"Murder Rides Again... in Jackson Hole!" shows again in... Jackson!

Jackson Community Theater presents the second go-around of "MURDER RIDES AGAIN...in Jackson Hole!"

Enjoy a wacky wild west murder mystery dessert theater production, fun for the whole family!

This show will be presented for 3 nights each month through September.....on July 6, 7, and 8, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday evening. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. at the Elk's Lodge. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children under 10 ~ includes dessert! YEEHAW!!

Come help Marshall Duke & Fester solve this zany excuse for a murder mystery and enjoy Miss Liddy's peach cobbler a la mode! Get your tickets at Valley Books and at the door. Call 307-690-8573 for more info and reservations.

"Murder Rides Again... in Jackson Hole" opens June 22

Jackson Community Theater presents "Murder Rides Again....in Jackson Hole," a wacky wild west murder mystery Dessert Theater show for the whole family. 

Discover how the West was fun!

Shows are June 22, 23, 24 at the Elks Lodge, 7:30 pm. Tickets available at Valley Books and at the door.

Call 307-733-7925 for more information. 

C.J. Box hits the road with "Cold Wind"

Cheyenne author C.J. Box hits the highway this week for appearances in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. In May, he's off to the South Carolina Festival of Books in Columbia, S.C. In July, he'll travel to the UK for the Harrowgate Crime Writing Festival. 

C.J.'s new novel is "Cold Wind." Read the first chapter here.


Here's his schedule for this week:

Mon, 04/04/2011 - 7:00pm

Ft. Collins, CO

Old Firehouse Books

232 Walnut St

Fort Collins, CO 80524

970-484-7898

http://www.oldfirehousebooks.com/

Tue, 04/05/2011 - 3:00pm

Casper, WY

Ralph’s Books

Hilltop Shopping Center

215 South Montana Avenue  

Casper, WY  82609

307-234-0308

Wed, 04/06/2011 - 7:00pm

Billings, MT

Barnes & Noble

530 S. 24^th Street West

Billings, MT 59102

406-655-9500

Thu, 04/07/2011 - 6:00pm

Sheridan, WY

Sheridan Stationery Books and Gallery

206 North Main Street

Sheridan, WY 82801

307-674-8080

Fri, 04/08/2011 - 5:00pm

Cheyenne

City News & Pipe Shop

1722 Carey Ave
Cheyenne, WY 82001

307-638-8671


WAC Notes: C.J. Box was awarded a FY 1992 creative writing fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council. 

Novelist Craig Johnson on the road again

Novelist Craig Johnson of Ucross hits the road April 9 and doesn't return for quite a long time. Here's the schedule:

April 9, Saratoga Museum, Saratoga, WY

April 12, Nantes, France

April 13, Poitiers, France

April 14, Limoges, France

April 15, 16, Clermont-Ferrand, France

April, 18, 19 Brussels, Belgium

April 20, Namur, Belgium

April 21, Liege, Belgium

May 22, WYO Theater ‘High Noon’, Sheridan, WY, 7:00 PM

May 27, Ranchester Branch Library, Ranchester, WY, 5:30 PM

The release date for HELL IS EMPTY is June 2

The release date for JUNKYARD DOGS paperback is May 31

May 31, Blue Heron Books, Casper, WY, 7 PM

June 1, Buffalo, WY, The Office Book Shop, Buffalo, WY, 4:30 PM

June 1, Sheridan Stationary, Sheridan, WY, 6:30 PM

June 2, Barnes and Noble, Billings, MT, 7 PM

June 4, Mechanicsburg Mystery Book Shop, Mechanicsburg, PA, 4 PM

June 6, Chester County Books and Music, Westchester, PA, 7 PM

June 7, Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Pittsburgh, PA, 6 PM

June 8, Books and Company, Dayton, OH, 7 PM

June 9, Regulator, Durham, NC, 7 PM

June 10, Page and Palette, Fairhope, AL, 6 PM

June 11, I Love a Mystery, Mission, KS, 2 PM

June 13, Next Chapter, Milwaukee, WI, 7 PM

June 14, Booked for Murder, Madison, WI, 6 PM

June 15, Once Upon a Crime, Minneapolis, MN, 7 PM

June 16, Book People, Austin, TX, 7 PM

June 17, Poisoned Pen, Phoenix, AZ, 7 PM

June 18, M is for Mystery, San Mateo, CA, 2 PM

June 20, Viking Rep Dinner (private event)

