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Now, let me note that the UK readers are not left out of the paperback ECHO celebrations! True, British/Australian/New Zealand fans don’t get the famous Green Slime trade paperback, nor do they get the EXILE eight-page full-color excerpt. Nor do you get THE EXILE itself, unless you can convince Orion Books that there is indeed a market for graphic novels on your side the pond. [g] On the other hand…
September 30th heralds the publication of the UK mass-market paperback edition (that’s the smaller size) of AN ECHO IN THE BONE! Besides the very snazzy cover shown above (it’s actually covered with gold flakes, not just yellow; very eye-catching, though not green [g]), you also get a nice chunk of what the UK publisher tantalizingly describes as “end-matter.” [cough]
This is stuff they put at the end of the book, in hopes of providing new purchasers with something special. In this case, UK fans will get:
1) Potted biographies of a number of prominent characters,
2) An essay on the Life and Times of Scotland in the 18th century (not written by me, but a nice job by whoever did write it),
3) _Beautiful_ (and geographically correct!) maps, both of the Scottish Highlands, and of the American Colonies, circa 1776. Aaaannnnddd…
4) An excerpt from Book Eight, which tells you What Happened to Jem in the Tunnel. Which I will give you a small taste of here….
Excerpt BOOK EIGHT
Copyright Diana Gabaldon 2010
He must be getting near the end of the tunnel. Jem could tell by the way the air pushed back against his face. All he could see was the little red light on the train’s dashboard–did you call it a dashboard on a train? he wondered. He didn’t want to stop, because that meant he’d have to get out of the train, into the dark. But the train was running out of track, so there wasn’t much else he could do.
He pulled back a little bit on the lever that made the train go, and it slowed down. More. Just a little more, and the lever clicked into a kind of slot and the train stopped with a little jerk that made him stumble and grab the edge of the cab.
An electric train didn’t make any engine noise, but the wheels rattled on the track and the train made squeaks and clunks as it moved. When it stopped, the noise stopped too. It was really quiet.
“Hey!” he said out loud, because he didn’t want to listen to his heart beating. The sound echoed, and he looked up, startled. Mum had said the tunnel was really high, more than thirty feet, but he’d forgot that. The idea that there was a lot of empty space hanging over him that he couldn’t see bothered him a lot. He swallowed, and stepped out of the tiny engine, holding on to the frame with one hand.
“Hey!” he shouted at the invisible ceiling. “Are there any bats up there?”
Silence. He’d kind of been hoping there were bats. He wasn’t afraid of them–there were bats in the old broch, and he liked to sit and watch them come out to hunt in the summer evenings. But he was alone. Except for the dark.
His hands were sweating. He let go of the metal cab and scrubbed both hands on his jeans. Now he could hear himself breathing, too.
“Crap,” he whispered under his breath. That made him feel better, so he said it again. Maybe he ought to be praying, instead, but he didn’t feel like that, not yet.
There was a door, Mum said. At the end of the tunnel. It led into the service chamber, where the big turbines could be lifted up from the dam if they needed fixing. Would the door be locked?
Suddenly he realized that he’d stepped away from the train and he didn’t know whether he was facing the end of the tunnel or back the way he’d come. In a panic, he blundered to and fro, hands out, looking for the train. He tripped over part of the track and fell sprawling. He lay there for a second saying “Crap-crap-crap-crap-crap!” because he’d skinned both knees and the palm of his hand, but he was OK, really, and now he knew where the track was, so he could follow it and not get lost.
He got up, wiped his nose, and shuffled slowly along, kicking the track every few steps to be sure he stayed with it. He thought he was in front of where the train had stopped, so it didn’t really matter which way he was going–either he’d find the train or he’d find the end of the tunnel. And then the door. If it was locked, maybe–
Something like an electric shock ran right through him. He gasped and fell over backward. …
(You _were_ paying attention, weren’t you, when I told you I was really Black Jack Randall…?)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Echo-Bone-Outlander-7/dp/0752883992/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277250039&sr=8-1
or
www.poisonedpen.com or call them at 480-947-2974. Normally, they can get UK books without much trouble, and I’d be delighted to stop by the bookstore and sign them for you.
