GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE officially went on sale on Tuesday, November 23, 2021!
For those folks who like chapter titles, here they are for BEES:
Part I
A Swarm of Bees in the Carcass of a Lion
1: The MacKenzies Are Here
2: A Blue Wine Day
3: Rustic, Rural, and Very Romantic
4: The Women Will Ha’ a Fit
5: Meditations on a Hyoid
6: Home Is the Hunter, Home from the Hill
7: Dead or Alive
8: Visitations
9: Animal Nursery Tales
10: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Part II
No Law East of the Pecos
11: Lightning
12: Erstwhile Companions
13: “What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee” (Marcus Aurelius)
14: Mon cher petit ami
15: Which Old Witch?
16: Hound of Heaven
17: Reading by Firelight
18: Distant Thunder
19: Daylight Haunting
20: I Bet You Think This Song Is About You . . .
21: Lighting a Fuse
22: Ashes, Ashes . . .
23: Trout-fishing in America, Part Two
24: Alarms by Night
25: Voulez-vous coucher avec moi
26: In the Scuppernongs
27: Cover Her Face
28: Math-ghamhainn
29: Remember, Man . . .
30: You Should Know . . .
Part III
The Beesting of Etiquette and the Snakebite of Moral Order
31: Pater familias
32: Lhude sing cuccu!
33: Spoilt for Choice
34: The Son of a Preacher-man
35: Ambsace
36: What Lies Unseen
37: Maneuvers Beginning with the Letter “V”
38: Grim Reaper
39: I Have Returned
40: Black Brandy
41. Awkward Sod
42. Sasannaich Clann Na Galladh!
43. The Men Ye Gang Oot With
44. Beetles With Tiny Red Eyes
45. Not Quite Like Leprosy
46. By the Dawn’s Early Light
47. Tace is the Latin for a Candle
48. A Face in the Water
49. Your Friend, Always
50: Sunday Dinner in Salem
Visit my GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE webpage for more information about this new book, the ninth major novel in my OUTLANDER series of major novels featuring Jamie and Claire. And the BEES webpage gives you access to the more than 100 excerpts I have posted.
Thank You to Pam Onasch, who sent me the lovely top photo of bees having a pollen party in a poppy—and to her brother, who took the picture!
And Many Thanks to Jaimee Butters for the lovely bee photo! (bottom image)
This blog entry was last updated on Friday, November 26, 2021 by Diana Gabaldon or Diana’s Webmistress.
Diana I just finished reading Go Tell The Bees and I loved it as usual with your books. When I got to the part when Jaimie was shot, I shut the book and cried. Please don’t let Jaimie and Claire die separately. Let them go together when you finish the series. This book was very emotional for me. Being up there is age, I hope the next book is not to far in the future.
Hi, Jeanette,
So glad you love Jamie and Claire! For obvious reasons, Diana doesn’t reveal what is going to happen to her characters and when. Or how the OUTLANDER series and the story of Jamie and Claire and the rest of her characters will end.
As to how long Book Ten will take, it will be years. Imagine writing and perfecting an 800 page book, including the historical research. No shortcuts around any of that, unless you can travel into the future.
As to being ‘up there’ in age, Diana just turned a very-young 70 years of age on January 11, 2022! I’ll be 68 this year. Diana is still as young-at-heart and frisky as when we met as friends many years ago. I feel that way, too, just a little creakier in the joints. Gotta savor each and every day.
Think positively, my dear!
Hugs to you,
Loretta
Diana’s Webmistress
Bees: Stunning, brilliant, magnificent and awe-inspiring and, if it’s nay a bother, can we have the next book in a couple of weeks please?
Hi, Diana,
Only if you pass through a stone circle in Scotland and wind up in the future!
Loretta
Diana’s Webmistress
Another phenomenal adventure.
For those of you wishing Diana to hurry up with book 10, be still.
Great works of art take a great deal of time and energy.
Let Diana be.
Patience!
Peace be.
I’ll never forget my first time reading OUTLANDER. Where I was; how I found it; how I couldn’t put it down. And then how I obsessively re-read it. I probably read that one book more often than any other. I can comfortably say I learned how to successfully stay married to a bloody man. It certainly helped me to understand my own husband better, who shares many of Jamie’s traits and philosophies on being a man!
BEES is very long, but it didn’t take me too long to read it. Since I buy hard copies of all Diana’s books, it was difficult to read in bed and not disturb the husband. So I’d read BEES after dinner but take OUTLANDER to bed on the Kindle. It’s very satisfying to compare and contrast their marriage from then to Now! To me, it makes the characters more believable, seeing them grow and develop over time.