June 21, Boulder Bookstore, 12:30 PM, lunch stock signing

June 21, Tattered Cover (Colfax), Denver, CO, 7:30 PM

June 22, Murder by the Book, Denver, CO, Noon

June 22, High Crimes, Longmont, CO, 7 PM

June 23-26, Jackson Writer’s Conference, Jackson, WY

June 28, Red Lodge Books, Red Lodge, MT, 4:00 PM

June 29, Fact and Fiction, Missoula, MT, 7:00 PM

July 1, Seattle Mystery Book Shop, Seattle, WA, Noon

July 1, Whodunit Books, Olympia, WA, 7 PM

July 2, Murder by the Book, Portland, OR, Noon

July 2, Powell’s Books (Cedar Hills Crossing), Beaverton, OR, 4 PM

July 3, Sun River Books, Sun River, OR, 5 PM

July 4, Sun River Books, Sun River, OR, private party

July 5, Paulina Springs Books, Sisters, OR, 4 PM

July 5, Paulina Springs Books, Redmond, OR, 7 PM

July 6, Rediscovered Books, Boise, ID, 7 PM

July 7, The King’s English Books, Salt Lake City, UT, 7 PM

July 8, Main Street Books, Lander, WY, 6 PM

July 9, Powell Library, Powell, WY, Noon

July 9, Cowboy Bar, Meeteetse, WY, 7 PM

July 10, Cody Library, Cody, WY, 1:30 PM

C.J. Box's COLD WIND debuts March 22

Cheyenne mystery writer C.J. Box soon will hit the road with his new book, COLD WIND, set for a March 22 release. The book tour features 20 stops so far. C.J. gets an early start with a March 4 presentation at the Teton County Public Library in Jackson and a swing through Arizona, including sessions at the Tucson Festival of Books March 11-13 in Tucson.

The tour:

Laramie, WY
Tuesday, March 22

Cheyenne, WY
Tuesday, March 22

Denver, CO (two locations)
Wednesday, March 23

Orange, CA
Thursday, March 24

Houston, TX
Friday, March 25

Dallas, TX
Saturday, March 26

Oklahoma City, OK
Sunday, March 27

Lexington, KY
Monday, March 28

Cincinnati, OH
Tuesday, March 29

St. Louis, MO
Wednesday, March 30

Minneapolis, MN
Thursday, March 31

Des Moines, IA
Friday, April 1

Phoenix, AZ
Saturday, April 2

Albuquerque, NM
Sunday, April 3

Fort Collins, CO
Monday, April 4

Casper, WY
Tuesday, April 5

Billings, MT
Wednesday, April 6

Sheridan, WY
Thursday, April 7

Cheyenne, WY
Friday, April 8

Longmont, CO
Monday, April 11

Boulder, CO
Monday, April 11

For details, visit http://www.cjbox.net/appearances and check back in coming weeks for changes and additions.

Two more quilt mysteries by Barbara Graham in the works

Cody mystery author, quilter and Wyoming Writers, Inc., member Barbara Graham was interviewed by Jean Henry Mead for an Oct. 23 story on the mysterious writers blog. Here's a snippet from the interview:

Jean: What are you working on now?

Barbara: The third book in the series, Murder by Music: The Wedding Quilt will release next October and I am working on Murder by Vegetable: The Baby Quilt now. I also am trying to find a home for a suspense novel not connected to the series.

