Craig Johnson at the Poisoned Pen

You can always tell when Craig Johnson is in the house. I went to the Poisoned Pen the other night to see him on his book tour. We were quite early, and 45 minutes before the program was to start, there was a booming voice from the front of the store, and my friend turned to me and said, "Craig Johnson is here."

Craig isn't the type to be in a room with an audience for forty-five minutes without telling stories. He started by telling us about his first library event in Wyoming. The staff at the library in Meeteetse contacted him and told him they loved his first book, The Cold Dish, and wanted to ask him to come and talk about it. He said the only thing he'd ever been told in a library was to shut up. Then, they emphasized they were a small library. There's only about 350 people in Meeteetse, and they didn't know if they could handle his honorarium. After he told them all he wanted was a six pack of Ranier beer, he thinks he's appeared at every library in Wyoming in recent years. Craig said he's been in every place there's a library in the state. He hasn't bought a beer in five years.

Craig enjoys touring. He appeared at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C,, and got to meet authors he always wanted to meet. After a reception at the Library of Congress, limos picked up the authors to take them back to five star hotels. One big name author threw himself into the limo, and said, "I have been signing and talking all day, and I'm absolutely exhausted." Craig's wife, Judy, tried to stop him, but he leaned forward and said, "You've never had a real job, have you?" He said book tours are fun, except for the strip searches at the airport. He gets to go to wonderful bookstores, talk to friends who read his books, fly around on the publisher's dime, and stay at nice hotels. What's the problem with that?

Someone asked him about the time he spends on the computer, and he said he doesn't play on it. He's convinced computer solitaire was responsible for Tony Hillerman's death. He was always playing cards. Johnson is a two finger typist. He does Facebook because his wife insists on it. He has to replace keyboards, though, because he types with passion.

He said author Ivan Doig still works on a mechanical typewriter. They get together whenever Johnson gets to Montana, but they send postcards back and forth to get a lunch date set up. Doig doesn't even always answer the phone.

Craig said he doesn't play any games on the computer. He does get up every morning and turn on the computer and read his email. There's nothing he likes better than having a couple dozen people praise you. It's a good way to start the day. He reads all his emails and responds. Sometimes, it's only one line when he's on the road.

Johnson was just up on the rez working on his next book. It's another world up there. He had a lookout cabin in Custer National Forest. You can rent them for $10. Some of the cabins don't even have water, but you can haul it in. It's $10 a night, and all the firewood you can use.

Johnson's friend, Marcus Red Thunder, was hired as a creative consultant for the filming of the pilot of Longmire, based on Johnson's books. Craig kept answering questions about the Cheyenne and Crow, and he had to call Marcus and get the answers. Finally, he told the TV team that Marcus could answer all their questions about Indians. One thing he did was train Lou Diamond Phillips, who plays Henry, in the pronunciation of the Cheyenne dialect.

Marcus is the living embodiment of Henry's sense of humor. In researching the second book, Johnson learned there had been a Mennonite church on the rez. He asked Marcus about Mennonites on the rez. He looked up, and said, "It didn't take."

Marcus and Craig were driving on 212 across the rez when they saw a boy, about 10 or 11, with one shoe on. Marcus said pull over, I know that boy. And, he said, "Hey, you lost your shoe." The boy answered, "No, I found one." Craig thought, that's going in a book. The Cheyennes are indestructible, self-depreciating, with a dry humor. The next book is set on the Cheyenne rez. It's the wedding book.  Walt's daughter, Cady, is marrying Vic's little brother.

Johnson said anytime there was something important in his life, a strong woman was there to help him. The president of Penguin talked him into making the Walt Longmire books into a series. He intended The Cold Dish to be a standalone. She told him a series survives on the complexity of characters. Craig said in the series that die, the characters never change. It's important to have the evolution of characters. There will be more complications for Johnson's characters down the road.

Cady wants to get married on the rez. That's a nightmare because everyone has an opinion. The Cheyennes don't discuss differences of opinion. They'll listen, and walk out if they disagree. They don't get into discussions.

Three books ago, Johnson was already thinking about the present one, Hell is Empty. Virgil was introduced in Another Man's Moccasins. His voice was damaged in that book. Now, he started talking. Virgil has a checkered past. His life was what Walt and Henry's lives would have been if they had gone bad.

Feels as if this was a whole program, doesn't it? The program hadn't even started yet. Barbara Peters arrived with the beef jerky to go with the beer that had been served earlier. She asked Craig about his beard. He said it was left over. He grows one every winter, and usually shaves it when spring comes. But, spring never came to Wyoming this year. He left it to irritate his wife.

Peters mentioned how big Johnson was in France. He's been there about eight times in two years. He said he has to go keep his wife in French shoes. When Peters commented that they love westerns over there, he corrected her, saying they love Indians over there. Barbara said that's right. Buffalo Bill took his Wild West Show to France. According to Craig, since they war, the French have been inundated with pulp westerns, TV, and movies. He said he had lunch with publishers and he was talking about some of the western authors he liked, and they knew all of them. They have a knowledge of the period West. They're curious about the contemporary American West, and how it all turned out. He started to talk about space, and you could drive hundreds of miles without cities. Barbara Peters mentioned a spacious area of central France, the Auvergne. And, she told us Wyoming has a French influence. Grand Tetons is French for big breasts.

Craig Johnson's Longmire series has been sold to Warner Brothers and A & E. Peters commented that it's nice to see authors they know sell their books to TV. Michael Koryta sold The Cypress House. They can use a generic train in that one.

Asked why A & E was filming Longmire in New Mexico, Craig answered that Chris Donahue had been told to scout locations in Wyoming and Montana. He asked what the exact time of year it was supposed to be in the pilot, and, told early fall, he said Wyoming and Montana in January do not look like early fall. True Grit and No Country for Old Men were filmed in Las Vegas, New Mexico. New Mexico gives incentives to film companies, and there are motion picture crews there.

When he was asked about his books being made into TV, Barbara interjected that TV is just another form of storytelling. Craig had a quick story. He was having dinner in Albuquerque with a lesser known mystery author named Tony Hillerman. It was at the time that PBS was doing movies from his books. A woman came up to him and asked how much control he had with PBS. Hillerman responded that he had just enough control to take the checks and put them in the bank.

Here's how the sale came about. Warner Brothers had an agent with CAA, Creative Artists Agencies in LA, whose job was to find material that might work for TV or movies. That agent went to Craig's literary agent's office, and asked if she had any stories with strong characters. The agent reached back and handed over The Cold Dish. Asked if there were any others, the agent said not until you read that one.

