Longmire Author Craig Johnson Embarks On Annual Christmas Story Tour

Craig Johnson found out a little more than he wanted to know about skunks this summer, when one of the rascally creatures took up residence under his tack shed. The experience, though, wasn’t all bad.

It turned out to be great inspiration for this year’s annual Christmas Story, “Scents of the Season,” which Johnson will be reading for his annual Christmas Tour of Duty, which includes almost a dozen stops at libraries in the Sheridan/Buffalo area. The free stories have been a tradition for more than 20 years now and are a Christmas card to Wyoming that Johnson looks forward to every year.

The annual Christmas story is sent out free of charge on Christmas Eve to any and all of Johnson’s fans who have signed up for his newsletter. And Johnson makes personal appearances at area libraries to read the story leading up to Christmas Eve. Many of the libraries host parties around the reading, which keeps it all festive and fun.

While newspaper clippings more often serve as the source of inspiration for Johnson’s New York Times best-selling novels about Walt Longmire, real life will do, too, in a pinch. Anything that keeps that real-life edge in his work.

“I always say I don’t ever want to write a book with Walt on a cruise ship or Walt chasing Al Qaeda in Crook County,” Johnson told Cowboy State Daily. “Reading newspaper articles kind of keeps my stories based in reality because, there are over a half a million experts on what it’s like to live in Wyoming. And I don’t want to insult their intelligence by writing a bunch of foolishness.”

One Unhappy Skunk

On the other hand, real world predicaments can pose a bit of fun foolishness to entangle Longmire in, the better to expose that droll sense of humor that the fictional sheriff of the fictional Absaroka County is so well-known for.

A skunk under the tack shed? Nothing could be more perfect for a funny Christmas story.

“There really aren’t a lot of options when you’re dealing with skunks,” Johnson said he learned this summer, much to his dismay. “I talked to Game and Fish and they were like, ‘Oh yeah, you just shoot it.’”

Johnson thought about that for a second then said, “Well, won’t it spray all underneath my tack shed?’”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” came the ready response.

“Well, have you got any other ideas?” Johnson asked.

That’s when he learned about a trap designed specifically to capture a living skunk, without getting sprayed in the process.

“It’s like an aluminum tube,” Johnson said. “And it will capture the skunk, but it won’t let it raise its tail, which is what it has to do to be able to spray.”

Johnson used cat food for bait and soon had himself a mighty unhappy skunk trapped inside that tube.

Now came the problem of letting that skunk go.

The trap’s only instructions about releasing the skunk were somewhat vague about the process.

“Reintroduce the skunk to the wild,” they said.

“OK, that sounds really good,” Johnson said, chuckling a little bit. “But there’s other, ancillary perils involved with doing that.”

Johnson decided it was time to call the Game and Fish department again, for more specific instructions from the experts.

“They’re like, ‘Oh yeah, no, you just open both ends, and it will waddle out and go away, as long as you’re not standing there,'” Johnson was told.

Time For Skunk Heaven?

Johnson knew the ideal place to return the skunk to the wild. Healy Reservoir. Heaven if you’re a skunk.

“That’s where I’d like to live if I’m a skunk, where there’s water and trees and stuff like that,” Johnson said.

So, he took the, by now, sleeping skunk there, along with a book to read. He placed the trap near the water then opened both ends. Then he hurried off to his truck to read a book while he waited for the skunk to wake up and leave.

“The thing is, skunks are nocturnal,” Johnson said. “They sleep all day as a general rule.”

Forty-five minutes later, Johnson was still waiting on the skunk to wake up and realize that it was as free as the Wyoming wind, to wander where it pleased.

As long as it didn’t return to his tack shed.

Johnson started to get impatient with the sleeping skunk.

“I was like, ‘I’ve got other things to do than just sit here waiting for this skunk,’” Johnson said.

Finally, he decided that maybe he should encourage the skunk a little bit. As long as he could do so without getting sprayed …

“So, I girded my loins and went down there, and it’s got like a nylon strap at the center,” Johnson said. “And I swung it around and, I’m telling you, no Olympic shot putter ever put more effort and energy into it.”