Robert Greer launches new CJ Floyd novel with signings in Denver and Wheatland

Platte County author Robert Greer has a new book featuring Denver African-American bailbondsman/detective CJ Floyd. Entitled First of State, it's a prequel to Robert's seven other CJ Floyd mysteries, set in 1971 after CJ returns from Vietnam and is learning the bail bond business from his uncle. Much of the action takes place in Denver's historic Five Points neighborhood.

Robert Greer will discuss First of State in Denver at the Tattered Cover (Colfax) on Thursday, October 21, 7 p.m., and at Murder By The Book on Tuesday, October 26, 5:30 p.m.; and in Wyoming at The Wheatland Mercantile Book Nook on Friday, November 12, 6 p.m.

Great review of the book by Jenny Shank at New West. Read it at
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/first_of_state_shows_denver_pi_cj_floyd_earning_his_stripes/C39/L39/

"Day for Writers" at Cheyenne Barnes & Noble

A "Day for Writers" at Cheyenne Barnes and Noble on Saturday, September 18, 10 a.m.–3 p.m

If you are an aspiring writer, please join local authors at Cheyenne B&N this Saturday for a day of inspiration and instruction.

10:00 — John Nesbitt – “The Plan”

11:00 — Joanne Kennedy– “Getting Started”

12:00 — Tina Ann Forkner– “Creating a Writing Community”

1:00 – Amanda Cabot — “Like Fine Champagne: The Art of Sparkling Dialogue”

2:00 – Discussion Panel: Writing & Publishing (Nesbitt, Forkner, Cabot, and Kennedy)

3:00 — Amanda Cabot – “Surviving Rejection and Other Detours on the Writer’s Path to Success”

FMI: B&N at 307-632-3000.

Ron Franscell's new book tracks "Outlaw Texas"

"The Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Texas" is a new book by Wyoming expat author Ron Franscell, who nows lives and works in San Antonio, Texas. Ron's a Wyoming Arts Council creative writing fellowship recipient (1996) and former editor of the Gillette newspaper. Many Wyomingites read his true crime book "Fall" about the infamous 1973 killing and rape of two Casper girls.

Ron sends word that the book is set to hit the shelves in two months (just in time for Christmas shopping), but you can pre-order at a discount from Amazon and B&N. Here is the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Crime-Buffs-Guide-Outlaw-Texas/dp/0762759658/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271290160&sr=8-8

Here's a blurb about Ron's new book:

A fascinating journey through the Lone Star State’s unruly past -- with maps, photos, and more

Texas rightfully claims a celebrated place in the “wildest” West of both myth and reality—which makes it truly stranger than fiction that The Crime Buff’s Guide to Outlaw Texas is the first-ever travel guide to the many sites related to the Lone Star State’s renowned rambunctious past, complete with GPS coordinates that put you at the scene of the action.

From outlaws like Sam Bass and John Wesley Hardin to Bonnie & Clyde and Houston’s notorious Candy Man killer, Texas has dozens of places where true-crime buffs can actually stand close to history. For many readers, the attraction to these sites—some well-known, some obscured by time—is irresistible.

Written with the same fast-paced, gripping style that marked the author’s widely praised earlier work, The Crime Buff’s Guide to Outlaw Texas is an indispensable resource for both criminal-history enthusiasts and travelers. Each site description includes a concise summary of the location’s significance, historical context, maps, directions, and photos.

Absaroka County's finest on way to TV screen

Wyoming mystery writer Craig Johnson sends this:

A television series based on Craig Johnson's Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire from the Viking/Penguin novels is in development with Warner Horizon Television and TNT. Golden Globe and Emmy Award–winning Greer Shephard and Michael M. Robin (The Shephard/Robin Company) are executive producing alongside Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny, who are adapting the novel for the screen. Greg Yaitanes is attached to direct. Shephard and Robin are currently executive producers on The Closer (TNT). Among other projects, they executive produced Nip/Tuck (FX) and Trust Me (TNT), the latter created and produced by Baldwin and Coveny. Yaitanes is an executive producer and Emmy Award-winning director on House (Fox). Johnson is currently on tour with Junkyard Dogs, the sixth novel in the award–winning series. When asked who he thought should play the tough but tender sheriff, Johnson, who has been retained as a creative consultant, replied, "Gary Cooper, but he's not returning our calls."