Craig had a conference call with the people on board, and realized they all did quality work. He decided a weekly series was kind of nice. There would be more exposure of his work than with a movie, and there would be the chance to tell more than one story. He said nowadays the more mature work is done on TV. If it's not skateboards or vampires, it doesn't get made for the movies. After a three hour conference call, they told him they'd like to make him an Executive Creative Consultant. He told us that's someone who knows where the porta potties are. However, they kept him in the loop, and asked questions. His author friends told him that's not the way it normally goes.

After a couple weeks, the screenwriters told him they had a hard time fitting The Cold Dish into forty-five minutes. He said that didn't surprise him because his original draft was 600 pages. They said they'd wanted to use the books for overarching the entire series. But, they wanted to bounce ideas for various episodes off him. Craig said some of the ideas were good, some bad, and he told them the difference. Then, Warner Brothers said they wanted to send him the manuscript of the pilot episode. He warned them he had lost writer friends that way, because he will critique it, and he's meticulous. He asked if they were sure they wanted him to go through it. They said yes, and sent Johnson a forty-eight page manuscript. He made 57 changes, and sent it back. There was no response, and he thought, well, that's that. But, two weeks later, he received another package. They made 55 of the 57 changes. That was the turning point.

Then, they wanted to send him dvds of the actor tryouts. Johnson's writer friends said, "What the f..k?" Craig said watching those was like tending a house plant for seven or eight years, and then one morning it starts talking to you.

The company asked, "Why is Walt 6'5" and 250 pounds?" He was a ranch kid, a big Wyoming ranch kid. Johnson didn't want him a studied character who knew self-defense. He was an offensive tackle for USC in the '60s. There are counties in Wyoming as big as Maryland, and they have limited resources. A law enforcement officer can drive forty miles to beat in a door during a bar fight, and it's you alone, with no backup. Craig said he knew from his short exposure in law enforcement how little animals react when they see big animals. That was Walt. The studio told him that they wouldn't be able to find someone 6'5" who can act. Craig answered, it doesn't matter. Everyone in Hollywood is 5'8".

There were a number of well-known actors who sent dvds, but Warner Brothers wanted someone who was unbranded. The last dvd Craig received was labeled Robert Taylor. Johnson said he thought he was dead. Then, he watched it, and thought he was pretty damn good. He was age appropriate. He had the wrinkles and lines, and people could believe he was a Wyoming sheriff. On the back of the dvd was a note from the screenwriters. "He's 6'4", ha ha ha ha."

Craig's wife, Judy, said, "That's the guy." He moves like a westerner. He has the movement, the gestures. He's age appropriate. He's magnificent. He was in The Matrix, and has done TV series. Robert Taylor is from Australia. You can't tell when he's talking, except when he tells New Zealand jokes. One day, he stood and told Craig all about Walt Longmire; that he was depressed after his wife's death. Then, he looked at Craig and said, "I can't believe I'm telling you about Walt Longmire." Johnson answered, as of this morning, there was only one expert. Now there are two.

When it came time to cast Henry Standing Bear, they said the only twelve Indian actors in LA had auditioned. It had to be someone sharp, and fast, and no one was clicking. When they asked Craig what he thought of Lou Diamond Phillips, he thought he was too young and too skinny. Then he realized he was thinking of him in La Bamba, and that was thirty years ago. He's older now, and he did a fantastic audition. It blew Johnson away. He had heard the other auditions. When Phillips read for the role, he used no contractions. Craig realized he'd read the books. Lou Diamond Phillips knew he had seven books of material. He knew Henry's passages, and quoted them to Johnson. Then he said, "People quote all my movie lines back to me. Am I annoying you?" Johnson told him he knew he'd read all the books.

The third important character is Vic Moretti. Katee Sackhoff, who played in Battlestar Galactica, will be Vic. Craig liked her appearance for the role. She has broad shoulders and back. She was a swimmer. And, she looked like her nose had been broken. You can't be a street cop in Philadelphia, and not have had a broken nose. Vic has four brothers and came from a family of cops. Sackhoff did a great audition. Then, Johnson tracked down an interview she had given. She grew up with four brothers in a logging family in Portland, and she had to fight to stay alive. She's perfect for the part. And, Johnson told the story of calling her "Toots," and she pointed a finger at him, and said, "That's The Terror," showing she had read book three.

Barbara Peters mentioned that Craig had been at the Poisoned Pen for every book. The Cold Dish had been a selection of their Firsts book club. For the second one, Johnson rode down on his motorcycle because his publisher didn't want him to tour for the book. But, the attitude of the publisher has changed since then.

Craig wanted to thank the audience. He said he was surprised to know he had a big enough following that Hell is Empty appeared at #24 on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Peters called Hell is Empty an amazing book. She said it had one of the baddest guys she had run across. Johnson admitted it was different. He said he doesn't follow a formula with his books. He'd rather have readers angry at him for writing this than writing formulaic. He said some authors' series die after seven or eight books because they become victims of their success, and they write the same book over and over.

Craig said this book includes the idea of hell as ice and cold. He likes to do something different with the books. This is his first thriller. He knows how bad the guys are, and the book also has mysterious elements. Good storytelling keeps readers in the game. This one is a question of why done it, not who did it. He's never happy when he doesn't know how a bad guy got to that point. But, Peters said a person's backstory should never be an excuse for their actions.

The mysterious elements in the book go back to The Cold Dish when Walt was walking out, and there was a gunshot. There's Indian spirituality in this book as well. When the subject of Indian spirituality came up, Craig mentioned that Lou Diamond Phillips spent four days on the Northern Cheyenne Rez to learn to be a Cheyenne. He said he had played Apaches before, but had never played a Cheyenne.

Johnson was aware the manhunt in the snow scenario had been done to death. He started thinking about Dante's Inferno three books back with Another Man's Moccasins. He asked how many people in the audience had read Dante's Inferno. Then, he asked how many had finished it. He knew he was going to have to be an expert on it if he was using it. Virgil was introduced in Another Man's Moccasins. Dante's bottom rings of hell are not fire, but ice and cold.