As I was reading the stramash at the Meeting House with Cunningham and his Loyalists, my heart was hammering until that scene was over and done. But I had faith that Claire’s hair was turning white, soooo…. I had an epiphany why Diana may have started DRAGONFLY IN AMBER how she did. It frustrated me that Jamie and Claire lost 20 years, but if we had to hear about what went down between Fort William and Culloden without a 20 year buffer, I can’t imagine how hard my heart would have been beating throughout the whole book! As it was, by the time I read to Kings Mountain, I maintained a lower heart rate, but still was very worried as I had heard book 9 was the last book. And the title was worrisome as well.
I love the big books, because I love the detail, the pace, and I love how their family has flowered, like a real family, where it has so many other storylines that flow out from the original. I would say there are a lot of balls up in the air, still, at the conclusion of BEES. So many to tie it all up, maybe there needs to be 2 to 3 books so the story can be fully told. It’s just too much….getting bigger and bigger. So many little things still left unanswered. It’s possible one book won’t be enough for a satisfying (and sad) conclusion.
Lastly, I enjoyed the little walks down memory lane. Isn’t that something we all do as we get older? Jamie and Claire have once again filled their house with blood family and collected family. They face all their challenges head on! I know the story is coming to an end as no one lives forever. I just hope you can take your time and tell that story in more than one last novel. Slainte!
Thank you for your lovely comments. I enjoyed them very much.
Diana
I was led to believe that Bees would be the last in the series, and the story lines tied up. With the way it ends, this is not so! When will book 10 be available?
Hi,
To my knowledge, Diana never said book nine, or BEES, would be the final major novel in the OUTLANDER series, which features Claire and Jamie.
There will be a Book Ten (no title yet). It might be the last one.
Loretta
Diana’s Webmistress
Omg… I just finished bees and am calculating how long until… Well I’ve read the series 8 times, what’s another 8? Amazing book!!! Thank you
I just finished “Bees” and loved it. As I finished the last chapter, I suspect you will be writing a 10th book in the series and I’m so glad. Love your books and have read all of them. Thank you for your writings.
Wishing you a great 70 th Birthday!
Enjoy your day!
Thanks, Rita!
It was a wonderful day.
Diana
I just finished your last book and will be rereading it again. I have read the series at 10 times and can’t wait for the last one. You are an amazing author
I understand writers always have the final word regarding their creations, but I did not enjoy Bees. Which is unfortunate as I was eagerly awaiting a redemption where i cant put your novel down, like previously. I have read all the Outlander novels and loved the first 6 most especially. Each novel after that i have felt there is just too much historical input and characters that totally distract from the essential story. I keep reading the series hoping for more detail of Jamie and Claire and their lives and family without all the going off on tangents of too much “other non relevant information” about people and historical drama that does not seem cohesive to me or enhancing of the overall story.
Your readers have invested in you and your stories Ms Gabaldon over many years, so I would have thought their feedback of some interest to you. I found the unnecessary use of too much blasphemy in Bees after a while highly irritating, even boring. Which is a pity, as your novels previously enthralled me. I hope you finish the Outlander series on a high with Claire and Jamie and family front and centre. Less padding and more relevant content.
Hi Julie,
As with all of my books, many people loved BEES. And there are those who don’t.
While writing, I always work to stay true to my characters and my own creative instincts. I do not incorporate editorial or story line input from the public. That being said, I enjoy hearing from readers, whatever their opinions.
As for the ‘padding’ you dislike, the story arcs of multiple characters and historic context are found in all of my Outlander novels and are a hallmark of them. There is plenty of what you might consider to be ‘blasphemy’ in those works, as well. <g>
Diana
I got introduced to this by the TV show, but since I absolutly love the sweeping romance historical epic that Diana Gabaldon has crafted, I am so hooked and I want to read all the books now. Based on the TV shows popularity, it hopefully will make it all the way to Book 9 since that was just finished last year. As for Book 10, unfortantly us TV show fans might be out of luck for a proper conclusion to the series but I am thuroughly enjoying part of this series and can’t wait to read the books to see how they differ from the TV show.
Diana,
I wanted to tell you your works are beautiful.They are grounded with historical and scientific research.I can see the reason it’s takes so long to write 800 pages novel. Thank you for taking your time and researching these novels. Especially, love the Bee’s book.
I am always curious about Jamie’s ghost in first novel.I believe Jamie and Claire are soul mates. I know waiting is the gift for surprise to come for readers.
Thank you again