Archive for December 2010

We started Christmas around 5:30 PM on the 24th, with chipotle corn soup and pork sliders for a quick pick-up supper to sustain us through an arduous evening. Then we filled the family flasks ({ahem} we don’t actually use these except on Christmas Eve, but everybody has one, to be filled with the evening’s choice of beverage. Laura’s therefore was full of Alabama Slammer (a hideous concoction made of Southern Comfort, Amaretto, Sloe Gin and Orange Juice), Sam had Edradour, Doug and Iain (Jenny’s boyfriend from Edinburgh) both opted for cognac with a splash of B&B (Jenny chose to nip off Iain’s flask), and I _had_ been intending to go with Bailey’s Irish Cream (on grounds both that I like the stuff, and that it’s a good deal less alcoholic than the straight stuff), but since Iain at this point presented me with my Christmas present–a Very Special bottling of Laphroaig (reputed to be from the notorious cask in which one of the brewmasters drowned, but they bottled it anyway)–I […]

This being a nice piece in USAToday, doing a round-up feature on recent graphic novels, in which they included THE EXILE, and said nice things about it. {g} They did misspell Jamie’s last name (though they got mine right, for a wonder)–but you can’t have everything.

Well, here’s an entry for the new website feature, ‘Entertaining Things Fans Do.’ {g} (Yes, I really_ am_ working on the new website; have had out-of-town company for the last couple of days, though, and much as I enjoy them, they do take up time in which I could otherwise be going blind typing up descriptions of the seven big OUTLANDER novels….) I may have mentioned that I get interview requests All The Time? Well, this one came in from the Canadian publicist a few weeks back, with a note saying, “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” I read it, laughed, and emailed back, “Are you kidding? This is the most interesting interview I’ve had in months, if not years!” At last, an interview that didn’t start out with some variation of, “Soooo….how did you get the idea to write these books?”, didn’t ask me “whether you’ve thought of making a movie of these books?”, and didn’t want to know who I’d cast to play […]

Y’all have asked some good questions in the comments to the last post, but most of them will require a bit of time and thought to respond to properly. Since I’m working madly this weekend to fill up the remaining holes in the new website (which I _hope_ to reveal to public view sometime next week), I thought for today, I’d just give you a bit of Book Eight, which I notice a number of people had asked for, too. {g} Book Eight Copyright 2010 Diana Gabaldon “Stay,” he said sternly to Rollo, turning back for an instant. The dog, who had not stirred from his comfortable spot at Rachel’s feet, twitched one ear. William was standing by the roadside, looking hot, tired, disheveled, and thoroughly unhappy. As well he might, Ian thought with some sympathy. William was likely bound for England—if he was lucky—or for parole in some rough lodging somewhere far to the south. In either case, his active role as a soldier was over for some time. […]

I had a male reader (Justin Brady (@RandomAngst), who runs the Random Angst book review/rating site at www.randomangst.com) on Twitter just today who said he’d just finished reading OUTLANDER and enjoyed it a lot “until the prison chapters.” I tweeted back that I’d be kind of worried about him if he’d _enjoyed_ the Wentworth part {g}, to which he said, “but why put our hero through such pain and suffering? :)”, adding in the next, “I know I’m late to the #Outlander party & you’ve probably already addressed this; but that was intense emotional, physical pain.” I was on my way out to dinner, so said I’d reply to him later (haven’t done that yet), but have been thinking at brief moments just _how_ to reply to that. The simple answer is just that that’s what I saw happening, but that’s not enough for the reader. There always _is_ a reason why things happen or are necessary, whether I know what that is when I write it or not. So […]

Note that my blog post below about availability of audiobook, ebook and other editions of my novels and short stories is from December, 2010 and is (obviously!) OUT OF DATE. However, my discussion of the complexities of the publishing industry—and the constantly changing availability of a specific edition or format of one of my books—might still be of interest. The best way to determine if a specific edition or format of one of my books is available—and you are NOT comfortable doing a web search on your own—is to visit your local independent bookstore and to ask their personnel. Thanks! December 9, 2010 There’s been a lot of discussion lately about availability issues: Why can’t you get an unabridged audiobook of THE FIERY CROSS or A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES? Will THE EXILE be available as an audiobook? Will there be Large-Print editions available of the OUTLANDER series of novels, the Lord John series and OUTLANDER short fiction? Why can’t you get “OUTLANDER:The Musical” on audio CD from amazon.co.uk? […]

Goodness, already the 4th of December! I’m deeply impressed that I’ve so far managed to write, address, and actually mail twenty-six Christmas cards. (Mind, I only succeeded in doing this because I was nagged by the resident elf, who did the actual mailing, and needed the cards to insert in the boxes of dates that I send to the various publishers, editors, and other professional acquaintances around the world at Christmas time. (In which respect, may I recommend the Sphinx Date Ranch, who produce dates (and other dried fruits and nuts) that cause widespread slavering upon receipt from the UK to New Zealand, and who will in fact ship things for you, but we do it ourselves because of needing to stick hand-written cards and notes into the boxes.)) I’ve also bought presents for eleven children (aided in this process by the Dover Publications Company, which has the world’s biggest selection of Entertaining Coloring and Origami books)—none of them mine (mine are all old enough that they just want money…and […]