Brainstorming for ideas based on Billy Joel's song "The Downeaster Alexa"

I've been working on an idea loosely inspired by the Billy Joel song, "The Downeaster "Alexa." For those who haven't heard it, here it is: The Downeaster Alexa official video. The story is set in Alaska, in the Aleutian Islands. Actually the town our native protagonist, Alexa, lives in, is a fictionalised Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, setting of Deadliest Catch.

I know that her father disappears while out on a crabbing trip, and I know that there'll be paranormal elements and she's going to try and find him. But what I don't know is what's going to happen in between. I really want to make this good and all fit together. Can anyone suggest something plausible and not too out-there? I put it aside because whatever I wrote sounded boring and I kept waiting for something to happen. If I'm bored by the current version, then its quite possible readers will be bored. I don't have any ideas beyond those points. I'm asking this since I'm going to be getting back and revising it soon. (After I'm done with drafting and finalising CL).

edited 4th Dec '12 1:28:26 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

Anyone?

If I remember correctly, The Downeaster Alexa is sung from the perspective of a fisherman from New York's Long Island. I don't know if that hurts your concept at all, because I'm not sure how analogous the situations are (not sure if Alaskan commercial fisherman have experienced the same troubled as New York area commercial fisherman).

The only explicit borrowing is the name of the father's boat. And they haven't had much money in awhile because he has to keep paying to have it repaired. Judging by what I've read in some places, there are restrictions on Alaskan commercial fishermen. For example, in some areas there are restrictions on the number of shellfish pots you can have on a boat, therefore restricting the size of the catch.

edited 22nd Sep '12 6:37:04 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

The song is about a way of life that is slowly vanishing. The fishing towns in the song and the video are being replaced with suburbia and tourist traps: "Their ain't no island left for islanders like me".

There is the EPA, pro-fishing and anti-fishing activists. Canada and the US had several disputes over fishing rights. The market for fish goes up and down (one fisherman in a discovery channel program was Genre Savvy enough to check prices for tuna in Japan, this was during the recession and the price was down).

For fun, have an anti-fishing activist offer to rescue the dad. That avoids straw political and would be fun. Or she/he could fight off the MIB's that would be investigating the "paranormal" part of the story, stalling them long enough for the heroine to go out and save her dad.

edited 22nd Sep '12 8:16:36 PM by TairaMai

@Taira Mai: Thanks. The discovery channel program wouldn't have anything to do with Deadliest Catch, would it?

edited 22nd Sep '12 9:04:27 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

This was before that show, but I think it lead to the interest in fishing shows.

@Taira Mai: Oh.

edited 23rd Sep '12 4:55:27 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

Yeah, the fisherman in the song is from Montauk. ^note  We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday, Left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay

edited 23rd Sep '12 5:00:08 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

For the reason the dad disappears:

I hate the illogical aliens who just randomly appear and do stuff because "that's what aliens do." They could be Eldritch Abominations that want to examine the dad and the boat because they've never seen a human before. The MIB's could be Humans Are Bastards, in that they want to grab the dad or simply think that closing off the area will keep the public safe. The only reason for The Power of Love should save the dad, again, the things responsible for the dad's disappearance are confused and possibly can't comprehend love or they begin to understand and let him go.

edited 23rd Sep '12 7:42:09 AM by TairaMai

@Taira Mai: No aliens. Vampires, werewolves and monsters from the deep.

Monsters from the deep could be Eldritch Abominations. Could they just be large animals curious about humans or intelligent beings studying that strange object in the surface of the sea?

I'm guessing the vamps are there a la 30 days of night: Alaska is a buffet table.

@Taira Mai: Yeah.