Alaska does not have a lot of writers, and it does not take long for Alaska readers to recognize them. I meet my readers in grocery stores, on airplanes, and on the street in Nome. I see them in schools and libraries when I do presentations for children. People see my picture or read about my book in a newspaper, and stop me to talk about it. Alaska may be big, geographically, but the state has only 600,000 people.
Most communities are small.
Virtually all of Alaska's citizens, from the governor and senators to the laborers and clerks, seem accessible to one another. One of our early governors is said to have known every voter in the state by name. I can't say I know all my readers personally, but in Alaska I get to talk with many of them. I do respond to reader inquires by e-mail. For a long time, the Internet simply wasn't available in rural Alaska.