Craig lives in Ucross. He was awarded a 1995 Wyoming Arts Council creative writing fellowship.

Date change for Craig Johnson book signing

From Sheridan Stationery Books & Gallery in downtown Sheridan:

Craig Johnson's book signing for his newest novel "Junkyard Dogs" has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 5 pm. "Craig Johnson's award-winning Walt Longmire mysteries continue to find new fans, and "Junkyard Dogs" is sure to create many more devotees. The sixth book in the series is filled with Johnson's signature blend of wisecracks, Western justice, and page-turning plot twists, as the beloved sheriff finds himself star-deep in the darker aspects of human nature, in a story of love, laughs, death, and derelict automobiles." Stop by and say hi, have some refreshments, and get your books signed by Craig.

Another Wyoming Spur nominee: Robert Greer

In my earlier listing of writers in Wyoming nominated for 2010 Western Writers of America Spur Awards, I left someone out.

Robert Greer's "Spoon" was nominated in the Best Western Short Novel category. See full list of winners and finalists at http://www.westernwriters.org/spur_award_history.htm#2010

Robert, a writer, editor and physician, spends most of each year at his ranch near Wheatland. He's the author of a number of novels set throughout the West, but mainly in Wyoming and Colorado.

Here's some info about "Spoon:"

SPOON: A NOVEL, Fulcrum Publishing, Hardcover: October 2009, ISBN 978-1-55591-689-3

A novel of the contemporary American West, Spoon tells the story of Arcus Witherspoon, a mysterious half-black, half-Indian, oddly clairvoyant man searching the West for his roots. Hitchhiking near Hardin, Montana, Spoon falls in with a ranching family struggling to keep their ranch afl oat amidst the pressures of hard economic times and an encroaching coal company. Proving himself a gifted ranch hand and mentor, Spoon charges himself with rescuing the Darleys and guiding the family's teenage son TJ on his path to manhood. While Spoon's checkered past includes a prison stint and a navy tour of Vietnam, it is his tenacity, wisdom, and charm that end up defining this quintessential Western man.

From Ten Sleep to Paris: Craig Johnson's touring schedule for spring 2010

In his latest Post-It e-letter, Ucross novelist Craig Johnson listed his touring schedule through May. He'll have more info by May 31 about his national tour for huis new book, "Junkyard Dogs." But here's what he's up to the next few months:

• Tucson, AZ., Tucson Festival of the Book, "Hard Characters and Hard Landscapes," 3/13, 4 PM, "Another Man’s Moccasins, A Conversation with Craig Johnson," 3/14, 10 AM, signings to follow each presentation and at Mysterious Galaxy, 3/13, 2 PM, and Clues Unlimited, 3/13, 5 PM and 3/14 at noon;
• Greybull, WY, Greybull Library, 3/26, 4:30-6 PM;
• Basin, WY, Basin Theatre, 3/26, 7 PM;
• Ten Sleep, WY, Washakie County Library, 3/27, 2 PM;
• Paris, France, Comptoir des Mots, , 4/6, 7:30 PM;
• Nantes, France, Coiffard-Tome 2, 4/7, 2:30-6:30 PM;
• Montpellier, France, Sauramps , 4/8, 6:30 PM;
• Lyon, France, Festival Quai du Polar, 4/9-4/11;
• Huntington, WV, Ohio Valley Book Festival, Cabell County Main Library, 4/14, 1-2:30 PM, Cabell County Gallaher Branch, 4/15, 5-6:30 PM;
• Mission (Kansas City), KS, I Love A Mystery/Border Crimes Chapter SinC, 4/22, 7 PM;
• Omaha, NE, Omaha City Library Blowout, 4/24, 2 PM;
• Sheridan, WY, WYO Theatre, Western Film Festival, "Introduction to Jack Schaeffer’s Shane," May 2, 1 PM;
• Sheridan, WY, Holiday Inn, Raising Readers Benefit, May 8;
• Casper, WY, Natrona County Library 100th Anniversary Celebration, May 4, 7 PM;
• Evanston, WY, Uinta County Library, 5/5, 7 PM;
• Saint Malo, France, Etonnants Voyageurs, 5/22-5/24.

