November 17, 2024

North To Alaska

Craig Johnson

Tooth And Claw, the third Walt Longmire novella I’ve written in twenty years hits the stands this Tuesday! Like a lot of people, I’m a serial reader and tend to stumble onto a writer and if duly impressed turn around and buy every book they’ve ever written. I went through an Alistair MacLean period in my teenage years, grappling through the Scotsman’s thrillers such as The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra, and Where Eagles Dare. I can’t say he was a great writer, but he was great at what he did, fast- paced and macho adventures in exotic locales - exactly what I was looking for at the time. I’ve referred to thrillers as mysteries with lobotomies, but MacLean never fell prey to the you-know-who-it-is-in-the-first-chapter-and-now-have-to-sit-through-five-hundred-pages-of- chase formula, instead keeping you guessing until the end with characters that couldn’t be described as fully fleshed out, but certainly kept you leaping pages like a reindeer. Personally, I’ve enjoyed writing the novellas over the years and Tooth And Claw was started almost five years ago but then stalled when I wasn’t sure how I wanted to tell the tale. Then I remembered trusty MacLean whose writing style has been described as, “Hit ‘em with everything but the kitchen sink, then give ‘em the sink, and when they raise their head drop the plumber on ‘em.” The next problem was the environs of Tooth And Claw and how things were likely to get boring if the entirety of the action took place out on the big ice of the Northern Slope of Alaska and that brought back memories of another story. I first became aware of the SS Baychimo in an attic literary pile of my father’s and a July 1938 copy of The World Wide Magazine that was containing the article - 'An Arctic Ghost- Ship.’ A legend of her own, the Baychimo has haunted the Arctic for almost a hundred years, looming in and out of the frozen mists. Her last siting was in 1969 and was chronologically perfect for my purposes and Walt’s. Heading out with a story and style, I now needed an antagonist for the good sheriff, something the likes of which he’d never faced before. I fish in Alaska on an annual basis and have had my share of bear encounters, the closest being a surprise meeting with a Kodiak on the banks of the Kanektok River where I discovered how I’m going to die - talking. Armed with only a 10-weight fly rod, I’ve never felt as vulnerable as standing there with that giant bear hovering over me. Fortunately for the writing of this book and others, the guides came running with air horns and the Kodiak reluctantly turned away from his ready-made buffet. Most bears don’t behave like the Nanurluk, thank goodness, but as much of a believer as I am in their continued existence, protection, and careful conservation, polars can’t be described as particularly cuddly. They’re one of the few carnivores and the largest land variety that are known to actively stalk human beings and with the small amount of interaction they have with people, they simply don’t fear us. I remember talking with an elderly Yupik friend of mine in Anchorage who told me his son had been hired as a spotter for one of the research groups and went on to explain how when they first land a plane out on the big ice they immediately set up a shooting tower and the spotter’s job is to climb up there and keep the polar bears from getting in too close, sometimes having to shoot them to keep them from killing and eating members of the party. I asked him, how, in a completely white environment do you sight-in on an all but white Bear? Pointing to the center of his face he replied, “You aim for the nose.” See you on the trail, Craig PS: The tour for Tooth And Claw can be seen on the Tour Of Duty or below... Come on out and say howdy!

Tooth And Claw Tour:

Nov. 18th (Monday) - Scottsdale, AZ 7:00 pm - Poisoned Pen Bookstore Nov. 19th (Tuesday) - Spokane, WA 7:00 pm - Auntie’s Bookstore + The Steam Plant Nov. 20th (Wednesday) - Sunriver, OR 5:30 pm - Sunriver Books and Music Nov. 21st (Thursday) - Boise, ID 4:00 pm - Rediscovered Books + OSHER Nov. 22nd (Friday) - Denver, CO 6:00 pm - Tattered Cover Nov. 23rd (Saturday) - Wichita, KS 2:00 pm - Watermark Books + Advanced Learning Library Nov. 24th (Sunday) - Milwaukee, WI 4:00 pm - Boswell Books, in conversation with Nick Patrie Nov. 25th (Monday) - Mechanicsburg, PA 7:00 pm - Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop + Shiremanstown United Methodist Church Mechanicsburg Nov. 26th (Tuesday) - Phoenixville, PA 7:00 pm - Reads and Company +Bistro on Bridge Nov. 27th (Wednesday) - Wayne, PA Noon - Main Point Books, Book Signing Nov. 28th - Happy Thanksgiving! Nov. 29th (Friday) - Fort Collins, CO 5:00 pm - Barnes & Noble Nov. 30th (Saturday) - Cheyenne, WY 11:00 am - Laramie County Library Nov. 30th (Saturday) - Laramie, WY 6:00 pm - Blue Mountain Bookstore Dec. 1st (Sunday) - Casper, WY Noon - Wind City Books + Gruner Brothers Brewing Dec. 1st (Sunday) - Sheridan, WY 6:00 pm - Sheridan Stationery + Luminous Brewhouse Dec. 7th (Saturday) - Hardin, MT 2:00 pm - Big Horn County Library Dec. 7th (Saturday) - Billings, MT 6:00 pm - Billings Public Library Dec. 8th (Sunday) - Livingston, MT Noon - Elk River Books Dec. 8th (Sunday) - Butte, MT 6:00 pm - Butte Silver Bow Public Library For a more detailed event information, visit the Tour of Duty.

Previous Post-Its

• May 2024 - Twenty For Twenty • March 2024 - Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle • Christmas 2023 - “Recidivism”

POST-ITS

© Craig Johnson All Rights Reserved

Author Of

November 17, 2024

North To Alaska

Craig Johnson

Tooth And Claw, the third Walt Longmire novella I’ve written in twenty years hits the stands this Tuesday! Like a lot of people, I’m a serial reader and tend to stumble onto a writer and if duly impressed turn around and buy every book they’ve ever written. I went through an Alistair MacLean period in my teenage years, grappling through the Scotsman’s thrillers such as The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra, and Where Eagles Dare. I can’t say he was a great writer, but he was great at what he did, fast-paced and macho adventures in exotic locales - exactly what I was looking for at the time. I’ve referred to thrillers as mysteries with lobotomies, but MacLean never fell prey to the you-know-who-it-is-in-the-first-chapter- and-now-have-to-sit-through-five-hundred- pages-of-chase formula, instead keeping you guessing until the end with characters that couldn’t be described as fully fleshed out, but certainly kept you leaping pages like a reindeer. Personally, I’ve enjoyed writing the novellas over the years and Tooth And Claw was started almost five years ago but then stalled when I wasn’t sure how I wanted to tell the tale. Then I remembered trusty MacLean whose writing style has been described as, “Hit ‘em with everything but the kitchen sink, then give ‘em the sink, and when they raise their head drop the plumber on ‘em.” The next problem was the environs of Tooth And Claw and how things were likely to get boring if the entirety of the action took place out on the big ice of the Northern Slope of Alaska and that brought back memories of another story. I first became aware of the SS Baychimo in an attic literary pile of my father’s and a July 1938 copy of The World Wide Magazine that was containing the article - 'An Arctic Ghost-Ship.’ A legend of her own, the Baychimo has haunted the Arctic for almost a hundred years, looming in and out of the frozen mists. Her last siting was in 1969 and was chronologically perfect for my purposes and Walt’s. Heading out with a story and style, I now needed an antagonist for the good sheriff, something the likes of which he’d never faced before. I fish in Alaska on an annual basis and have had my share of bear encounters, the closest being a surprise meeting with a Kodiak on the banks of the Kanektok River where I discovered how I’m going to die - talking. Armed with only a 10-weight fly rod, I’ve never felt as vulnerable as standing there with that giant bear hovering over me. Fortunately for the writing of this book and others, the guides came running with air horns and the Kodiak reluctantly turned away from his ready-made buffet. Most bears don’t behave like the Nanurluk, thank goodness, but as much of a believer as I am in their continued existence, protection, and careful conservation, polars can’t be described as particularly cuddly. They’re one of the few carnivores and the largest land variety that are known to actively stalk human beings and with the small amount of interaction they have with people, they simply don’t fear us. I remember talking with an elderly Yupik friend of mine in Anchorage who told me his son had been hired as a spotter for one of the research groups and went on to explain how when they first land a plane out on the big ice they immediately set up a shooting tower and the spotter’s job is to climb up there and keep the polar bears from getting in too close, sometimes having to shoot them to keep them from killing and eating members of the party. I asked him, how, in a completely white environment do you sight-in on an all but white Bear? Pointing to the center of his face he replied, “You aim for the nose.” See you on the trail, Craig PS: The tour for Tooth And Claw can be seen on the Tour Of Duty or below... Come on out and say howdy!

