeous. The sun does go down here in Anchorage for a few hours, creating a soft twilight setting. Use that to your advantage in your story.
The Mosquito—Our Other State Bird
Ahh—the bugs. And not just the mosquitos. But they are out there, and I have even managed to incorporate these annoying little pests into my stories at times. It doesn’t matter how much deet is in that bug spray, they’re still coming for your blood. That being said, they definitely like certain temperatures and of course boggy wet areas and forests.
Cow Parsnip
The scourge of Southern Alaska (and parts of the Pacific Northwest), you can find these plants over most of Southeast Alaskan trails. The stems and leaves contain a photosensitive chemical called furocoumarins. While some people have a more intense reaction than others, this chemical causes blistering burns on the skin after exposure to ultraviolet light. An article below details one hiker’s horrific encounter with the plant. It also gies you details of what the plant looks like and its growing conditions.
I mention this, because it could make a great plot point for some of you that may be writing revenge-type stories. My husband has a great story of a friend from the lower 48 who went camping for the first time in Alaska, chopped down a whole mess of it and used it as bedding. His trip did not end well to say the least.
Erratic Weather
There’s a saying in Alaska:
If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.
Ray and I love to joke about the inaccurate weather forecasts. To counter this, whether on a hike or a drive, prepare for changing conditions, and be ready for a little (or a lot) of inclement weather. Sure, the gorgeous blue bird days here in Alaska are wonderful to behold, but since the warm season is so short, we don’t let that hold us back from enjoying the outdoors. To be honest, we don’t let winter hold us back much either, but a hike in the summer is way more pleasant than a hike in the winter. At least in the winter, there’s no mosquitos or cow parsnip!
The Wildlife (they like to watch)
Okay, I don’t know if they LIKE to watch. But they definitely like to interrupt. I think what many people lose sight of, even here in Anchorage, is that we’re on their turf, not the other way around. One of the things that people comment on in my writing is that the characters ALL carry guns.
Is that for real?
Do I REALLY do that?
The answer is yes, I do. I also carry bear spray. What I will also say, is that I have never had to shoot an animal in self-defense (though we have had some pretty close calls). Most wild animals are curious, but really want nothing to do with people. If you make enough noise while hiking, most bears will go the other way. The two most dangerous animals are as follows:
Just a black bear cruising the a neighborhood in Anchorage. If that’s what comes into town, imagine what’s in the backcountry.
Females and their young:
Moose
We see so many tourists trying to get close to the baby moose. I understand why. They’re cute, fuzzy and really awkward on those long spindly legs. But always keep in mind that nearby is one of the most dangerous animals in Alaska. Mama moose is about 1000 lbs of sheer rage when she thinks her baby is threatened. She can turn on a dime, too. More people get injured or killed in Alaska by moose than bear for two reasons:
There’s more moose than bear (ratio of around 3:1)
They seem less threatening
Here’s a great article from Alaska Fish and Game about agreesive moose if you’re looking to incorporate one into your story.
There’s a reason why there’s many jokes about protective Mama bears. It doesn’t help that the cubs are inherently curious and like to wander. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, avoid at all costs. I’ve heard more than one horror story of a person inadvertently getting between mama bear and baby.
Any animal that has become habituated to humans and is no longer what would be considered wild. These animals now consider humans to be a source of food. This happens quite frequently with bears. Tragically, when this occurs, this is when an animal has escalating and dangerous encounters with humans. Fish and Game can sometimes tag and relocated the animal, but often the animal has to be put down. This is why there are so many strict regulations about food and bear proof containers in the back country. If you are writing about the backcountry and bears, here’s the specific page related to that:
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, check out my Alaska backcountry horror novella, The Dark Land, available on Amazon now.
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be stretched to the limits on the isolated trails of The Dark Land.
