On Thursday, July 25, 2013 I got the opportunity to hear Craig Johnson speak at the Viridian Center; the talk was set up by the King's English Bookshop [http://www.kingsenglish.com/] in Salt Lake City. I was excited by this prospect because I love the Longmire series that plays on A&E. It is a great series with Robert Taylor, the Australian actor, playing Longmire and Lou Diamond Phillips playing his life long friend Henry Standing Bear.
The evening started with meeting up with a few people from my critique group, Niels and Alara, and then being very lucky to get front row seats. The first thing was a thirty minute documentary about the TV series. Robert Taylor's Australian accent is to die for although he does not act with one, since Longmire is a WY sheriff [filmed in NM - go figure]. Either way he has the perfect voice. He is 6'2" tall and born 1963.
Back to the evening. After the documentary, Craig Johnson was introduced and he came out and spoke. He talked about his characters, the actors/actresses who play them, and what kind of reaction he gets in regards to his books/TV show. He said some people didn't know about the books, only the show. Until the show started I had never heard of the books myself. The documentary was excellent. After he spoke he read from his latest book. I was shocked. What he read did not sound like the show I was watching for two seasons. The two didn't seem to mess together.
After he read he then took questions. A lot of good questions were asked and answered. I actually was able to ask a question. For some reason, Craig Johnson thought it was appropriate to tell some sort of stupid sexual innuendo joke after he answered my question. I don't get it and I didn't get it. I don't know if everyone was laughing at me or at the joke. But when he said that he'd better go on to the next question before everyone gets the joke I just stared at him. Luckily I don't remember everything he said. I had already decided I would not be buying any of his books since I didn't like what he read and it didn't correlate to the series. But after that, I absolutely knew I wouldn't be buying any of his books. I've taken time out of my busy schedule to come and hear him speak and he decided the best thing to do is to tell an off color joke at my expense. mmm....I think not.
When we left I decided I wouldn't let the author ruin the TV show. Robert Taylor is a good actor and he deserves better than this. At least I don't have to worry about wasting my money on the books, I got to know what they are like without spending my money. He only read a few pages and there was some unnecessary swearing. A good story can be told without it.
It is up to you if you decide you want to read the books. I won't be reading them. But I will be watching the TV series. I like the show and the actors. It's up to you; go read if you want.
I respect the fact that he is a published, successful author. However, when he admitted that most of his characters are totally based on people from his hometown, my smile literally turned upside down. I feel like it showed a lack of creativity that the majority of his characters were unoriginal. Not to mention, there is 9 books in the Longmire series, way to beat a dead horse.They all seem to revolve around the same thing, solving cases and crimes. He had some good things to say, but it seemed more like he wanted to entertain the audience. I would've liked to hear more about his story and his struggle as an author. Anyways, I hope he gets brave and branches away from the Longmire series. I want to see him really challenge himself as a writer and discover the minds of the characters that he creates himself. He is too much in his comfort zone. He has talent, he should use it!
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