Tooth And Claw Tour:

Previous Post-Its

• May 2024 - Twenty For Twenty • March 2024 - Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle • Christmas 2023 - “Recidivism”

POST-ITS

© Craig Johnson All Rights Reserved

Author Of

November 17, 2024

North To Alaska

Craig Johnson

Tooth And Claw, the third Walt Longmire novella I’ve written in twenty years hits the stands this Tuesday! Like a lot of people, I’m a serial reader and tend to stumble onto a writer and if duly impressed turn around and buy every book they’ve ever written. I went through an Alistair MacLean period in my teenage years, grappling through the Scotsman’s thrillers such as The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra, and Where Eagles Dare. I can’t say he was a great writer, but he was great at what he did, fast-paced and macho adventures in exotic locales - exactly what I was looking for at the time. I’ve referred to thrillers as mysteries with lobotomies, but MacLean never fell prey to the you-know-who-it-is-in-the-first- chapter-and-now-have-to-sit-through-five- hundred-pages-of-chase formula, instead keeping you guessing until the end with characters that couldn’t be described as fully fleshed out, but certainly kept you leaping pages like a reindeer. Personally, I’ve enjoyed writing the novellas over the years and Tooth And Claw was started almost five years ago but then stalled when I wasn’t sure how I wanted to tell the tale. Then I remembered trusty MacLean whose writing style has been described as, “Hit ‘em with everything but the kitchen sink, then give ‘em the sink, and when they raise their head drop the plumber on ‘em.” The next problem was the environs of Tooth And Claw and how things were likely to get boring if the entirety of the action took place out on the big ice of the Northern Slope of Alaska and that brought back memories of another story. I first became aware of the SS Baychimo in an attic literary pile of my father’s and a July 1938 copy of The World Wide Magazine that was containing the article - 'An Arctic Ghost-Ship.’ A legend of her own, the Baychimo has haunted the Arctic for almost a hundred years, looming in and out of the frozen mists. Her last siting was in 1969 and was chronologically perfect for my purposes and Walt’s. Heading out with a story and style, I now needed an antagonist for the good sheriff, something the likes of which he’d never faced before. I fish in Alaska on an annual basis and have had my share of bear encounters, the closest being a surprise meeting with a Kodiak on the banks of the Kanektok River where I discovered how I’m going to die - talking. Armed with only a 10-weight fly rod, I’ve never felt as vulnerable as standing there with that giant bear hovering over me. Fortunately for the writing of this book and others, the guides came running with air horns and the Kodiak reluctantly turned away from his ready-made buffet. Most bears don’t behave like the Nanurluk, thank goodness, but as much of a believer as I am in their continued existence, protection, and careful conservation, polars can’t be described as particularly cuddly. They’re one of the few carnivores and the largest land variety that are known to actively stalk human beings and with the small amount of interaction they have with people, they simply don’t fear us. I remember talking with an elderly Yupik friend of mine in Anchorage who told me his son had been hired as a spotter for one of the research groups and went on to explain how when they first land a plane out on the big ice they immediately set up a shooting tower and the spotter’s job is to climb up there and keep the polar bears from getting in too close, sometimes having to shoot them to keep them from killing and eating members of the party. I asked him, how, in a completely white environment do you sight-in on an all but white Bear? Pointing to the center of his face he replied, “You aim for the nose.” See you on the trail, Craig PS: The tour for Tooth And Claw can be seen on the Tour Of Duty or below... Come on out and say howdy!

Tooth And Claw Tour:

Previous Post-Its

• May 2024 - Twenty For Twenty • March 2024 - Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle • Christmas 2023 - “Recidivism”

POST-ITS

Author Of