Arctic ocean in winter with Polar Bear warning sign
Those who follow me regularly know I work (and play) in a pretty tough and cold environment. And it is beautiful. Those clear cold days in the arctic or sub-arctic make you feel as if you could see eternity. When there’s not a cloud in the sky, and the sun is reflecting off a blanket of white so pristine if you stare too long without dark goggles, you’ll hurt your eyes. At the same time, even with cold weather gear, it chills to the bone. At seriously cold temperatures exposed skin can freeze in less than 5 minutes. The coldest temperature I have ever worked in was -65 with a windchill of -80.
Me decked out for work. Since I was only going between my truck and buildings I wasn’t wearing my “full” gear. Temperature at the time: -54 with wc -70.
Frostbite Charts
I’ve included the NOAA Windchill Charts for your reference. Once the wind starts blowing, it definitely starts to feel brisk.
I’m always amazed how much I can eat after working in the cold all day, not only that, just how tired I am. All I want to do is take a hot shower and curl up in a blanket with a gallon of hot soup, hot chocolate and donuts to dip in it.
Building Up a Not-So-Sexy Sweat
Not to mention the sweating. You would think at those temperatures you wouldn’t sweat, right? Nope, there’s a reason why there’s a huge market in cold weather environments for moisture wicking under-gear. When I have been out in the cold, either working or skiing/snowshoeing, my underlayers are drenched with sweat. The first thing I always do when I get home or back to camp, is change out of my underlayers so they can dry (or wash them if possible). When my husband climbed Denali in 2007, there was no way to wash those layers for the three weeks on the mountain, they just had to change out every night, let them dry then put them back on. By the time he got home, there was no amount of washing that would get that smell out—he had to just throw them away.
Not entirely sexy—right?
Layers
Then there’s the sheer number of layers. When I’m geared up for work, my outer layers, comprising my arctic bibs, boots, jacket, balaclava parka and gloves weigh upwards of 30lbs. That’s not counting my regular clothes and underlayers I wear.
It makes writing a realistic cold-weather romance, a little tough. That’s a lot of barriers for a couple to plow through to get to a little skin.
Could you imagine the scene?
She removed her dark goggles and threw back the hood of her parka. The heat in her eyes was enough to melt the ice on the lake. Overcome with passion, he threw back his hood, wolf fur tickling his face. Fumbling through thick gloves, he unzipped her parka and fondled her full breasts through her under jacket and four layers….
Layer removal
Layer removal
Layer removal
Finally, with the heaps of outer clothing piled around them, they had almost reached nirvana. Shivering as hypothermia set in, she looked at the clothes piled in the snow and asked, “What were we trying to do?”
Yeah, realistic sexy time out in the elements just isn’t going to happen in my novels. It’s just too damn cold. In some of my stories set in the summertime in Alaska, I can pull it off without a problem (ok—minor problem, if you’ve ever been to Alaska, you know about our state bird—the mosquito). Believe it or not, it does get warm here, even in the arctic.
But for those of you writing about Alaska or other northern climates in the winter and want to pull off a sexy scene, here’s how I’ve made it work for me.
Body Language Outdoors
Intimate moments can happen outside, like conversations/glances. I feel they are part of what helps the romance and sexual tension build to make it more believable later. But keep in mind if they are someplace extremely cold, they are going to be wearing full facemasks and possibly goggles. Seeing a look in someone’s eye or reading a face expression would be impossible. Emotions have to be conveyed with body language, posture, motions and words and tone of voice. But starting the intimacy outdoors with a touch, a would or a motion can ignite the spark that creates realism when they move indoors.
Removing Layers
Remember all of those layers? Yeah, they’re a pain in the… but they’re necessary to keep from freezing those delicate (and not so delicate) bits off. It’s jarring to your reader if people were fully suited up a moment ago, and are now suddenly naked doing the horizontal mambo with no transition. The dreaded “telling” can really bog down a story here: he took off his coat, she hung up her parka, etc. I try to mix it up with conversation and action that moves the plot along and gloss over the taking off of stuff. Sometimes it’s integral to the plot, especially if later I need to have them grab something from a pocket as part of the action. I don’t want the reader to be thinking—hey wait, where’d that come from.