Dang, Craig, Ten Sleep, Wyoming, and Paris, France, all in the course of a ten-day span? How we going to keep you down on the ranch after you've seen Paree?

FMI: http://www.craigallenjohnson.com/

Painted Past presents "Clues of Tudor Manor"

From Painted Past Productions in Casper:

Painted Past Productions and the Ramada Plaza Riverside in Casper are presenting "CLUES OF TUDOR MANOR" an overnight comedy murder mystery on April 10/11 at the Ramada Plaza Riverside. All of your "Clue" favorites will be there-Mrs. Peacock, Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Professor Plum, Mr. Green, Mrs. White, and a couple of others that you will just have to meet! The fun begins at 6:30 PM on April 10 with cocktails, and a very important announcement. It continues through dinner with a special crime scene examination at midnight. In the morning, you will rise to the occasion and find the murder weapon, and the killer during breakfast.

The cost is:
2 people - $179

1 person - $159

1 person (just meals and mystery) - $59

Cost includes: Dinner for 2, Room, Mystery, and Brunch the next morning. Please call the Ramada at 235-2531, and ask for Stephanie in Sales for your reservation. This will be the first in a series of fund-raisers presented by Painted Past Productions for their annual European Tour to entertain the troops and their families overseas. Painted Past is a non-profit organization that provides quality entertainment in the schools of Natrona County, downtown historic walking tours in the summer, and an annual Cemetery tour in the fall. For more information please call Donna at Painted Past 267-7243.

C.J. Box's newest Joe Pickett novel, "Nowhere to Run," debuts April 6

Early in his career (1992), Cheyenne's C.J. Box was the recipient of a Wyoming Arts Council creative writing fellowship. Many books later, C.J. just announced the publication of his tenth Joe Pickett mystery novel.

This comes from C.J. Box's e-mail newsletter:

The tenth Joe Pickett novel NOWHERE TO RUN by Edgar Award-winning author C.J. Box will be available nationwide April 6, 2010.

The early reviews are extraordinary, including a rare grand slam of starred reviews in all four pre-publication trade journals.

What they're saying about NOWHERE TO RUN:

• "...[A] terrible, beautiful tale of courage and compassion and culpability..."Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW


• "...Ranks with his best...[Readers] won't know what hit them."Booklist STARRED REVIEW


• "...Intense...well-structured...a perfect choice..."Library Journal STARRED REVIEW


• "...Exhilarating landscapes, high adventure, thrilling suspense, surprising moral quandaries..." Kirkus Reviews STARRED REVIEW


• And this, from Michael Connelly, America's #1 New York Times best-selling author of 9 Dragons: "I love Joe Pickett and with NOWHERE TO RUN, he's on top of his game. So is C.J. Box. This one is his best yet."


• "Box's series is the gold standard," wrote Library Journal about Below Zero, "but never has he written a novel as harrowing as Nowhere to Run."

Joe Pickett's in his last week as the temporary game warden in the isolated town of Baggs, Wyoming, but there have been strange things going on in the surrounding mountains, and his conscience won't let him leave without checking them out: reports of camps looted, tents slashed, elk butchered. And then there's the runner who's gone missing -- an Olympic hopeful who'd been training in the region and then just...vanished.

Joe doesn't mind admitting that the farther he rides, the more he wishes he could just turn around and go home. And he is right to be concerned. Because what awaits him is like nothing he's ever dealt with, like something out of an old story, except this is all too real and all too deadly. When he'd first saddled up, he'd thought of this as his last patrol. What he hadn't known was just how accurate that might turn out to be.

Visit http://www.cjbox.net/ and read the story behind the story and to download the first chapter.

