This lovely arrangement of the traditional Scottish song (words by Robert Burns) is by Kevin Walsh, the wonderful composer who did the music for OUTLANDER: The Musical. Kevin thought you might enjoy this, and I certainly agree!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aCZQhwkSwk&feature=feedu#
If you’d like to keep the song with you for a little longer, it’s available here on iTunes.
Happy Solstice!
I got the following message from the Poisoned Pen late this afternoon (the 13th):
“We’ve looked at the influx of new orders and even with working in double shifts
I see no way we can accept any more orders for Christmas delivery.
I’d rather be up front than make your fans angry by creating an expectation
we can’t meet.
If you agree, then would you change your website to make the cutoff date midnight
tonight for Christmas, but assure them they can continue to order any of your books
for delivery soon after the holidays.
Will will note this information on the auto response the system generates to those
placing orders, so they will get it from us as well as on your site.
We’ve got over 500 to process with more coming in by the hour and realistically
we can’t ship more than 100 a day, regardless of when the shipping systems shut
down. We’re going to end up shipping some on Monday and eating the extra priority
expense ourselves in our best effort to get orders in place to their destinations.”
[me again]
I’ll be going into the store on Thursday to sign books–and will do more early next week. So you _will_ get your signed/inscribed books, even if not by the 25th. Thought of giving a signed book as a New Year’s gift? Ground Hog’s Day, or Valentine’s?
Our apologies, and we hope you’ll enjoy the book(s), as soon as can get them to you. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, a Jolly Kwanzaa, and a Blessed Winter Solstice to you all!
Theoretically, THE SCOTTISH PRISONER was released in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand today (well…December 1. I haven’t gone to bed yet, so it’s still Dec. 1 for me). I _know_ it was released November 29th in the US, because we had a delightful launch party for it, and people have apparently been enjoying it ever since. Hope y’all enjoy it!
I did hear from several people that they had received emails from Barnes and Noble, informing them that their books hadn’t shipped yet, “because the release date had changed.” {ahem} Far be it from me to say that a respectable large bookstore chain lies like a rug, but I also have a number of photos sent me by readers, proudly showing off their new books–not a few of which sport B&N “20% Off Bestseller” stickers.
Now, they may possibly not have ordered _enough_ copies, and thus be trying to prevent people canceling their orders and buying the book elsewhere while they scramble to get more–I’m sure couldn’t say as to their possible motives–but I _can_ say that the book is out.
Hope you enjoy it whenever and however you get it!
And Many, Many Thanks to Elenna Loughlin, who provided the beautiful author’s photo–which I include here, because the UK readers tell me it isn’t on the trade paperback edition that they mostly get, and they should get to enjoy it, too.
Now, for those of you who’ve already reached the Author’s Notes, there is a note there to the effect that we have sound files of the Gaelic bits, _and_ phonetic pronunciations, and those will be available here. They _will_, but probably not before the end of the weekend–I’m madly finishing a novella (“The Space Between”) and the wonderful Cathy MacGregor is working on the pronunciations in the interstitces of her own work. But they _will_ be up here, as soon as we can manage it!
Dear Guys–
Many of you will know Mike Gibb as the lyricist (and original inspiration) behind OUTLANDER: The Musical, and will have enjoyed his wonderful songs. A hard-working and compassionate man, he’s also one of the chief supports of Bianca, a lovely (and vital) charity for abandoned pets. I was very impressed, hearing about them, and so I’ve offered to put up here his description of Bianca and their work.
While on holiday in Portugal Mike Gibb (Outlander The Musical) was horrified by the many stray and abandoned dogs, most of whom displayed horrific signs of neglect, mistreatment and starvation, and shocked by the fact that there was no one to care for them except charities run by volunteers such as Bianca. And so on his return home he decided to set up Friends of Bianca a group established with the sole purpose of raising awareness of and funds for Bianca throughout the English speaking world. Every penny donated through Friends of Bianca will go directly to the charity in Portugal.
