Robert Dugoni for Authors @ The Teague

Robert Dugoni appeared at the Velma Teague Library on his book tour for Murder One. He told us the Phoenix area was his last stop on an extensive tour. He spoke at the library, and he was speaking for the Poisoned Pen Conference over the weekend, ending the trip with a class on the craft of writing on Sunday. Then he was heading home to Washington state.

He did get to lay by the pool on Thursday, but it was a difficult trip. There were a number of changes in flights due to all the storms in the south. One night, when his flight was canceled, he was faced with sleeping in the Charlotte Airport. The hotels had no vacancies at 1:30 in the morning. When a Holiday Inn van came around, he jumped in with a bunch of other people. The others put their baggage in the bag, but Bob knew they'd have to wait to unload their baggage, so he held onto his. He hurried into the hotel, and, even then, was fourth in line. He kept hearing the question, "Do you have a reservation?" When he got to the front, and was asked, "Do you have a reservation," he pleaded with the line from the Steve Martin/John Candy film, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, "Have mercy." They found him a room, and he went to sleep at 2:30, only to get up at 5:30 to get to the airport. He had a 7:40 flight to Hilton Head. Then, that was canceled, so he had two flights out of Charlotte canceled.

Dugoni said he never thought he'd write a series. When he wrote the first David Sloane book, The Jury Master, he never thought he'd see the character again, so he tortured him. Then, when it hit the New York Times Bestseller list, his editor told him they wanted more David Sloane. Murder One is the fourth one in the series. It's had fabulous reviews, and even Publishers Weekly liked it. He's had a number of starred reviews. Bob did a large amount of research for this book.

According to Dugoni, the book you see isn't what he started to write. He starts with a big idea, but he takes it down to the personal level. You used Wrongful Death as an example. He had a friend whose child died due to a toy. So, Bob researched the toy industry. But, Wrongful Death became the personal story of someone who wanted justice, and contacted David Sloane, the lawyer who couldn't lose, to try to get justice.

With Murder One, Dugoni researched the Russian mafia, since it's very big in Seattle. He thought Sloane was going to take it on. He researched about the fall of Russia, the drug trade. The Russian mafia viewed capitalism as a legal way to steal. Four or five months after he started his research, the catalog copy for Robert Dugoni's new book came out. Bob read it, and contacted his editor, telling her that's no longer what the book is about. His editor, who is also his publisher, said, talk to me. Bob said the book is a personal story about a woman who lost her daughter to a drug overdoes. She asks Sloane to go after the Russian mafia in a civil case. Dugoni told his editor he saw it as a cross between Presumed Innocent and Basic Instinct. Afterward, Bob thought, "Oh, my God. What did I just do?" The book has to be a criminal trial book. Sloane is a civil lawyer. He doesn't do criminal law. Robert Dugoni doesn't do criminal law either.

There was a capital murder case being tried in King County just at that time. It was a horrific crime. A young man slaughtered two women and two children. It was unusual for King County to have a trial with four capital murder charges because Washington is a liberal state. The senior prosecutor was a friend of Dugoni's, and he was able to get in to watch the trial. For three months, he sat in the back and watched it. A criminal case is like a play on stage. When the jury is out, everyone is quite casual, with jackets off, and talking together. When the jury comes back in, jackets are on, ties are up, and it's business-like. Dugoni recommended that the audience see a criminal trial if they get the chance. Part-way through the trial, the judge called counsel into his chambers and asked, who is the guy in the back taking notes. He was told it was a novelist who wasn't writing about that case, but needed information.

Eventually, Bob was able to go to lunch with Brad Porter, the homicide detective from the case. He walked him through the investigation. Then, he said, "But, you know, you really should talk to a CSI homicide detective. So, he toured the Washington Crime lab. Then, someone said, "But, you know, you really should talk to Kathy Decker, a man-tracker." She can look at vegetation, and tell when someone walked through it. She worked on the Green River case. So, he met her at Starbucks. She was quite tan, and he asked her if she played sports. No, she had her tan from working outdoors. She spends a lot of time looking for bodies. She can look at footprints on a lawn, and say how long they've been there, the weight of the person who made them, and, if there are overlapping footprints, who stepped there first.

Then, she said, "But, you know..." The investigators would have brought a dog. So, she hooked him up with a sergeant, a man nicknamed Ziggy, who handles canines. And, he told him he should see the dogs in action, so he was to meet them at midnight at a warehouse. The dogs actually scent skin cells. They can even scent people in water. Then, when Dugoni thought he was done at 2 a.m., he was told, "But, you know...," you need to talk to a ballistics expert.

So, Bob was to meet the head guy for the Washington State Criminal Lab at a Starbucks. And, he got there, and waited, and finally he saw a guy who looked about 14 watching him, and he asked, "You, Bob?" He was in his forties, but when he got out of school with a degree in English, he couldn't find a job. So, he got a low-paying job with the criminal lab, and it turned out he was good at blowing things up and shooting things. He has a talent for simulating shootings. But, he told Bob there was a lot of stuff they needed for the lab, so he was hoping Bob would put the stuff in his book so they could get it. There were so many people that helped him with the research for Murder One.