Santiago Saizarbitoria had been mad because Walt was always using literary quotes. So, he asked everyone for a list of ten books he should have read in college, and didn't. Walt gave him readable books that might encourage him to continue to read, books such as The Grapes of Wrath, The Three Musketeers, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Ruby, who was always trying to improve people, gave him Dante's Inferno and the New Testament. The Inferno was slow going. Hector, a gang banger out of LA, asked Santiago who wrote Dante's Inferno. So, Santiago asked him who was buried in Grant's Tomb. When Hector said he didn't know, Santiago said, I didn't think so. Hector looked at the other books on the pile, and responded, "Well, at least I'm not reading a book by Alexander Dumb Ass." Barbara immediately said, "There's that French theme again."

In Junkyard Dogs, Walt promises Santiago's wife that he won't let him be harmed again. But, things go wrong in Hell is Empty, and guys escape. Walt is the only one who can after them. Santiago tucks his copy of Dante's Inferno into Walt's backpack, saying he knows how he hates to be without something to read. And, then Walt's experiences start mirroring Dante's Inferno. He needs a guide - Virgil.

The title of Hell is Empty is taken from The Tempest. It's easy to get titles from Shakespeare. Johnson remarked that Shaw once said Shakespeare was so good you want to dig him up and throw rocks at him. But, this book is about what's real and what is not, as The Tempest was.

In going back to the discussion of the TV show, Johnson answered questions, saying Turk's name was changed to Branch Connelly, and he'll be in more than just the pilot. Cady moved back to be closer to her father after her mother's death. Walt and Henry are ten years younger. When Johnson questioned the ages, he was told they hope it runs for ten to fifteen years, and they don't want them on walkers.

The pilot cost $4 million dollars. After that, the price per episode should go down. They have the initial investments in props, etc. By September, the A&E board has to make a yes or no decision as to whether or not the show will be made. They'll screen audiences. Only 25% of pilots ever make it. Everything else gets thrown in the garbage.

Asked about the issues of the environment that appear in his books, Johnson said he gets many of his ideas from newspaper articles. The stories are grounded in the contemporary American West. For instance, take the story that kicks off Hell is Empty. Private companies take prisoners from one place to another, and they have shitty records. There was a story about a company transporting prisoners. They stopped for gas and drove 104 miles afterward before they did a headcount and realized two guys were missing. They found them in a culvert in Wyoming. Johnson feeds those articles into a file. The sediment from his research is just floating in the waters. By the time it's time to write the book, it's settled, and he can do a detailed outline.

He told us the pilot was to premiere Wednesday, June 23, but he's on book tour. Judy's going to go. Someone asked about James Lee Burke's movie. And, he said that's what drove him to try TV. Burke's movie had a great cast, but it went straight to dvd. Barbara said the same thing happened to Don Winslow's The Death and Life of Bobby Z. It went straight to dvd.

Craig told us his next book will be called As the Crow Flies. Then, he ended the program with a story about the other important character in his books, Dog. The production company asked what type of dog Dog was. Johnson said he was part German Shepherd and part St. Bernard. They said, "You mean Dog is a mutt?" He said, well, yes. Then, they said, isn't there anything that looks like Dog. They have to have four of those dogs for shooting TV. So, here it is. Craig Johnson said Dog could be played by a Leonberger.

*****

Craig Johnson's website is http://www.craigallenjohnson.com/.

Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson. Viking. ©2011. ISBN 9780670022779 (hardcover), 320p.

Winners at Left Coast Crime

Congratulations to all of the award winners and nominees at Left Coast Crime.

Barbara Peters from Poisoned Pen announced the winner of the Dilys Award for the book that independent booksellers loved selling the most. Louise Penny won for Bury Your Dead.

Attendees at this year's Left Coast Conference in Santa Fe voted for the following winners.

The Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery Novel went to J. Michael Orenduff for The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein.

The Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award for best historical mystery novel, events pre-1950, went to Jacqueline Winspear for The Mapping of Love and Death.

The Hillerman Sky Award for the mystery that best captures the landscape of the Southwest went to Margaret Coel for The Spider's Web.

And, since I was sitting next to him at dinner, it's a pleasure to say that the Watson for mystery novel with best sidekick went to Craig Johnson for Junkyard Dogs.

Tucson Festival of Books - Interlude

Programs at the Tucson Festival of Books are scheduled a half hour apart to give people time to buy books, get them signed, get to the next place, or just browse all the books. I took an hour and a half to talk to some of the authors, and meet up with friends. Here are the notes to accompany pictures you may have already seen.

I went to see Craig Johnson after the "Slaying with a Smile" panel. I told him Jen Forbus had told me to say hi, and he promised me he wouldn't hold that against me.  When I asked if I could take a picture, he asked the woman in line behind me to take it. Everyone on Facebook loved the pictures. They thought he looked like a train engineer in my cap, but Craig said he looked more like "Thomas the Train." He said he's thinking of changing his image.

Then, I went to thank Cara Black for her nice comments about me, my blog, and the Velma Teague Library. Here's Cara looking just as sophisticated as her character, Aimée Leduc.

Although I didn't get a picture, I went to say hi to historian Douglas Brinkley. Doug appeared at the Lee County Reading Festival  the year his book on Henry Ford was out. When you ask me what some of my fondest memories are over the years of hosting authors, Doug is part of one of them. Jim and I had the chance to have lunch with him and Rick Bragg. I don't think we said more than a few words. We were just in awe that we were actually sitting with Douglas Brinkley and Rick Bragg.  I got a hug and kiss from Doug, and I told him Jim had died last year. I'm still impressed with Doug as an historian.

Not from Tucson - Doug Brinkley & Rick Bragg at the Lee County Reading Festival

I stopped by the Poisoned Pen booth, then headed to the Desert Sleuths booth. The local chapter of Sisters in Crime was doing a brisk business selling copies of their books, How Not to Survive the Holidays, and How Not to Survive a Vacation. My picture of the group didn't turn out well, due to gorgeous sunshine and shadow, but here's the picture.

Left to right - Kris Neri, Roni Olson, Chantelle Osman, & Deborah Ledford

The national organization, Sisters in Crime, was great as to asking members from other chapters to also appear at the booth. Sophie Littlefield and Juliet Blackwell both showed up to work the booth while I was there. But, two of the members of Desert Sleuths are our current celebrities. Kris Neri and Deborah J. Ledford both have books that were nominated for awards to be presented at Left Coast Crime this week. Kris' book, Revenge for Old Times' Sake, is up for The Lefty, awarded for the best humorous mystery novel. Deb's Snare is nominated for The Hillerman Sky Award, a special award given this year, in honor of the convention's New Mexico location, to the mystery that best captures the landscape of the Southwest.

Kris Neri and Deborah J. Ledford

Break over. Time to go stand in line to see NPR's Scott Simon.