Time Jump
The good, old-fashioned time-jump is always a standby to help overcome the layer hurdle as well. You can jump from where they’re outside in the cold to where the characters are curled up by the fire in the lodge, and it’s obvious that some time has occurred. You can describe the items you might need later in a scene (a jacket hung by the door, underclothes strung up by the fire, a weapon being sharpened while someone rocks in a chair).
Bathing
Remember the not-so-sexy sweating, I mentioned previously? It is something I have had readers who work and play in the outdoors comment on, that there’s no way after skiing, snowshoeing, basically doing any strenuous activity in the cold is anyone going to smell good. That’s something realistic that you can use to your advantage in your story. What’s sexier and brings to characters closer together than a bath or a shower when they get back to the lodge? That being said, if your lodge is a remote cabin with no running water, you’re going to have to get creative, but I think you can pull it off.
The Dark Land, Available on Amazon
Thanks for reading! My Alaska backcountry horror novella, The Dark Land is available on Amazon. For sneak peeks sign up for my newsletter. I promise not to SPAM (though Alaskans are the #2 consumers of SPAM behind Hawaii!).
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be pushed to the limits on the isolated trails of The Dark Land
A humorous tale of the night Ray and I stayed at the Historic Gakona Lodge in the “Haunted Room.”
A Long Drive
It’s approximately 400 miles from our house in Anchorage to the cabin in Chicken. Under the best road conditions it takes us 7 hours to reach the cabin. We drive from Anchorage to Glennallen along the Glenn Highway (AK-1). We turn north on to the Richardson Highway (AK-4) then turn right onto the Tok Cut-off (AK-1). Once we reach Tok, we turn right onto the Alaska Highway (AK-2). The last step is to turn left at Tetlin Junction onto the Taylor Highway (AK-5) where we still have 60 miles until we reach the cabin.
Winter sign on Taylor Highway warning of travel conditions. At this point we still have 60 miles to go until we reach the cabin.
Construction of the ALCAN
The ALCAN is a Military Acronym for the Alaska-Canada Highway. Considered crucial to the WWII efforts construction began in March of 1942. The story of its construction through the interior of Alaska and Canada could be an entire series of blog posts. If you would like to read more, please check out the following links:
Abandoned 40-Mile Roadhouse at Tetlin Junction. This roadhouse went out of business in the early 1990’s.
The ALCAN was notorious in its day for being a slow, treacherous, multi-day slog through mud and mosquito infested terrain. Roadhouses and lodges sprung up along the way to offer food, services and lodging to travelers. As the road and vehicles improved over time, many of these went out of business.
Historic Gakona Lodge
One of the most famous along the ALCAN that still remains is the Gakona Roadhouse. At the junction of the Gakona and Copper Rivers, it is the oldest continually operating roadhouse in Alaska. One of its other quirks is that it is purportedly haunted by a tobacco-loving ghost, foot-stomping-ghost.
Most people think that the ghost is John Paulsen, a former business partner of the lodge who liked to smoke a pipe and often stayed at the lodge. People often claim to hear heavy foot-steps in the hall when staying in the room. The smell of tobacco smoke, particularly pipe tobacco, is prevalent, even though the lodge has been a non-smoking establishment for some time.
Our night in the “Haunted Room”
As previously mentioned, it can be quite the ordeal to get out to our cabin under the best conditions. Early in the season when the roads are still in bad shape and the days are shorter, it’s good to break up the trip. In the spring of 2013, we decided to stay the night at the Gakona Lodge. It was the first weekend they were open, and we were their only customers staying in the lodge that night. Having heard the ghost stories, we were game to stay the night in the room with the ghost.
After having dinner and drinks at the bar with the proprietors (really nice folks), Ray and I settled in for the night. Ray is a cigar smoker, so he even left out a cigar, hoping to show the ghost some good will.
