Ask Craig Johnson – Are Longmire fans too old?
Craig Johnson’s latest Longmire book WAIT FOR SIGNS releases this month, and as a long time fan of the series I can hardly wait (no pun intended).
The three seasons of LONGMIRE on A&E helped to solidify the fan base. Robert Taylor portrayed Sheriff Longmire with style and grace. Lou Diamond Phillips rocked as the sheriff’s oldest and closest friend and confidant, Henry Standing Bear, and Katee Sackhoff was ideally cast as Longmire’s deputy, Vic Morelli.
So why would A&E cancel Longmire, its second-most popular show behind “Duck Dynasty,” averaging 5.6 million viewers? Are you ready? Because the viewers are too old! Unfortunately for “Longmire,” it has the wrong audience. A&E said it pulled the plug on “Longmire” because it appeals primarily to older viewers – networks are all trying to be younger and have edgy shows that attract a lot of attention.
That is baffling to Greer Shephard, the executive producer of “Longmire,” who said , “It is hard for me to believe that you are not able to monetize one of your highest-rated show . . . “you don’t just flush 5.6 million people.” The producers are shopping the series to other networks, and we hope they find a new home soon.
You can show your support for Longmire by joining the posse – The Longmire Posse Rides – join them on Twitter and on Facebook, with the hashtag #LongLiveLongmire, or let Craig know how you feel on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Officialcraigjohnson). Check out the posse’s progress here.
The good news is that Longmire is still very alive in the creative mind of Craig Johnson. WAIT FOR SIGNS brings us 12 Longmire short stories in a single volume—with an introduction by Lou Diamond Phillips.
Ten years ago, Craig Johnson wrote his first short story, the Hillerman Award–winning “Old Indian Trick.” This was one of the earliest appearances of the sheriff who would go on to star in Johnson’s bestselling, award-winning novels and the A&E hit series Longmire. Each Christmas Eve thereafter, fans rejoiced when Johnson sent out a new short story featuring an episode in Walt’s life that doesn’t appear in the novels; over the years, many have asked why they can’t buy the stories in book form.
Wait for Signs collects those beloved stories—and one entirely new story, “Petunia, Bandit Queen of the Bighorns”—for the very first time in a single volume, regular trade hardcover. With glimpses of Walt’s past from the incident in “Ministerial Aide,” when the sheriff is mistaken for a deity, to the hilarious “Messenger,” where the majority of the action takes place in a Port-A-Potty, Wait for Signs is a necessary addition to any Longmire fan’s shelf and a wonderful way to introduce new readers to the fictional world of Absaroka County, Wyoming.
Signed copies of WAIT FOR SIGNS are available at VJ Books who is proud to feature Craig Johnson as an Author of the Month, with special pricing on many of his Longmire stories.
John