Tucson Festival of Books - Part 1

I was only able to get to the Tucson Festival of Books for one day this year, but it's a wonderful experience no matter how much time you spend there. The grounds of the University of Arizona are filled with booksellers, booths, and, most of all, people who love books. It's only in a book lover's world that the first sentence I overheard that day came from a woman standing at a table of children's books who said, "Anyone who read that book wouldn't grow up to poison their stepdaughter."

So, I had seven hours to enjoy. I started with a panel called "Slaying with a Smile." Moderated by Cara Black, it featured Josh Bazell, Craig Johnson and Sophie Littlefield. Cara did quick introductions, beginning with Sophie.  She said Littlefield's series features a 50+ woman in Missouri who was a victim of domestic violence. Oh, and Sophie's book won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel in 2010.

Craig Johnson writes the Walt Longmire series, and his books have won numerous prizes in France.  Black, who spends a great deal of time in France working on her Aimée Leduc books, said Craig is a cult favorite there. She tells people that she knows Craig Johnson.

Josh Bazell wrote his debut book, Beat the Reaper, when he was an intern at a hospital. The book made the Times list of the top thirty novels of the year in 2010. Bazell said he was visiting Tucson because his grandmother lives there. And, he waved at her in the audience.

Cara's Aimée Leduc mysteries are set in Paris.

Since the panel was supposed to be about humor, Cara asked, "Do you think you're funny, Sophie?" Sophie said, no. She had written for a long time, but she had never written funny material. She wrote dark, deadly, pain, angst. But it didn't sell. Once she was paid 12 pounds for a story she sold overseas, and it came in the mail. She was so excited to finally get paid that when she opened the envelope, she tore the check right in half. Littlefield read all kinds of things. She wanted to be the next Ken Bruen. And, then, when she went through her own mid-life crisis, she had a bad day that lasted four months. That's when she created her character, Stella Hardesty, and wrote A Bad Day for Sorry.

Craig Johnson & Sophie Littlefield

Craig Johnson said there are only 25 people in the town where he lives in Wyoming. He has to save up his humor because the other 24 people think he's not funny. So, he enjoys public appearances and the
chance to get out and meet people.

Johnson said he thinks you have to have humor in crime fiction. Anyone who works in law enforcement has to have a sense of humor. That style of humor isn't far from cowboy humor. Cowboy humor was explained once to him when he was fired. He didn't do anything wrong, but that's the way it was in ranching. The young guys were always fired in the fall, and the older guys kept on. So, he was called into the den to have a final drink with the boss, a den filled with books by Louis L'Amour and other western writers. And, he was told about cowboy humor. "Everything's funny till you're dead." And, then he paused, and said, "You know, dead's funny sometimes, too."

Craig said that's a lot like law humor. In book 3, he takes Walt to the city, and he's at a crime scene and asks a cop, "Why do you think he jumped off the bridge into the alley?" And the cop answered, "I don't know. Most men jump off into the water. Maybe he couldn't swim."

JoshBazell's character is a hit man who has turned informant. The FBI financed med school for him. He's working as an intern when one of his patients turns out to be his old mob's hit boss. Bazell has a gallows humor. While he was in med school, he worked with the chief medical examiner, and did crime scene autopsies. The period between Christmas Day and New Year's is the biggest time for crime in New York because everyone is home. He came into work one day to find a large package wrapped in butcher block paper, and it was leaking. It had a note on it that said, "Merry Christmas, Josh." A woman had complained that she knew the smell of corpses. You can't get the smell of corpses out. And, she insisted someone find that smell in her apartment. There was a body hidden there, wrapped in paper.

Craig told us he likes Sophie's books. They combine two of his favorite things, baseball bats and summer dresses.

Sophie reminded us she had said she was going through her own midlife crisis when she wrote A Bad Day for Sorry. She had 200+ rejections before she found an agent willing to take her on. No one thought they could sell the story of a 50+ plain woman who wants to get laid, and can't. Publishers didn't think she was a great heroine. Her agent, Barbara, submitted it to seven publishers, and had seven no's. But, finally she found a publisher.

When Littlefield did her first event, she felt grateful that anyone would read about Stella, a foul-mouthed woman who killed her husband, and used bondage equipment in the course of the mystery. Sophie had to learn about bondage equipment, which was a surprise to a nice girl from Missouri. When two women came up to her at the event, and said we read your book, she wanted to say, "I'm sorry." But the women said they really liked it. They were in their 60s, and they felt as if they weren't visible anymore. Forget about dating. You're cut off, even if you're living in your hometown. Sophie said she understood. She spent her life as a homemaker. When a homemaker is done, no one wants to look at her.

Littlefield's third book in the Stella Hardesty Bad Day series will be out in June. It's called A Bad Day for Scandal. And, the fourth book has been turned in. Sophie thought maybe she could be a voice for all those invisible women who need a voice.

Craig Johnson discussed humor as it related to his character, Sheriff Walt Longmire. Johnson's humor is situational, stemming from the relationship between characters. He deliberately contrasts his characters. Victoria Moretti, Walt's second-in-command, is very different from him. She's a transplant from Philadelphia, urban. Walt's rural. She likes the technical aspects of the job while Walt is aware of the social implications of the job. Longmire is careful with his language, while she's not so careful. Johnson deliberately set them up for conflict, and that conflict is probably why Warner Brothers and A&E have picked up the stories for a projected series called Longmire.

Craig said in his books, there is an anticipation of humor that is sometimes better than the scene itself. Readers know something is going to happen becuase of the set-up of characters. And, the job itself lends itself to a sense of humor. Johnson was out riding with the sheriff who advises him, and he asked him what was the most important thing sheriffs learn? The answer was, how to herd cattle with a cruiser.

That sheriff still vets Craig's books. He had Walt going undercover in Dark Horse, the fifth book, and the sheriff told him there are difficulties in going undercover in a town of 40.

Johnson said Vic Moretti is pretty hot. No one cares who plays Longmire in the TV series, but all of the old ranchers want to know who is playing Vic. He says, "You dirty old men."

Josh Bazell said his next book has a lot of political subtext. It's over the top. But, politics makes publishers nervous. They can handle a lot of sex and violence, but they don't know how to handle politics.

Cara said Josh wanted her to ask him to tell the story of how the two of them met, walking down the street in San Francisco, where she lives, and he lived at the time. Josh said he's a bit of an idiot savant, and never got the hang of the savant part. He's the type that, if you spill matchsticks, he'll tell you there are 104, when it turns out there were only 47.

