Sign up for Craig’s Post-It Newsletter using this link. If you need help, please see the Contact page.
May 20, 2025
“Return To Sender”
Coming May 27th
by Craig Johnson
I wanted to be a mailman when I was a kid, it just seemed like such a wonderful job bringing people letters and packages that they wanted -- that’s before I learned about bills. It’s no secret that I tend to use newspaper articles as catalysts for my novels and Return To Sender isn’t any different. There was an article in Cowboy State Daily about a woman in Wyoming with the longest postal route in the country and I was immediately intrigued. I’m always looking for interesting stories that exemplify the unique area where I live and when I read about Tebra Morris, I knew I had a story. The area she covers is roughly the size of Maryland, and all I could think was that if a woman like that went missing, where would you look for her? This letter carrier’s route was in the vicinity of the Red Desert which is an area in the state which I’m not particularly familiar with which is always a great excuse to go exploring. We’re the least populated state in the US, but there are regions in Wyoming that are even more desolate than others and one of the areas that epitomizes that is the Red Desert. Who knew that Wyoming was home to the largest living sand dunes in the United States? I would’ve thought that topographic distinction would’ve gone to Arizona, New Mexico or Texas, but here it is, right here in Wyoming. Go figure, huh? It’s easy enough to just make things up for a story, but I prefer use the actual geography of the state and where else could you find colorful monikers like Killpecker Dunes? Don’t ask. One of my favorite ways to explore is on this forty-year-old, dual-sport motorcycle I’ve got which was instrumental in the Outlaw Motorcycle Tour I used to ride around the Great Northwest in a five-thousand-mile loop. Next to walking or on horseback, it’s a pretty great way to get a read on a place and I had a marvelous time doing it, other than one windblown night near the Boar’s Tusk Monument in a rainstorm with a tarp partially tied over the bike and some of me. Most of what I knew before exploring the area was ice-cream stops at the Farson Mercantile or a frosty beverage at the Eden Bar, where the beer isn’t flat, but the thing I remember most was having lunch at Mitch’s Café where the owner-operator informed me that she was a fan of the books and Walt. “Thanks.” Scribbling down my order, she glanced out at my dusty, weather beaten motorcycle parked in the gravel lot waiting like a tethered steed, and then looked back at me. “Watcha doin’ down this way?” “Researching another book.” “Where?” Placing my helmet on the bench seat beside me, I threw a thumb over my shoulder to the vast, open area to the east. “Out there.” “The Red Desert?” She studied me for a moment more. “Be careful, strange things happen out there.” I knew then, that I was in the right place. See you on the trail, Craig PS - you can still receive a personalized copy of Return to Sender by publication day if you order from the Bucking Buffalo Supply Co. by 5:00 pm MST on Thursday, May 22nd. The last day to order a personalized copy before I go on tour will be Friday, May 23rd by 5:00 pm MST. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until I return from the Tour of Duty. The tour dates and locations for Return To Sender can be seen below with details on the Tour Of Duty... Come on out and say howdy! May 2025 May 27th (Tuesday) - Scottsdale, AZ • Poisoned Pen - 7:00 pm May 28th (Wednesday) - Spokane, WA • Northwest Passages with Auntie's Bookstore May 29th (Thursday) - Sunriver, OR • Sunriver Books & Music - 5:00 pm May 30th (Friday) - San Diego, CA • Warwick's - 7:30 pm May 31st (Saturday) - St. Louis, MO • St. Louis County Library - 7:00 pm June 2025 June 1st (Sunday) - Pittsboro, NC • McIntyre's Books - 2:00 pm June 3rd (Tuesday) - Portsmouth, NH • The Music Hall - 7:00 pm June 4th (Wednesday) - Bloomington, IN • Morganstern Books - 6:00 pm June 5th (Thursday) - Cincinnati, OH • Joseph-Beth Booksellers - 7:00 pm June 6th (Friday) - Oakmont, PA • Mystery Lovers Bookshop - 7:00 pm June 7th (Saturday) - Mechanicsburg, PA • Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop at Shiremanstown United Methodist Church - 1:00 pm June 8th (Sunday) - Denver, CO • Tattered Cover Book Store - 3:00 pm June 9th (Monday) - Cheyenne, WY • Barnes & Noble - Noon June 9th (Monday) - Casper, WY • Wind City Books at Gruner Brothers Brewing - 6:00 pm June 10th (Tuesday) - Sheridan, WY • Sheridan Stationery at Luminous Brewhouse - 6:00 pm June 11th (Wednesday) - Gillette, WY • Campbell County Library - 6:00 pm June 13th (Friday) - Billings, MT • This House of Books at Billings Public Library - 6:00 pm June 14th (Saturday) - Bozeman, MT • Country Bookshelf - 2:00 pm June 14th (Saturday) - Livingston, MT • Elk River Books - 6:00 pm June 17th (Tuesday) - Houston, TX • Murder By The Book - 6:30 pm June 18th (Wednesday) - Sunset Valley, TX • Barnes & Noble - 6:00 pm June 19th (Thursday) - Dallas, TX • Half Price Books - 7:00 pm June 21st (Saturday) - Amarillo, TX • Western Writers of America Awards Dinner June 28th (Saturday) - Green River, WY • 1:00 pm June 28th (Saturday) - Rock Springs, WY • 6:00 pm July 2025 The dates for Longmire Days in Durant, WY (Buffalo) are July 17th - 20thPrevious Post-Its
• Christmas 2024 - “Starter’s End” • November 2024 - North To Alaska • May 2024 - Twenty For Twenty • March 2024 - Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle • Christmas 2023 - “Recidivism”
POST-ITS
© Craig Johnson All Rights Reserved
Author Of
Sign up for Craig’s Post-It Newsletter using this link. If you need help, please see the
Contact page.
May 20, 2025
“Return To Sender”
Coming May 27th
by Craig Johnson
I wanted to be a mailman when I was a kid, it just seemed like such a wonderful job bringing people letters and packages that they wanted -- that’s before I learned about bills. It’s no secret that I tend to use newspaper articles as catalysts for my novels and Return To Sender isn’t any different. There was an article in Cowboy State Daily about a woman in Wyoming with the longest postal route in the country and I was immediately intrigued. I’m always looking for interesting stories that exemplify the unique area where I live and when I read about Tebra Morris, I knew I had a story. The area she covers is roughly the size of Maryland, and all I could think was that if a woman like that went missing, where would you look for her? This letter carrier’s route was in the vicinity of the Red Desert which is an area in the state which I’m not particularly familiar with which is always a great excuse to go exploring. We’re the least populated state in the US, but there are regions in Wyoming that are even more desolate than others and one of the areas that epitomizes that is the Red Desert. Who knew that Wyoming was home to the largest living sand dunes in the United States? I would’ve thought that topographic distinction would’ve gone to Arizona, New Mexico or Texas, but here it is, right here in Wyoming. Go figure, huh? It’s easy enough to just make things up for a story, but I prefer use the actual geography of the state and where else could you find colorful monikers like Killpecker Dunes? Don’t ask. One of my favorite ways to explore is on this forty-year-old, dual-sport motorcycle I’ve got which was instrumental in the Outlaw Motorcycle Tour I used to ride around the Great Northwest in a five-thousand-mile loop. Next to walking or on horseback, it’s a pretty great way to get a read on a place and I had a marvelous time doing it, other than one windblown night near the Boar’s Tusk Monument in a rainstorm with a tarp partially tied over the bike and some of me. Most of what I knew before exploring the area was ice-cream stops at the Farson Mercantile or a frosty beverage at the Eden Bar, where the beer isn’t flat, but the thing I remember most was having lunch at Mitch’s Café where the owner-operator informed me that she was a fan of the books and Walt. “Thanks.” Scribbling down my order, she glanced out at my dusty, weather beaten motorcycle parked in the gravel lot waiting like a tethered steed, and then looked back at me. “Watcha doin’ down this way?” “Researching another book.” “Where?” Placing my helmet on the bench seat beside me, I threw a thumb over my shoulder to the vast, open area to the east. “Out there.” “The Red Desert?” She studied me for a moment more. “Be careful, strange things happen out there.” I knew then, that I was in the right place. See you on the trail, Craig PS - you can still receive a personalized copy of Return to Sender by publication day if you order from the Bucking Buffalo Supply Co. by 5:00 pm MST on Thursday, May 22nd. The last day to order a personalized copy before I go on tour will be Friday, May 23rd by 5:00 pm MST. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until I return from the Tour of Duty. The tour dates and locations for Return To Sender can be seen below with details on the Tour Of Duty... Come on out and say howdy! May 2025 May 27th (Tuesday) - Scottsdale, AZ • Poisoned Pen - 7:00 pm May 28th (Wednesday) - Spokane, WA • Northwest Passages with Auntie's Bookstore May 29th (Thursday) - Sunriver, OR • Sunriver Books & Music - 5:00 pm May 30th (Friday) - San Diego, CA • Warwick's - 7:30 pm May 31st (Saturday) - St. Louis, MO • St. Louis County Library - 7:00 pm June 2025 June 1st (Sunday) - Pittsboro, NC • McIntyre's Books - 2:00 pm June 3rd (Tuesday) - Portsmouth, NH • The Music Hall - 7:00 pm June 4th (Wednesday) - Bloomington, IN • Morganstern Books - 6:00 pm June 5th (Thursday) - Cincinnati, OH • Joseph-Beth Booksellers - 7:00 pm June 6th (Friday) - Oakmont, PA • Mystery Lovers Bookshop - 7:00 pm June 7th (Saturday) - Mechanicsburg, PA • Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop at Shiremanstown United Methodist Church - 1:00 pm June 8th (Sunday) - Denver, CO • Tattered Cover Book Store - 3:00 pm June 9th (Monday) - Cheyenne, WY • Barnes & Noble - Noon June 9th (Monday) - Casper, WY • Wind City Books at Gruner Brothers Brewing - 6:00 pm June 10th (Tuesday) - Sheridan, WY • Sheridan Stationery at Luminous Brewhouse - 6:00 pm June 11th (Wednesday) - Gillette, WY • Campbell County Library - 6:00 pm June 13th (Friday) - Billings, MT • This House of Books at Billings Public Library - 6:00 pm June 14th (Saturday) - Bozeman, MT • Country Bookshelf - 2:00 pm June 14th (Saturday) - Livingston, MT • Elk River Books - 6:00 pm June 17th (Tuesday) - Houston, TX • Murder By The Book - 6:30 pm June 18th (Wednesday) - Sunset Valley, TX • Barnes & Noble - 6:00 pm June 19th (Thursday) - Dallas, TX • Half Price Books - 7:00 pm June 21st (Saturday) - Amarillo, TX • Western Writers of America Awards Dinner June 28th (Saturday) - Green River, WY • 1:00 pm June 28th (Saturday) - Rock Springs, WY • 6:00 pm July 2025 The dates for Longmire Days in Durant, WY (Buffalo) are July 17th - 20thPrevious Post-Its
• Christmas 2024 - “Starter’s End” • November 2024 - North To Alaska • May 2024 - Twenty For Twenty • March 2024 - Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle • Christmas 2023 - “Recidivism”
POST-ITS
© Craig Johnson All Rights Reserved
Author Of
Sign up for Craig’s Post-It Newsletter
using this link. If you need help, please
see the Contact page.
May 20, 2025
“Return To Sender”
Coming May 27th
by Craig Johnson
I wanted to be a mailman when I was a kid, it just seemed like such a wonderful job bringing people letters and packages that they wanted -- that’s before I learned about bills. It’s no secret that I tend to use newspaper articles as catalysts for my novels and Return To Sender isn’t any different. There was an article in Cowboy State Daily about a woman in Wyoming with the longest postal route in the country and I was immediately intrigued. I’m always looking for interesting stories that exemplify the unique area where I live and when I read about Tebra Morris, I knew I had a story. The area she covers is roughly the size of Maryland, and all I could think was that if a woman like that went missing, where would you look for her? This letter carrier’s route was in the vicinity of the Red Desert which is an area in the state which I’m not particularly familiar with which is always a great excuse to go exploring. We’re the least populated state in the US, but there are regions in Wyoming that are even more desolate than others and one of the areas that epitomizes that is the Red Desert. Who knew that Wyoming was home to the largest living sand dunes in the United States? I would’ve thought that topographic distinction would’ve gone