To explain, Bianca is a Portuguese charity that rescues, treats, cares for and then re-homes stray and abandoned dogs and cats. Many of the animals, which are left in the streets to fend for themselves or found tied or chained the fence of the Bianca compound, have suffered severely though neglect and abuse and, without Bianca, would starve to death or die of treatable diseases. Established in 2002 in Sesimbra, south of Lisbon, and run solely by volunteers, Bianca now takes 600 animals into its care. Every year. The shelter currently looks after 250 dogs and 30 cats and re-homes the animals both locally to responsible owners and through a network of animal associations in Northern Europe.
If you would like to support Bianca’s remarkable work you can do so by becoming a “God Parent” or simply through a donation.
About one third of the animals in Bianca’s care cannot be re-homed because of their age or ill health or simply because they are just too shy. Irrespective of where you live you can become a god parent to one of these animals. For (a minimum of) 2.50 Euros/ £2.50/ US$ 4.00 a month you can foster one of these dogs or cats, safe in the knowledge that your money will be used to buy food, pay veterinary bills and generally ensure that the animal concerned lives out the remainder of its days, loved and cared for. As a god parent you will receive a photograph of your new friend and your name will appear alongside the respective dog or cat on the website. To see the dogs available for fostering go to www.bianca.pt/english and click on “DOGS FOR FOSTERING” in the right hand column. Once you have chosen, contact Mike at info@hamepages.com.
Alternatively if you simply want to donate you can do so by sending money to info@hamepages.com through the Friends of Bianca Paypal account. If you are unsure of how to do that, just email Mike.
And if you have a moment to spare, check out this video on You Tube which shows how kindness, care and compassion can redress the worst excesses of the evil that humans can inflict on defenceless creatures.
YOU’RE INVITED! THE SCOTTISH PRISONER LAUNCH-PARTY, November 29th!
The Poisoned Pen bookstore (bless their independent little hearts {g}) is hosting the launch party for THE SCOTTISH PRISONER, due to be released November 29th. This will be held at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, AZ (because we haven’t been able to fit the launch-party crowds into the bookstore since THE FIERY CROSS) at 7 PM on (reasonably enough) November 29th. (Party actually starts at 6 – I come on at 7-ish.)
I’ll be talking and signing books, and I believe food and drinks will be available (provided by the hotel on a cash basis). Now, I will have signed a thousand (or so) books before the event, so that people who only want a signed copy don’t have to stand in line. But if you want a personalized or inscribed copy, I’m more than happy to sign one (or two or three, if you’re doing your Christmas shopping…). (And certainly you can take pictures of me or with me, if you’d like to.)
The EVENT IS FREE (!!!)—but one caveat: books to be signed have to be purchased _from_ the Poisoned Pen. (This is only fair; they’re paying for the event, and the Gold Ballroom at the Biltmore don’t come cheap.) You don’t need to buy the book ¬_at_ the event; if you want to buy one earlier in the day (so you can start reading {g}), just keep your receipt when you bring the book to be signed. (But you can’t bring books bought via Amazon or Costco, for instance. Support your independent bookstore!)
If you can’t come to the party (alas!), but would like your book personalized or inscribed, this is no problem. Just email Patrick@poisonedpen.com and let him know what you want; if at all possible, I’ll sign the inscription orders before the party so they can be shipped out right away.
See you there! (And if you’re not there, I hope you’ll enjoy the book and lift a glass to join us in spirit. Slainte mhath!
Many, many thanks to the kind folks at Recorded Books and Audible.com, who rushed to put together a contract, and who pushed THE FIERY CROSS to the front of the 170-book queue waiting to be uploaded to Audible.com!
THE FIERY CROSS UNABRIDGED AUDIOBOOK –
OK, I talked to my agent (who talked to Recorded Books–who made and owns the Unabridged audiobook). The license for the ABRIDGED recording has now expired, which means that Recorded Books _can_ go ahead and sell the recording through Audible.com and other retail outlets. However, they couldn’t do a contract with Audible.com for this _until_ the other license expired–which it did, yesterday. So they’ll do the contract as quickly as they can, and as soon as that’s done, THE FIERY CROSS will be on Audible “within a matter of hours,” they said.
SO–you’ll get it pretty darn quick, I hope–but that’s all I know about it.
And many thanks to Blue Moon Magnolia for this lovely tribute to Jamie’s backside. {g} [I call it "pumpkinbuns"--it's a reproduction of the famous Page 5 scene in THE EXILE.] Click “continue reading” to see the picture.