Anyways, he was walking down the street with his cute dog, his earbuds in, and his sunglasses on. He thought he heard someone calling his name. It was Cara. He had dropped his credit card, six blocks earlier. He knew Cara Black wrote Murder in the Marais because he read it, but he didn't know what she looked like. Cara saw it was a gold American Express card, and chased him down. She looked at the card, and said, "Are you Josh Bazell, the writer, Josh Bazell?" So, that's how they met.

Asked if they had heroes growing up, Craig Johnson answered with John Steinbeck. He always found Steinbeck hilarious. He also liked George MacDonald Fraser, who was known for his Flashman series, but Johnson liked the humor in his McAuslan stories. Steinbeck had horrific things happen in his books, but there was always hope for humanity, some benevolence. You can do horrific things in books if you show faith in humanity.

Cara asked the authors how they balance murder and humor. Bazell likes funny books and crime books. He writes the books he wishes he had seen on the shelf. Johnson said it's hard to be serious if you have that humorous strain in you, or if you were raised in a family in which everyt is grist for the mill. It's like straight razors with a nerf ball. Craig said his family had a sharp sense of humor, particularly his father. His father referred to constructive stupidity. If you don't know any better, you can get through.

Sophie Littlefield said she came from a humorless family. They were Polish, and they went through some rough years. Her father is a Supreme Court historian. And, her brother, Mike Cooper, has a book coming out in 2012 from Viking. He found his sense of humor. He liked Bazell's Beat the Reaper. But, Sophie and Mike lost their mother to dementia when they were young. They got through it by cracking each other up. George Carlin referred to it as "Coffin humor."

Does humor make a character more empathetic? Johnson responded, "Of course! Who do you want to spend time with, someone with a sense of humor, or someone who goes on for 300 pages?"

He said he had a lot of advice when from other authors when he first started writing, most of which he ignored. People told him not to give Walt a pet because he'd have to take care of it. But, Craig's a rancher with all kinds of animals, so he gave Walt a dog. And, it's worked out well. Longmire is a western sheriff who drives long distances. Is it better for him to talk to the dog while he's driving, or talk to himself? The dog is foil for Walt. He has running monologues in which he talks out his thoughts to the dog.

Cara mentioned that Leonardo DiCaprio bought Josh Bazell's Beat the Reaper for a movie. Josh said his experience with books and movies means that the chance it will be actually made into a move is hazy at best.  He said his next book is sort of a sequel, but very different. It should be out at the end of the year, beginning of next. He agreed that humor is important. He finds it important to even joke about dementia and cancer. From his experiences as a doctor, he knows that once someone receives a serious diagnosis, everyone is afraid to be funny around you. It's important to acknowledge the situation, and incorporate humor. (Yes. On a personal basis, when my husband was dying of cancer, I told his best friend that he was to continue to call every day as he had, and continue to have a joke for Jim. He found it hard, but he did that, right until the end.)

Sophie's character, Stella Hardesty, had a hard time getting dates. Littlefield made that part of the humor. Her character is a vigilante, running a sewing shop. Sophie is sympathetic. She herself has a tiny resilient streak. Told she can't do something, she'll find a way to do it. Sophie understands that a woman's options are limited in a small town. What if you're fifty, from a small town in Missouri? You know everyone in town. Your options include dating the guy in town who dated everyone in town. So, by now, she's given Sophie two love interests. One of them, the sheriff, is bald, because Sophie thinks bald men are handsome.

Stella is a sympathetic character. There's also a teenager in the books, a thirteen-year-old modeled after a boy who might or might not have been Sophie's son. And, he isn't a cheerful teen like unrealistic ones in novels. He's realistic. There's a dance coming up, and Stella mentions it. But, no thirteen-year-old wants to go to the dance. He wants to go behind ARCO. That's realistic.

Johnson said the funniest book he ever read was The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall. It's about a mailman on the reservation who ran over an Indian boy's head, and when the boy is in the hospital recovering all he wants to do is get back to the rez to tell the mailman he's OK.

Bazell said E.F. Benson's Queen Lucia was the funniest book he read. Cara said for her it was Eloise. She wanted to be Eloise and live in the Plaza.  From there, the titles deteriorated as Bazell and Johnson tried to outdo each other for outrageous titles.

Craig Johnson's next Walt Longmire book, Hell is Empty, is due out in June. The title comes  from The Tempest, when Prospero says, "Hell is empty, and the devils are all here." Walt and his Basque deputy, Santiago Saizarbitoria, are helping to transport prisoners in the mountains. Santiago hasn't been happy with the education he's getting, and Walt is always quoting literature, so he asks everyone in the office for a list of ten books he should have read. Walt gives him books such as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Three Musketeers. Ruby, the dispatcher, who trys to improve everyone, gives him Pilgrim's Progress and Dante's Inferno. So, Santiago gets into a discussion with a prisoner who questions him, and asks about the books. Finally, the prisoner says, at least I'm not reading a book by Alexander Dumb Ass.

In the course of the book, there's a federal case in the mountains that doesn't go smoothly, and Walt has to handle it. Santiago tells him he knows he always wants a book, and gives him Dante's Inferno.  From there, the book parallels The Inferno.

Sophie Littlefield's next book is also due out in June. A Bad Day for Scandal involves a woman no one likes who turned her back on everyone. And, Stella and her daughter, Noelle, had been estranged. They just got back together when Noelle reveals something about herself that Stella has a hard time accepting.

Bazell thinks his next book is going to be called Wild Thing. He wanted to call it The Dick, but the publisher wasn't willing to go there. It's a retelling of Moby Dick.

Since Cara Black was the moderator, she hadn't discussed her books, so someone in the audience asked her about her career. She answered that she kills people all over Paris. Her character, Aimée Leduc, likes bad boys. She's taller and thinner than Cara, and lives where Cara would like to live. Craig said whenever he goes to France, he reads Cara's books. Cara said, yes, and then he emails her from France. He responded that writing from Wyoming would have no effect.

Black asked the authors about humor in narrative vs. dialogue. Johnson said he likes turns of phrase. When he was going to write his first book, The Cold Dish, he talked to sheriffs, and then took  a ten year hiatus. When he went back to it, he realized he wasn't smart enough to hold Walt's attention for three hundred pages. So, he better be funny and smart to hold Walt's attention. He enjoys Walt's company.

