Meeting Craig Johnson, Mystery Author Extraordinaire

On May 19, 2012, I had the good fortune to attend a book signing at Vromann's bookstore in Pasadena, CA for Craig Johnson's newest book (his eighth), called As the Crow Flies. I was very excited about this because, thanks to the friend who came with me, I've read all of his books. He writes about the adventures of Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire who keeps law and order in Absaroka County, Wyoming and solves crimes with the help and support of his best friend, Henry Standing Bear, a Cheyenne Indian. 

According to Craig, his Indian friends don't like to be singled out as Native Americans, reminding Craig to that he is Native American as well since he is born here in the Americas.  I, too, had long wondered about him calling them Indian instead of Native American. But I can see the logic, I'm native born to the U.S., so that would make me Native American in terms of the denotive meaning of the words.

If only I could claim kinship with one of these original inhabitants. I have had a life-long interest in various American Indian cultures, and to find an author who writes not only crime stories, but buddy crime stories and then have one of the buddies be a Cheyenne Indian, well, I just couldn't ask for more.

And in this new book, Walt's daughter Cady is getting married... on the Cheyenne Reservation. I was so excited to see this book.

At this book signing, I met the incredible artist and photographer, John Dougan, who took and shared these wonderful photos of Craig.  Check out his artwork on his website: www.jjdougan.com. His paintings are refreshingly original, different, and beautiful.

John was also wearing a baseball cap with the Sheriff's logo for Absaroka County, Wyoming, which he apparently was one of the lucky ones to order it through Craig Johnson's website.

What I loved was that Craig came in and jumped up on the table, straddling it like he was chatting with us informally in a bar.  It was great fun. He was asked to talk about his involvement with the new A&E series, Longmire, which is being made from his books and which premieres on June 3rd.

Apparently, he had quite a lot of input -- the executive producers talked to him on the phone for 3 hours and then told him they were exercising the creative consultant part of his contract. So he was sent the pilot to comment on. Out of the 57 suggestions he gave them back, they took 55. And they sent him tapes of the various actors' auditions so that he could have input into the casting.

That was very interesting, because I must admit that the actors chosen to play the roles aren't how I pictured the characters in my mind.  I guess Robert Taylor isn't that far off from how I pictured Walt Longmire.  But as much as I admire Lou Diamond Phillips as an actor and enjoy watching him, he is not at all how I pictured Henry Standing Bear.  Nor is Katee Sackhoff how I pictured Deputy Victoria Morretti.  But I trust Craig's judgment.  After all, he wrote the characters -- he should know best if they embody the characters he wrote. Still, they might seem strange to me in the beginning.

Craig then read a chapter to us from his new book.

After which, he signed our copies. I wish I had gotten a photo with him, but that'll teach me to forget my camera. Of course, I'm a terrible photographer, so my photos would never come out looking like this.

The only thing I find jarring in his books is when he calls Henry Standing Bear, the Cheyenne Nation. Obviously, he would know better than me, but it just doesn't slide easily past me on the page.  Indeed, it stops me dead every time because it just doesn't seem appropriate.

In any case, I'm looking forward to delving into the book after I finish the one I'm reading -- Until Tuesday by former Captain Luis Carlos Montalvan, which is about a wounded warrior who came home struggling with PTSD and his remarkable service dog, Tuesday. Nevertheless, I can't wait to see the TV series, Longmire.