For writing All Thirteen. I went to the location of the cave. I went to that town and spent about 10 days interviewing people who had been there from the first day. And I did talk to the divers, to the rescue divers, talk to the military people who are involved in that. But I think the most important people that I talk to are kind of just regular volunteers because they were, I think what people forget about it is that this happened in a really small town. And in a small town, everyone knows each other. So these rescuers were just regular people, business owners or workers in the community who volunteered to come and help out in any way they could. And then they know those boys and they know the families. So it’s getting all these incredible stories and they’re just so invested in it emotionally.
I just could never have written it without talking to them in person. I did those interviews about two months, two and a half months after the rescue was wrapped up. So enough time where people could articulate what happened. They had … stuff had sunk in, but close enough where they were still so emotional about it. Just had people who were crying talking about it, where they would pinch their arm and be like, or just go like, “boo, I can’t believe we did that.” So I think that’s, people talk about how the story was very tense and it was very intense to read, even though from the beginning that they’re all going to live. And I think the reason is because that’s how I felt when those people were telling me their stories. They were … they knew the rescue was over and it was successful, but they just still couldn’t believe it. They were still shocked and nervous when they were telling their stories. So I felt like I had to convey that in my writing.
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