Then, Craig discussed Bear, who started as a minor character for Walt to play off. He's an Indian with a dead pan delivery. White and red humor is dissimilar. Bear sometimes sounds as if he's talking bullshit, and when he's using Indian humor, the bullshit level goes up. Johnson said he has an Indian friend, Marcus, who told him he would have good weather for his book tour. He had seen the first sign of spring in Billings. He saw an Indian carrying a space heater into a pawn shop. He said that was a true story.

He said Wyoming is still untouched by mainstream society. He was with Marcus on the rez one day when they stopped to talk to a boy who had one shoe on. Marcus said you only have one shoe on. Did you lose your shoe? And, the boy answered, "No, found one." Craig likes to find oddities and explore them. The French just don't understand that Wyoming's about the same size, but only has 500,000 people. Cara commented that Craig straddles the world, being so popular in France.

Then, she asked Josh about his popularity in Europe. He said for some reason he's really big in Germany, and has a large audience there. He gets emails from Germany and Italy, but he doesn't read them because he doesn't read either language.

Craig said it wouldn't have been his first guess that France is where a Wyoming sheriff would catch fire. But, they like the humor. And, they've been inundated with the American West in movies. They're curious about the contemporary American West. They're interested in Indians, and open spaces. Open spaces don't exist in Europe, and there's a longing for that.

Sophie told us her only foreign sales have been in Japan. Fortunately, her brother is fluent in Japanese, because she's curious about the translation.

Cara Black wrapped up the program by reminding everyone where the authors would be signing. But, then she surprised me by saying before closing she wanted to acknowledge Lesa Holstine in the audience. She said Lesa has a blog, Lesa's Book Critiques. She said, she's a librarian from the Phoenix area, and her library, Velma Teague, is a destination for all the authors.

So, thank you, Cara.

Josh Bazell's website is www.beatthereaper.com

Craig Johnson's website is www.craigallenjohnson.com

Sophie Littlefield's website is www.sophielittlefield.com

Cara Black's website is www.carablack.com

Death Without Company by Craig Johnson

If Jen Forbus has her way, Craig Johnson would receive the recognition he deserves.  No one is a bigger fan than she is.  I'm glad, because she introduced me to his wonderful books.  And, she's right.  He's not as well-known as he should be.  I've only read the first two books in his Walt Longmire series, but they're beautifully written mysteries, with fascinating characters.  I loved Johnson's comment in this second book, Death Without Company.  "It's a character-driven piece."  It certainly is.  If you read mysteries for the characters, as I do, you should be reading Craig Johnson's books.

Walt Longmire has been the sheriff in Absaroka County, Wyoming for almost twenty-five years.  And, his day-to-day job consists of recruiting jurors for a jury pool, handling traffic accidents in the snow, and trying to hang on to competent deputies.  But, once in a while, he gets a case that is so complicated that his entire team, along with his friends, family, and even his dog, called Dog, become involved. 

Lucian Connally was the sheriff who hired Longmire, fresh from a stint as a military cop in Vietnam.  The two men might have different styles, but Walt still respects Lucian's opinion.  So, when Lucian insists that Mari Baroja, a fellow resident at the Durant Home for Assisted Living was murdered, Longmire is willing to look into it.  But, then Lucian shocks Walt by saying he was once married to Mari, until her Basquo father and uncles annulled the marriage.  Lucian's stories of Mari and her family drag Longmire's team into an investigation that immediately turns violent, as someone tries to kill everyone who knows the past history of Mari Baroja.  However, does anyone actually know the whole truth?

In the Walt Longmire series, Craig Johnson has created a cast of characters with depth and personality, beginning with Walt and his best friend, Henry Standing Bear.  But, every one of Johnson's characters are individuals who demand attention, from those who are a permanent part of his team, such as his deputy, Vic Moretti, and Ruby, who runs the office.  The newest deputy, Santiago Saizarbitoria, immediately fits in, with an enormous personality.  Unlike so many other authors, though, Johnson pays attention close attention to minor characters, who live on his pages. 

The investigation is the most important part of the story, as it should be in a police procedural, but these books are so much more.  Johnson has a way with a phrase.  Ruby keeps messages for Longmire on Post-it notes, and turns them over when he comes into the office.  He says he, "Picked up my life in Post-it form."  There's humor in these stories, and it can be very dry, as fits people who have lived difficult lives.  Death Without Company has an intriguing, complicated storyline with surprises, wonderful characters, and beautiful writing.  These mysteries are for anyone who misses Tony Hillerman, or wants to read outstanding crime novels set in the West.  And, Death Without Company is definitely for anyone who wants to read a "Character-driven piece."

Craig Johnson's website is http://www.craigallenjohnson.com/

Death Without Company by Craig Johnson.  Penguin Group (USA), ©2006. ISBN 9780670034673 (hardcover), 288p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure - Library Book

Sunday Salon - Craig Johnson & Robert Dugoni at the Poisoned Pen

It was about time that I had the chance to hear Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire series, do an entire program. I heard part of a program at the Tucson Festival of Books, but had to leave before the end, so I never had the chance to introduce myself as a friend of Jen Forbus'. He appeared at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore on his tour for the sixth book in the series, Junkyard Dogs. I can promise you that I can't do justice to this recap, since I'm not going to be able to capture the humor and tone of the comments between Craig Johnson and interviewer Robert Dugoni. This was a very funny program.

Barbara Peters commented that it might be the first time she'd ever seen Craig Johnson without his trademark hat. And, in his booming voice, he said, "It's hot!" Then he said his publisher had sent him on a Dixie tour, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and ending up in Houston. He said with that weather, he learned he never wants to live in the East. He said it was cooler here. Barbara said she doesn't think she's ever heard an author say the weather was an improvement when they came to Arizona in June.

Then, when Barbara asked if it was his Paris shoes tour, Johnson introduced his wife, Judy, and she showed off her shoes. He asked that everybody buy a book so he could afford her Paris shoes habit. Barbara mentioned that they had just made two trips to France, two weeks apart, and shoes might have played a part in it. But, Craig Johnson's books are very popular in France, and he just won the 2010 Prix du Roman Noir prize, an award for noir fiction.

Peters went on to say that every one of Johnson's six books have been Indie Next picks. Johnson said yes, he's been very pleased because the independent book sellers have selected those books as worth reading.

Then, Barbara Peters told us she had a special treat for us, and we wouldn't have to listen to her, because Robert Dugoni, author of Bodily Harm, was in town, and would do the interview.