Kemmerer book group reads about "the stuff that dreams are made of"

From the Lincoln County Public Library in Kemmerer:

Philip Gourevitch at Teton Co. Public Library: "Crimes Scenes & Aftermaths"

From the Teton County Public Library in Jackson:

On Friday, January 22, 7 p.m., the library presents "Crime Scenes & Aftermaths: Reporting & Writing from Rwanda to Hell's Kitchen to Abu Ghraib and Beyond," with author Philip Gourevitch.

Gourevitch reads from his books and talks about how he got the stories and what is at stake in them -- politically, morally and dramatically. Gourevitch is an award-winning author of books on the Rwandan genocide and Abu Ghraib, an intrepid correspondent for The New Yorker and editor of The Paris Review.

He is the 2009-2010 Eminent Writer in Residence for the MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of Wyoming, a copresenter with the Jackson Hole Writers Conference. Cost: Free. Location: Ordway Auditorium.

Contact: Adult Humanities Coordinator, Oona Doherty, 733-2164 ext. 135 or odoherty@tclib.org.

Craig Johnson signs books in Sheridan Dec. 11-12 and Story Dec. 17

Mystery writer Craig Johnson of Ucross will read from his work at the Inner Circle of the Sheridan County Library at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 11. On Saturday, Dec. 12, he will be at the Sheridan Historical Society Museum at 2 p.m. Craig and his books will be at the Story Branch Library in Story on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 6:30 p.m. All events are free and open to the public. FMI: http://www.craigallenjohnson.com/

"It's a character-driven mystery, literary in nature," explains Craig Johnson

News from Craig Johnson's Post-It e-letter:

All right, there are a few awards I figured I’d never get, and I got both of them this year for Another Man’s Moccasins—the Western Writer’s of America Spur Award and the other is the Mountains & Plains Independent Bookseller’s Association Novel of the Year.

The MPIBA fall meet back in 2004 was the first event I ever attended, I mean the first, and I learned a lot—namely, how to behave like an author or at least pretend.
Viking/Penguin had been kind enough to send a couple of cases of The Cold Dish, the first in my Sheriff Walt Longmire series, to the event. Basically, I was supposed to hand out advance reader copies of a book that wasn’t going to be available till January and wondered what that was all about… Like I said, I had a lot to learn.

Booksellers were kind, taking a novel from some cowboy who looked more like he should have his hind end on a horse rather than espousing on literature. They asked me questions for which I was sorely unprepared, outrageous questions like, "What’s the book about?" I’d stand there for a few long seconds thinking about a novel I’d been formulating for the last decade and with that sum of collective knowledge, say, "It’s about a sheriff who…"

Suddenly a hand would rest on my shoulder and the patient voice of Eric Boss, ace sales-rep for Penguin USA would intone, "It’s a character-driven mystery, literary in nature…" He would go on from there. By the time the day was over, booksellers would ask what the novel was about, and I would dutifully and proudly proclaim, "It’s a character-driven mystery, literary in nature…"

I learned a lot at my first MPIBA conference, but the most important thing I learned was that I liked talking to readers and book store owners about books, especially my books. It was a revelation, and one I’ve continued to enjoy. Bookstore owners would take the novels, and I’d sign them and ask them where their store was. They’d demure and assure me that I wouldn’t know the location of places like Wheatland, Wyoming. Whereupon I would assure them that not only did I, but that the Brown Derby Café (now closed) is a great place for a burger.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have had numerous successes with my books and am fortunate enough to be in a geographic area that made it all possible, all those book sellers that said to their customers about an unknown author’s series, "It’s a character-driven mystery, literary in nature…"

Craig will be signing copies of his new book in Cheyenne this month. Here are the details:
Barnes & Noble reception in Cheyenne on Friday, September 18, 6 p.m.
The Wyoming Festival of the Book, Cheyenne, Saturday, September 19 -- in conversation with my good friend Margaret Coel from 10:30 a.m.-noon. Location: Lion's Park. This event is free and open to the public.