Read some long form articles on the Malheur occupation and Wow! The insights, the richness, and the texture are overwhelming. 

I had to take a step back, because it was too much. I love that there is so much there. It gives "Takeover" a solid background.

But my book is a thriller, not a philosophical or political treatise.

For now, I'm not trying to include that new information, except as it informs the book going forward. When I've laid down the first draft, then I'll go back and reread those articles and see what I can use to deepen my story. Most of the time, my stories stand alone--that is, I make it all up without any regard to real events.

The other time I felt this way was with "Led to the Slaughter." As I wrote that book, I realized that the Donner Party drama was so deep that I didn't really need to have any supernatural elements to make it a good story. I was committed by then, and probably would have chosen to do so anyway, but sometimes the real life events are so filled with possibilities and implications, that it's more a matter of choosing what to include or not include, instead of struggling to come up with enough backstory to make what I'm writing feel real.

I will need to be patient. Take each possibility and implication and examine them and decide if they can add anything to the story without being a distraction.

But it's comforting to know all the rich material is out there to layer some meaning.