Johnson said their friendship had been cemented at the last LA Times Book Festival when the two were on a panel together. It was the first time the recordings of the panels weren't free, so now you can buy a recording of the two on it together. Dugoni remarked he was a fan of Johnson's before he met him, and didn't know it. He said he's the type to go into a bookstore and ask for one book I should read. A bookseller gave him Johnson's The Cold Dish. He read it, liked it, and thought it had crisp dialogue, and the story moved. He gave it to his wife to read. Then, he was on one end of the panel in LA, and Craig Johnson was on the other. He kept wondering, how do I know this guy. When he mentioned The Cold Dish, he knew how he knew him.

Dugoni asked about the new book, Junkyard Dogs. He said to Johnson, you say you get your ideas from memories. What memories brought about Junkyard Dogs? Johnson told the story, saying he was from a town of 25 in Wyoming, and once the junkyard was gone, all the heavy industry was gone. Jimmy George had come home to Buffalo, Wyoming after the service, and started a salvage operation. After a couple decades, the junkyard covered a great deal of land. Then, the interstate highway came through, and the site they picked for the exit was right by the junkyard. So, the founding fathers bought another lot, right at the base of the Bighorn Mountains to swap for the junkyard site. So, the junkyard moved from Buffalo to Ucross.

Then, Sonny George, the son, took over. He was a real piece of work, best described as a junkyard mountain man. Well, Ucross is now home of the Ucross Foundation, an artist retreat on 22,000 acres, and artists come from all over the country. Their not real happy with the junkyard sprawl, and there was almost a range war over it. Craig said he witnessed it It was about the economy of the American West, and it was confrontational.

Craig knew Sonny pretty well. He had long hair, and a beard to his belt buckle. In the book, he describes the man as "Freezed-dried by winter, sun-dried by summers," and looking like "Beef jerky with blue eyes."

Johnson often does ride alongs with the sheriff of Johnson County, and the sheriff told him one day that they were going to Sonny George's. He had busted some ribs, and his kids wanted him to go to the hospital, and he wouldn't. He was going to try to negotiate with his to get in the squad car and go to the emergency room at the hospital. Craig said that could be interesting, and he knew Sonny, so he went along. They got him to go to the hospital, and, after about five minutes, the doctor came out and said that was something he'd never seen. George's hair had grown through his long underwear. The sheriff and Johnson agreed that was more information than they cared to know.

Robert Dugoni said he's the type who goes into bookstores, and picks up books and reads the first sentence. Here's the first sentence of Junkyard Dogs. "I tried to get a straight answer from his grandson and granddaughter-in-law as to why their grandfather had been tied with a hundred feet of nylon rope to the rear bumper of the 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado."

Craig said, "True story!" When he was teaching writing classes, he had one student who was always coming in with stories of his family. They had a lot of drama in their lives. So, one day, he came in with a story of his grandfather. They cleaned the chimney at the family's big house by soaking a mop with kerosene and putting it down the chimney. Johnson said he could see a lot of things that might have happened. Well, it was January, and the grandfather normally hooked a leg over the gutter and cleaned the chimney. Although he was 72, he was best fit to go up on the chimney. But, there was ice on the roof, so he asked his grandson to help him tie himself off, with a rope, thrown over the roof, and tied off below. So, the grandson did it, and the grandfather was cleaning the chimney when the grandmother came out, said she was going to town, and did anyone want to go. The grandfather said can't you see I'm cleaning the chimney. So, she went around the house. They heard the car door slam. Then, they heard the motor start, and the grandfather saw the look on his grandson's face, and the grandfather went sliding over the roof. The grandson later said they piled snow up on both sides of the driveway, so there was nothing really to stop him until he hit the mailbox. He was dragged into town, pulled along on that 100 feet of rope, waving to people as he went by.

Robert wanted to know how the people in town react when they see Johnson coming. Craig said if he goes into Pistol Pete's Cafe, it might get really quiet, and they'll tell each other, shut up. He'll put you in a book.

Does he use real people? Wallace Stegner once said the biggest piece of fiction ever written is the disclaimer at the front of a book. Of course he uses real people. And, he made the mistake of saying something at his publisher's, and the legal department told him, you have to cut out the stories. You can't use real names.

Johnson got back to Wyoming, and thought about it. He decided to take matters into his own hands, and he went through his book, and called everyone up who was mentioned. So, in a typical Western tradition, he told them he'd used them, and every one of them said, "Don't edit me! I'm going to buy 24 copies and show them to everyone so they know I'm famous."

Dugoni said he's a lawyer, so he knew what the legal department meant when they said don't use real people, but he still puts friends in his books. Craig said, and when people ask where do you get ideas, you just look at them.

Robert asked Johnson about storytelling, although he's a rancher. Craig answered that his father said he came from a long line of bullshitters, but he's the only one who wrote it down. It's a continuation of the storytelling tradition. He was talking to author Mark Sprague one day, and they discussed storytelling as a valuable resource.

Junkyard Dogs is the sixth in the Walt Longmire series. Dugoni wanted to know if Craig intended to write a series. The answer was no. He had no idea it would be a series. But, the president of Penguin told him we want more of these; think of doing this as a series. So, here he was, a Wyoming rancher, arguing with the president of Penguin saying he had other ideas. She told him to go back to the ranch and think about it, which is the same thing Craig's wife, Judy, says to him. Why don't you go out to the barn, do some chores, and think about it?

He said he is working on a literary piece about a man who runs over himself with his own car, and changes his life. It still has comedy. Johnson actually said he's having more fun with the writing now than he did in the beginning.

Dugoni remarked that he talked to John Lescroart, who writes legal thrillers. Lescroart said when he first started writing, his lawyer character, Dismas Hardy, was him. Now, he identifies with him less and less, and more with the detective, Abe Glitsky. Robert said in his first book, The Jury Master, David Sloane had Dugoni's background. So, he wanted to know, is Walt actually Craig Johnson?

Johnson responded by quoting his wife, Judy. "Craig hopes to be Walt in ten years, but he's off to an incredibly slow start."

He said Tony Hillerman told him to break things up; challenge yourself. So, he decided that he'd set the books in Vivaldi's Four Seasons. The Cold Dish was Walt's fall book. Death Without Company was winter. Kindness Goes Unpunished was spring, and Another Man's Moccasins was summer. Then, he realized he'd taken Walt through one year, and he was one year older, while Johnson himself was four years older.

Walt was depressed in the first book, but in the course of the series, he becomes more engaged in life, and with his family. His humor has become more like Craig's, and he's become closer to who Craig is. But, Johnson says Walt Longmire is a lot better person than he is.

