Little is known of blue-eyed author Craig Johnson’s career path prior to publishing his first novel, The Cold Dish, at age 43 in 2004. Johnson appears to have stayed on the right side of Johnny Law, and at some point was inspired to develop the characters which appeared in the book. He certainly has a vivid imagination and a penchant for writing about trials and tribulations of people on and off the Indian reservations around the greater Wyoming area.

Author Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian, No Country For Old Men, The Road) died on June 13, 2023, five weeks shy of his 90th birthday. The Coen brothers’ film adaptation of No Country (2007) raked in $171 million on a $25 million budget. Of its eight Academy Award nominations, it won four, including Best Picture. The Coen brothers won Achievement in Directing (Best Director) and Best Adapted Screenplay. The Ridley Scott film The Counselor (2013) was McCarthy’s first spec script, and while it didn’t have as much success as No Country, it included motorcycles and drugs.

Here’s an excerpt from the screenplay, first published in The New Yorker on June 3, 2013. The film was released on October 25, 2013, grossing $71 million worldwide on a $25 million budget.