Even with all that help, Dugoni still had to find a way to get David Sloane into criminal court. Then he realized this is the fourth book in the series, but really a sequel to Bodily Harm. David is coming out of grieving. He connects with Barclay Reid, the attorney he was up against in Bodily Harm. Now, she's a mother who lost her duaghter.

In thirteen states there is a "Drug dealer liability act." You don't have to show why a drug dealer is responsible for a death, just that the guy deals heroin, for example, and you can go after him. But, Washington doesn't have that law. Barclay has been lobbying for the legislature to pass it, but the system fails her. So, she goes to David, the attorney who can't lose, and asks him to sue in civil court. Before he can take action, the drug dealer she blames ends up death, and all evidence points to Barclay. She insists that Sloane take the case, and he agrees to defend her.

This is the story Dugoni sent his editor, and then he waited. Finally, he got a phone call saying it was great. Murder One has received great reviews. But, Bob's favorite came from a blogger in Washington who said the book is a cross between Presumed Innocent and Basic Instinct. Dugoni is happy with the book, and happy he didn't shy away from criminal court.

One question from the audience referred to the man-tracker. They wanted to know who she was teaching her skills to. Dugoni said she's part of the search-and-rescue team in Washington. Homicide there is divided into six divisions. It takes 1200 hours of time in class and working before you can be certified as a man-tracker. It's a job that is mostly finding bodies. And, sometimes the bodies have been dead for decades, as in the case of the Green River killer.

Dugoni modeled the homicide detective, Kinsington Rowe, in Murder One, on Brad Porter, the detective that helped him. He's contemplating doing a second series. He'd like to bring back Kinsington Rowe. He also had the chance to meet Washington's only female homicide detective, and she was honest, telling him how no one wanted to work with her. If he does that second series, he'd do two books a year.

Bob has started another book, but it's hard to write on the road. That book would be out in June 2012. It's another David Sloane. This time, though, his publisher made him work from an outline. That book will be Jake's story, the story of Sloane's son. He realized they have parallel lives. Both Jake and David watched their mothers die violently at a young age. He's going to deal with the psychological and legal elements.

With Bodily Harm, Dugoni took a leap of faith that his readers would follow him. Other authors told him not to kill off Sloane's wife. But, Dugoni never intended to write a series, and he doesn't ever want to write the same book over and over. He won't cheat the reader with a cheesy ending. Every book has to stand on its own, and he doesn't want readers to say they could predict the ending. He wrote Bodily Harm when he himself was dealing with grief because he had lost his father that year. Everyone has to deal with grief sometime, and he wanted his character to have to go through the same thing. In that book, Sloane showed that he could be vulnerable, angry, rage, and want revenge.

Asked about writing time, Bob said he doesn't follow a certain schedule; he just writes. He starts as early as he can, and just goes, without setting limits. He may go until 3, when it's time to pick the kids up. He's a father of two who are involved in sports, and he enjoys sports. In the evening, he'll work on Facebook and Twitter.

He said his characters do talk to him. He might go through a book forty times. He views it as a blank canvas for an artist, and each time he goes through it, the details become clearer. He didn't see at first that Jake and Sloane were leading parallel lives.

In  closing, asked about the writing classes, Bob Dugoni closed by saying this weekend he was teaching a class on creative pageturners, how to maintain suspense. He said the characters need to entertain, not the writer. The number one purpose of the writer is to entertain.

Bob Dugoni's website is www.robertdugoni.com

Murder One by Robert Dugoni. Simon & Schuster. ©2011. ISBN 9781451606690 (hardcover), 374p.

Interview with Robert Dugoni

Last month, I was lucky enough to hear Robert Dugoni interview Craig Johnson at the Poisoned Pen. Bob is naturally funny, with a terrific interview style. So, when offered the chance to turn the tables on him, I jumped at the chance. His first legal novel, The Jury Master, was a New York Times bestseller. Three of his four critically acclaimed novels have featured lawyer David Sloane. And, if you ever get the chance to hear him speak, grab it. I'll be going back the next time Bob's at the Poisoned Pen.

Lesa - Thank you, Bob, for taking the time to answer some questions. I know you're the author of four books, but would you tell us about yourself before we discuss them?

Bob - Probably the thing that most defines me is that I am the middle child of ten children. I had a fantastic childhood as a result. The house was always filled and though we were competitive with one another, we were also very close. Being a middle child is probably in part why I’m a writer. My older brothers and sisters are all overachievers and I was looking for a way to stand out, to be different. I was always more into the arts than they were, which led me to writing as early as the seventh grade. It sounds trite, I know, but that’s what I always did. I gave up a not-so-promising athletic career in high school because a teacher noticed my writing ability and asked me to edit the paper and it would become my major at Stanford and my passion. Even after I went to law school, I knew I wanted to write. I started by doing theater throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and the artistic bug returned rather quickly. In 1998, married, with an 18 month old son, my wife and I decided it was time and we moved to the northwest so I could pursue my passion again.

Lesa - Which way should I ask this question? Why law, or why writing? What made you go into either career?