Johnson has written the draft of the seventh book, and he's about half way through the rewrite. He's an indentured servant to Viking Penguin. They told him they're in it for the long haul. But, he has tons of freedom. His contract only says he must write a mystery, and it must have Walt Longmire.

He does try to keep the series fresh, though. The series has to grow to do that. He told us we've all read series when the author ran out of gas. Dugoni was quick to say we won't name names.

When Craig Johnson wrote his first book, he received lots of advice, much of it unsolicited from other authors. They told him, don't give Walt a dog because then you have to remember to feed it and take care of it. And, he thought, well I have to do that; why shouldn't Walt. So, he gave him a dog. And, now, as sheriff, when Walt has to drive long distances, he could talk to himself, or he could talk to the dog. And, it's better, as sheriff, not to be seen talking to yourself. So, there's a scene when Walt gets out of the truck, and tells the dog to stay in the truck, and don't play with the radio. He takes two steps, and thinks, that's our joke. He can play with the radio.

And, people told him to keep the sexual tension. Don't let anything happen for months and months. Craig wanted to know, what women are you dating? So, he wrote a sex scene in one of his books. And, a woman came up to him, and told him the sex scene went on forever. (At which point, Dugoni quickly said, you and Walt are a lot alike.) So, Johnson thought about it, and realized that sex scene was one paragraph. He asked the woman how many times she read it, and she turned bright read before saying, I read it a lot. Craig said he took that first scene to his wife, and said, I wrote my first sex scene. Read it, and if you laugh, it's not good.

Johnson said in writing mysteries, most people have never dealt with a murder, but, he would guess that almost everyone in the audience had had sex. Dugoni's interruption brought laughter, when he said, except my mother, and she had ten kids.

Craig Johnson doesn't enjoy the research, the ride alongs, and other research as much as he does writing. And, he said the benefits are great. He gets to travel around the country, on his publisher's dime, stay at five star hotels and eat at nice restaurants, talk to people about books, and meet up with friends such as Robert. He spoke at the National Book Festival, and afterwards the authors were picked up in limos. One author threw himself in the limo, and complained, I've been talking, and signing books, and dealing with people all day. Craig looked at him, and wanted to say, you've never had a real job, have you?

Questions from the audience included one about the characters. What characters are your most popular; who do you get the most emails about? Johnson said it varies from book to book. He'll hear there's not enough Henry or Vic or Virgil. This time, he heard, there wasn't enough dog in the book.

He was asked if you didn't read the series in order, which book should you read. He said maybe The Dark Horse. It's his "stranger in a strange land" book, about community. He made Walt Longmire a sheriff because he wanted to deal with Western justice, and have a man who was answerable to his community. He plays by the rules. He's a good guy. He cares. So, he's taken out of his comfort zone in The Dark Horse.

Johnson thought he was going to write a village mystery in which someone dies in a small village, and a stranger comes in, and asks questions. He thought he was writing the quintessential mystery, and discovered he was also writing the quintessential western. A stranger comes into a small western town, and begins to ask questions.

He said Junkyard Dogs is the funniest book he's written.

When asked about his audio books, Johnson he had to go back to Tony Hillerman again. Hillerman told him if you can, get George Guidall to do the audio books. And, he's been very happy with that. With the first book, Guidall asked him about pronunciation of the various names. They've worked well together until the latest book. In it, someone is playing Eddie Arnold's song, Cattle Call, in the room next to Walt's. And, Walt isn't the type to bang on the wall, so he sings along, and then the dog starts singing along. (Craig Johnson does a terrific yodel for the refrain of Cattle Call, by the way.) George called Johnson, and said, you son of a bitch. You know I don't sing. Johnson replied, I didn't say Walt sang it well.

Dugoni asked if there was any news Craig Johnson could pass on, and he admitted that Warner Brothers, Horizon and TNT are in the development stages for a TV series, but they're only in the development stages. When asked if there was any speculation as to who would play Walt, Johnson's immediate answer was "Gary Cooper." Unfortunately, they hadn't heard from him in a while, and he hasn't returned calls.

Craig Johnson's next book is called Hell is Empty. That's taken from The Tempest, Act I, Scene II, when the survivors of the shipwreck are swimming to Prospero's island, and they're all people from Prospero's past. He says, "Hell is empty. The devils are all here."

Walt and his Basque deputy, Santiago Saizarbitoria, are transporting prisoners. Santiago hasn't been happy with the education he's getting, and Walt is always quoting literature, so he asks everyone in the office for a list of ten books he should have read. Walt gives him books such as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Three Musketeers. Ruby, the dispatcher, who trys to improve everyone, gives him Pilgrim's Progress and Dante's Inferno. So, Santiago gets into a discussion with a prisoner who questions him, and asks about the books. Finally, the prisoner says, at least I'm not reading a book by Alexander Dumb Ass.

In the course of the book, there's a federal case in the mountains that doesn't go smoothly, and Walt has to handle it. Saizarbitoria tells him he knows he always wants a book, and gives him Dante's Inferno. So, who was the Dante's guide in the Inferno? Virgil.

Barbara Peters ended the program by saying Craig Johnson has appeared at the Poisoned Pen each year, for all six of his books. When the second book came out, he rode his motorcycle down from Wyoming to appear at the bookstore. She said she appreciates the opportunity to bring authors to the community, from the beginning of their career.

And, when I met Craig Johnson, I introduced myself as a friend of Jen Forbus', saying Jen was in Chicago at Printers' Row, in the rain, but I was lucky enough to be here today.



*****
After the program, I had the chance to talk to Robert Dugoni and his wife. Dugoni is the author of three legal novels featuring David Sloane, a lawyer in Seattle. The books are The Jury Master, Wrongful Death, and Bodily Harm. Robert was a terrific interviewer, and he is presenting a writing workshop at the Poisoned Pen today. He also told me he would be willing to do a guest blog, so, hopefully, you'll be seeing that here soon.

Dugoni is one of ten children, and he said he loves libraries. His mother would take them to the library to give herself a break, so he considered the public library his second home. And, if I'm very, very lucky, he might do an Authors @ The Teague program sometime next year. Here's hoping, Robert!



Craig Johnson's website is www.craigallenjohnson.com

Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson. Viking, ©2010. ISBN 9780670021826 (hardcover), 306p.

Robert Dugoni's website is www.robertdugoni.com

Bodily Harm by Robert Dugoni. Simon & Schuster, ©2010. ISBN 9781416592969 (hardcover), 373p.