Now, I should mention, we’re used to sleeping in a king-sized bed. At the time we stayed at the lodge (not sure if there have been changes), the bed was a full. You can imagine, it took a bit for the two of us to get comfortable. But we were tired after the drive, and anticipating a longer haul the next day. We climbed into bed, wondering if we would experience anything paranormal.
Sleep Talking
One of my own personal idiosyncrasies is that I sometimes talk and move around in my sleep. It happens on a frequent enough basis that Ray is fairly used to it.
WHAT Did You Say?
On this particular night, I sat up and pointed at a corner of the room and started yelling something. To this day, I don’t remember what, because I was completely asleep.
Ray jumped out of bed and shouted, “What?”
This woke me up. I was still sitting up pointing at the corner.
I yelled, “What?”
The next few minutes devolved into a shouting match as we both yelled, “WHAT?” at each other while Ray fumbled for the light switch. Of course, there was nothing in the room with us.
We both laughed afterward. Thank goodness we were the only people in the lodge. Ray gives me grief to this day that he missed his chance to mess with me because he wasn’t awake enough to yell “Ghost,” instead of, “What?”
The Dark Land, but it on Amazon today! ebook release May 4th!
The legend of the Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. The Dark Land’s hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter…
Thanks for reading. So excited to announce that the pre-sale of the Dark Land starts April 16th. Can’t wait to hear what people think about my Alaska backcountry horror adventure. Sign up for my newsletter to get sneak previews of The Dark Land, and of the sequel…
When I first wrote this post back in March, the State of Alaska had officially declared a “shelter in place order.” We had over 80 cases state-wide and 1 in-state death. The mandate didn’t actually change much for us here in Anchorage, we’ve been under a shelter in place since the 20th, with only essential businesses open. Though unofficially we were asked to minimize contact when the first cases broke out in Washington state and the first few trickled into Fairbanks.
Alaska Hunkers Down
This may seem a little extreme. Why did Alaska hunker down
so quickly while states like New York and California waited until the disease
was in full swing to call an emergency?
Echoes of the 1918 Pandemic
While there are many answers for this, one of the biggest
lies in the state’s past, and the tragedies revolving around the 1918 Flu
Pandemic.
Copper Center Telegraphs
In the fall of 2011, my husband and I took a trip to Valdez. Along the way, we stopped at the Historic Copper Center Road House and Museum. One of the fascinating displays was the collection of telegraphs reports—specifically from the 1918 Flu Pandemic. Even in these simple, short missives, you can sense the dread even a century later. The remote territory was watching the signs of spread the same way Londoners watched the eastern skies in the summer of 1940. But the illness imposed on the white population was nothing compared to the utter devastation wreaked on the native population that still echoes to this day.
Nome’s Fatal Mistake
From this Alaska Daily News Article by Tony Hopfinger in May
of 2012, it is hard for many to fathom how such a remote region at the time,
not connected by real roads or planes could have a disease still spread. The answers
are simple:
A lack of understanding of testing/identifying who had the flu and then quarantining the individuals
And a desire to get supplies and mail to the interior before winter set in and the ports became ice-locked
The flu was already spreading and killing in the south east
of Alaska. A supply ship was heading to Nome with people onboard who already
had it. Unfortunately, their inability to identify and quarantine the sick led
to its spread.
The mail carriers then began the deadly trail north, dying
and killing along the way.
The Lost Village of Wales
A Lonely, Weather-beaten Cross
On the sandy beach of the Wales, facing the Bearing Sea,
there’s a lone wooden cross. This windblown grave marker is a testament to the
ravages of the 1918 Flu on this coastal Native Village. The mail carrier
arrived in Wales already sick. Taking him in, the disease spread like wildfire.
The Devastation of the Flu on the Native Population
According to Hopfinger’s article, the territorial Governor of Alaska, Jack Riggs, saw the devastation on the villages in the South East and petitioned Washington for funds to bury the dead. Dealing with their own outbreak, and sending funds to Europe in the aftermath of WWI, they had no interest in sending money to the remote territory to bury non-whites.