Johnson had always heard that skunks are just like cats, so he figured this would not hurt the skunk. And he needed that skunk to land far enough away that he wouldn’t get sprayed.

“Let me tell you, skunks are not like cats,” Johnson said. “They don’t land on their feet.”

The skunk landed about 30 feet away, tumbling end over end. When it stopped, it jumped up, madder than the proverbial wet hen, ready to spray someone.

“It jumped up and raised its tail,” Johnson said. “But I was already running 100 yards in the other direction.”

Once Johnson was safely in his truck and had a second to take a breath, he realized the whole thing was just perfect for this year’s Christmas story.

3,000 Emails Later

Johnson’s annual Christmas tour has been going for more than 20 years now and has become a holiday tradition at the libraries where it’s regularly held.

But it didn’t start out to be a tradition at all. It was just supposed to be a one-off gift, as Johnson has explained at his previous holiday tours, where he always shares the tale of how this tradition began.

He was a just-published new author, with one book under his belt. He was feeling a lot of gratitude for his fans at the time and wanted to give them something in return.

“Not everything is for sale,” Johnson said. “Every once in a while, you want to do something for people that’s just like a gift of kindness. Like an appreciation, because I really appreciate the fact that you guys do buy my books. You read my books. You’re such good readers, and so that was a fun thing to do.”

It was fun, but not an easy thing to do. Back then, each and every address had to be manually typed in, and the story had to be individually loaded each time, too. That used up most of Christmas Eve. But Johnson still felt a bit like Santa Claus, even as he was typing in the 3,000th email address and hitting send.

“The next morning, Judy (his wife) got up a little bit before me, and she turned on the computer and the emails just started coming in,” Johnson said. “And I’m still upstairs in bed and she’s like, ‘What did you do?’”

Johnson had a lot of emails to answer but didn’t think much of it. Until the next year, the month before Christmas, when he started getting emails from fans asking him, “When are we going to get the free Christmas story this year?”

That’s when Johnson realized he’d created a little bit of a monster. On the other hand, when he really thought about it, it was a fun challenge to work on something that’s a little bit shorter, and a little bit freer. Something that could shed a different light on his favorite sheriff.

So, Johnson decided to take his readers' inquiries as a personal challenge. He sat down and wrote another Christmas story that year, and it’s a challenge he’s been meeting every year since.

A Christmas Party At Every Stop

Most of the time, Johnson’s Longmire Christmas story is written in the spring or summer prior to Christmas. But occasionally, he’s gone all the way to December before getting the right inspiration. So far, something has always come through, and it’s become something that Johnson particularly looks forward to.

“It’s just a fun thing to do at Christmastime,” he said. “And I don’t charge any of the libraries in Wyoming. I never charge them or anything.”

Johnson typically tries to keep the libraries within a few hours of his home, which is in the Sheridan/Buffalo area. But occasionally he works in other Wyoming towns like Cheyenne and Jackson, too, if that happens to work out with the ending of his summer book tour season.

This year, he’s starting his tour in Gillette, where the library has planned a “Music and Mingle” cocktail hour, featuring harpist Melanie Shurtz.

“It’s always a big deal in Gillette,” Johnson said. “It’s a wonderful event. And we have really incredible librarians here in Wyoming.”

After that, Ucross will host Johnson, an event that typically has around 400 guests.

“It’s a zoo,” Johnson said. “And then it’s Hardin and Billings on Sunday night, Clearmont on Monday, and then Story, I think, on Friday.”

Ten Sleep, Buffalo, Sheridan and Ranchester libraries are also on the list, leading up to Dec. 21, which is almost to Christmas itself.

“That’s fine though, because it’s fun,” Johnson said. “It’s like little parties I get to go to, to do the readings. So, it’s enjoyable. It’s actually fun.”

And it’s a chance to do a little Christmas shopping in shops across Wyoming and Montana, Johnson added, guaranteeing those on his Christmas list will be getting something authentic and cool.

Weather can sometimes get a little bit dicey, though, Johnson admitted.

“I can guarantee you that the first blizzard of the season will be when we go over the mountain to go to Ten Sleep, just before we go,” he said.

But that’s just all part of Wyoming, where the wind in December helps everyone better appreciate the warmth of hearth and home.