Bob- Law was really a product of the overachieving. With my brothers and sisters getting accolades and attending medical school, professional school became something that needed to be on the resume. I was probably lost a bit at that time in my life. Who isn’t at 22? How do you become a writer? I suppose I could have gone to an MFA program or something, but it just wasn’t part of my surroundings at that time. Knowing I didn’t want to be a doctor because I knew the time commitment it would require would all but wipe out any chance of writing, I chose law school…and of course there isn’t much of a time commitment with that profession now is there?

Lesa - Tell us about your character, David Sloane.

Bob - David is a modern day hero. He has a sense of justice and injustice and a high moral standard. He isn’t perfect. He has his flaws, just like the rest of us, but he is somebody that people can trust to do the right thing. People come to Sloane seeking justice that they don’t believe they can obtain elsewhere and because of his own background, Sloane can never say ‘No.’ In a courtroom he is the best, an attorney with an ability to get juries to decide for him that is almost hypnotic but it is the decisions he makes outside to the courtroom that really define him, particularly in Bodily Harm.

Lesa - Bodily Harm is your latest legal novel. What can you tell us about it, without giving away spoilers?

Bob - I had two goals for this book. I wanted it to move right away, a fast paced book from the opening pages. I also wanted to do something that would shock my readers, let them know that they can never predict what might happen in a David Sloane novel. Based on the emails I’ve received from all over the country, I think I’ve succeeded. As the book opens, Sloane is rushing to court to obtain a verdict in a medical malpractice case against a pediatrician for the death of a six year old boy. Sloane has never felt good about this case, which he took over from another lawyer in the office. Something just never sat well with him. He’s accosted in the lobby of the building by a young man with a file. Sloane has no time to talk but as he crosses the street the young man yells, “The doctor did not kill that boy.” When Sloane asks how the young man could possibly know that, the young man responds, “Because I did.”
Now, before Sloane can seek further answers based on the information in the file he takes with him, the young man disappears and Sloane must seek his answers elsewhere and the answers will come at a very heavy price. How’s that?

Lesa - Very good summary, Bob. Nice way to leave us in suspense! Now, can you tell me was there one person, an author or someone else, who helped you in your writing career?

Bob - I’ve received so much help along the way I’d probably miss someone if I tried to name them all, but the bottom line is I wouldn’t be doing this for a living were it not for my college journalism instructor Sam Goldman, which is why I dedicated this book to him. Sam is a force of nature. He was a newspaper man’s newspaper man. For 50 years he was in the business and even now, at 84, he still does statistics for some of the local sports teams in the Bay Area. He taught me to love words and to love to write. He taught me to always find the positive in every day and to never get too hung up on money or awards but to follow my passion and my heart.

Lesa - What has surprised you about the writing field - publishing, writing, or touring?

Bob - It is a tremendous amount of work! Really, writing a great book isn’t always enough. I know so many terrific writers out there who just haven’t broken out, haven’t hit any big lists yet because fans just haven’t discovered them. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to get your name known, to get people to take a chance and pick up one of your books. At the same time, I’ve learned there is no formula. There is no magic. For some it’s being in the right place at the right time. For some it’s that idea that just catches on. But for most of us it’s a matter of just writing quality books for many years and making new readers one person at a time until you hopefully reach that point of critical mass where word of mouth about the quality of your books takes off.

Lesa - What can you tell us about your next book?

Bob - Nothing. (I’m laughing because I know that sounds selfish, but I refrain from doing it because I’m still working on it and want to keep it fresh.) I can say this…Sloane will have to venture into a criminal courtroom to defend someone he loves and he will do so at a time in his life when he is most vulnerable.

Lesa - Is there something you'd like to tell the readers that I've neglected to ask?

Bob - Just that I keep hearing that reading is dying and electronic media is ruining the publishing world and …. You know what? If you love to read, as I do, there will always be books. And if we want to keep our libraries and our independent book stores alive and flourishing, which is so important to a community, it’s up to us to do it. The answer is to just pick up a book and read, and when you find a book or an author you really like, spread the word and encourage your children to read as well.

Lesa - Thank you for that statement about libraries and independent book stores, since naturally, both are important to me. Now, I get to ask my concluding question, and I know you have quite a story to tell. As you know, I'm a public librarian. Would you tell us a story about libraries and your life?

Bob - As I mentioned, I’m one of ten children. My mother didn’t have the time or the energy to entertain us. So often she would load us into the station wagon and drive us down the hill to the Burlingame Public Library. It’s a grand old stucco building with dark wood trim and it had the old card catalogues and dimmed lighting from overhead chandeliers. It reminds me of the grand room in the Harry Potter movies. On nice days the light would stream through the tall thin windows in the vaulted reading room and there we would all be, sitting quietly with our chosen books, reading -except probably my mother. I don’t have a specific recollection of it, but now I picture her sitting with her eyes closed, resting, enjoying the silence and the peace that only good books can bring.

Lesa - Bob, thank you so much for taking the time to answer questions. I'm sure I'll be seeing you at the Poisoned Pen, and on the bestseller lists in the future.

Robert Dugoni's website is www.robertdugoni.com

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

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.