to Arizona, New Mexico or Texas, but here it is, right here in Wyoming. Go figure, huh? It’s easy enough to just make things up for a story, but I prefer use the actual geography of the state and where else could you find colorful monikers like Killpecker Dunes? Don’t ask. One of my favorite ways to explore is on this forty-year-old, dual-sport motorcycle I’ve got which was instrumental in the Outlaw Motorcycle Tour I used to ride around the Great Northwest in a five-thousand-mile loop. Next to walking or on horseback, it’s a pretty great way to get a read on a place and I had a marvelous time doing it, other than one windblown night near the Boar’s Tusk Monument in a rainstorm with a tarp partially tied over the bike and some of me. Most of what I knew before exploring the area was ice-cream stops at the Farson Mercantile or a frosty beverage at the Eden Bar, where the beer isn’t flat, but the thing I remember most was having lunch at Mitch’s Café where the owner- operator informed me that she was a fan of the books and Walt. “Thanks.” Scribbling down my order, she glanced out at my dusty, weather beaten motorcycle parked in the gravel lot waiting like a tethered steed, and then looked back at me. “Watcha doin’ down this way?” “Researching another book.” “Where?” Placing my helmet on the bench seat beside me, I threw a thumb over my shoulder to the vast, open area to the east. “Out there.” “The Red Desert?” She studied me for a moment more. “Be careful, strange things happen out there.” I knew then, that I was in the right place. See you on the trail, Craig PS - you can still receive a personalized copy of Return to Sender by publication day if you order from the Bucking Buffalo Supply Co. by 5:00 pm MST on Thursday, May 22nd. The last day to order a personalized copy before I go on tour will be Friday, May 23rd by 5:00 pm MST. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until I return from the Tour of Duty. The tour dates and locations for Return To Sender can be seen below with details on the Tour Of Duty... Come on out and say howdy! May 2025 May 27th (Tuesday) - Scottsdale, AZ • Poisoned Pen - 7:00 pm May 28th (Wednesday) - Spokane, WA • Northwest Passages with Auntie's Bookstore May 29th (Thursday) - Sunriver, OR • Sunriver Books & Music - 5:00 pm May 30th (Friday) - San Diego, CA • Warwick's - 7:30 pm May 31st (Saturday) - St. Louis, MO • St. Louis County Library - 7:00 pm June 2025 June 1st (Sunday) - Pittsboro, NC • McIntyre's Books - 2:00 pm June 3rd (Tuesday) - Portsmouth, NH • The Music Hall - 7:00 pm June 4th (Wednesday) - Bloomington, IN • Morganstern Books - 6:00 pm June 5th (Thursday) - Cincinnati, OH • Joseph-Beth Booksellers - 7:00 pm June 6th (Friday) - Oakmont, PA • Mystery Lovers Bookshop - 7:00 pm June 7th (Saturday) - Mechanicsburg, PA • Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop at Shiremanstown United Methodist Church - 1:00 pm June 8th (Sunday) - Denver, CO • Tattered Cover Book Store - 3:00 pm June 9th (Monday) - Cheyenne, WY • Barnes & Noble - Noon June 9th (Monday) - Casper, WY • Wind City Books at Gruner Brothers Brewing - 6:00 pm June 10th (Tuesday) - Sheridan, WY • Sheridan Stationery at Luminous Brewhouse - 6:00 pm June 11th (Wednesday) - Gillette, WY • Campbell County Library - 6:00 pm June 13th (Friday) - Billings, MT • This House of Books at Billings Public Library - 6:00 pm June 14th (Saturday) - Bozeman, MT • Country Bookshelf - 2:00 pm June 14th (Saturday) - Livingston, MT • Elk River Books - 6:00 pm June 17th (Tuesday) - Houston, TX • Murder By The Book - 6:30 pm June 18th (Wednesday) - Sunset Valley, TX • Barnes & Noble - 6:00 pm June 19th (Thursday) - Dallas, TX • Half Price Books - 7:00 pm June 21st (Saturday) - Amarillo, TX • Western Writers of America Awards Dinner June 28th (Saturday) - Green River, WY • 1:00 pm June 28th (Saturday) - Rock Springs, WY • 6:00 pm July 2025 The dates for Longmire Days in Durant, WY (Buffalo) are July 17th - 20thPrevious Post-Its
• Christmas 2024 - “Starter’s End” • November 2024 - North To Alaska • May 2024 - Twenty For Twenty • March 2024 - Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle • Christmas 2023 - “Recidivism”
POST-ITS
© Craig Johnson All Rights Reserved
Author Of