When he realized no word had come from the Seward Peninsula. He commissioned rescue teams to investigate.
True-life Horror
I write horror for fun, and I love Alaska in all of its harsh beauty. But sometimes truth is far more terrifying than fiction. As I picture the scene from Hopfinger’s writing, I cringe. When the rescuers reached the village, with temperatures at 40 to 50 below in the winter of 1918, they encountered the worst of northern nightmares. Entire families huddled together, frozen in mass. Children barely alive, huddled against their dead parents-not understanding why mom and dad can’t wake up. Dogs and wolves snapped and snarled in the night, fighting over remains of bodies. The majority of the survivors huddled in the school house, terrified to come out.
This had once been one of the largest native villages on the
Seward Peninsula. It was now annihilated.
Burying the Dead
I know from both having a remote cabin and dealing with
ground that is frozen most of the year, trying to dig by hand (or even with
heavy equipment) is difficult if not impossible. From my research for my
historical fiction novels, the larger cities would often pre-dig a number of
graves in the fall, to minimize the amount of work they would have to do when
people died during the long dark winters. In the smaller communities, the dead
had to be stored somewhere the animals couldn’t get to them until spring thaw.
But how do you dig 172 graves while being attacked by
half-wild dogs and wolves?
Dynamite
In order to bury the dead, they had to use dynamite to blast
a hole in the sand. 172 bodies were stacked in a mass grave, along with an
unknown number of parts and limbs. They also threw in the dogs that had to be
shot because they had become feral, feeding on humans and now were out of
control in the village.
Shishmaref Prevents the Flu from Spreading North
Word had gotten ahead of the Flu’s deadly slog north to the village of Shishmaref. Forewarned, the village decided to quarantine themselves. They stationed armed guards eight miles outside the village. The precaution halted the disease’s march, it went no further. This action saved not only Shismaref, but the villages further north.
Alaska Covid-19 Response
I admit, even as this first broke out, I was a little
skeptical. I thought, this can’t be that bad. But as it began it’s spread first
in China, then to Italy, I’m glad the Mayor of Anchorage, Mark Berkowitz, was
proactive in his response.
Berkowitz put it bluntly:
If we don’t take care of ourselves, nobody else is coming because everyone else is contending with this pandemic at the same time.
Berkowitz, Mayor of Anchorage in response to ordering shelter in place on March 20, 2020
The shelter in place was issued for Anchorage official on
March 20th, though we had been asked to self-isolate a week prior.
Though we live in modern times, Alaska is still isolated and can easily
experience shipping issues and supply shortages on a normal basis, let alone
when the rest of the country is in an emergency state. Most of the medical
resources lie in Anchorage and Fairbanks, with the remote communities only
being served by a basic medical clinic.
History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes
Attributed to Mark Twain
This quote is attributed to Mark Twain (though it is hard to find proof he actually said it). It is one of my favorite quotes. I hope that we here in Alaska can avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. From what I can see, we’re doing a decent job, hunkering down as the cases rise. We’ve now had 10 deaths in state so far and over 300 cases. The cases are slowly flattening, as people stay home and reach out to one another online. We know our economy is about to take a huge hit, being dependent on both tourism and oil. Both will be depressed this year if not non-existent. If living in Alaska has shown me anything, Alaskans really do help each other, even in the worst of times.
Thanks for reading my post. Sorry for being kind of a Debbie-downer. I know everyone is a little weary of this. I hope that all of my friends ride through this safely, and we never hit the worst-case scenarios. Take care. I promise my next blog will be a little more upbeat. The next blog is going to be about the night Ray and I spent at the “haunted” Gakona Lodge and our experience in room number 5 (the haunted room).
The Dark Land, Available on Amazon
My novella, The Dark Land is available on Amazon:
The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be pushed to the limits on the isolated trails of The Dark Land.