I don't usually read excerpts –swore off of them after FC but I am so worried about wee Jem I thought OK one less person to ponder about! HA! although for a minute I thought the parenthetical about BJR was what Jem was hearing…!
Halloooo from NZ
It doesn't have any biographies, essay's, maps or excerpts at the rear. But I would have been none the wiser anyhow and am still virtually buzzing with excitement to read it. 
I've bought the lovely gold leaf covered ECHO last week but am dismayed to find it may not be the exact some version of which you speak
Dr Gabaldon, thank you. For your wonderful life enriching books and for your inspiration.
N.B. Where can I write to these Orion Books people…we must have THE EXILE in New Zealand !!! There is a huge demand, momunmentous even
Crap is right! Thank you Diana for this taste, I have missed the Frasers and the MacKenzies so much that I have started reading Cross Stitch for about the 5th time. Can't wait for number eight!
Why, oh why? I am now left wondering…what's next?
I hate waiting, but I will gladly wait for book eight. Thank you for sharing this little bit.
How IS Book Eight coming along by the way? Have you any ballpark when it will be finished?
I've just tweeted Orion Books (@orionbooks) and told them I'm in NZ and I want The Exile.
Dear Kiwi–
I believe you have the Orion "export" edition; that has the same cover as the UK mass-market (and is the same size), but doesn't have the "endmatter" goodies. The UK edition _with_ the endmatter won't be out until Sept. 30th, as noted. (But the UK does send out these "export" editions–as does the US–to other countries. Those are non-exclusive, meaning any English-language publisher (who has a contract) can distribute them.)
I hesitate to sic y'all on my nice editor at Orion [g], but if any of you _do_ feel impelled to write to the company about the desirability of their publishing THE EXILE, the company address is orionbooks.co.uk and the publisher's name is Malcolm Edwards (no secret; you could Google that and find out).
Dear Maliha–
Well, I'm a bit behindhand at the moment, owing to the knee surgery (feeling fine and the knee's limbering up nicely, but I get Really Tired Really Fast), but Book 8 is humming along in the pile of stuff I'm doing. (I'm just now finishing up the short piece–it turned into a novella–about Michael and Joan for an anthology, but should ship that off tomorrow. Then I have a short Lord John piece "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies" for a different anthology, THE SCOTTISH PRISONER, THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION, VOl. II, and…Book Eight, all in progress.)
While I think this is by far the most attractive of the "symbol" front covers, I really love the "landscape" ones we have in the UK – so much that I bought the whole set even though I already had books up to Fiery Cross in other covers. Will Echo be released to match? (e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breath-Snow-Ashes-Diana-Gabaldon/dp/0099278243/ )
Regardless, thanks for the updates, excerpts and tantalising lists of Work In Progress!
Please, Please, O' please tell me when you think book 8 will be coming out? I have read 1 thru 7 in the last 2 months, I just can't get enough.
Yay for excerpts!! I can't wait for book 8 to be finished and get my hands on it. I re-read the entire series before reading Echo. Maybe I need to start back at book 1 again to fill need for Jamie & Claire!
(You _were_ paying attention, weren’t you, when I told you I was really Black Jack Randall…?)
Oh yes, a truth I cannot forget and will always find most fascinating. I thank you for the teaser. Although the suspense (and the wait) is uncomfortable, at least you didn't follow it up with oil and a lashing in true BJR fashion. Is he not feeling well?
BTW – I hope you're healing well from surgery!
-Eylah
Dear Diana, thank you for the teaser! It just makes waiting so much more intense. But what about us Americans who have already bought bothe the hardcover and the paperback? Will we ever get to see the rest of the Jem spoiler? Won't you PLEEEEEEEAAAASSSE post it, at least once the UK version is out? Dying for spoilers here, Pat
This is very exciting! I do have one question though. Upon viewing your website I read information about The Red Ant's Head that was suppose to be out in 2006, but can't find it for sale anywhere. Did this book get finished and published?
http://66.147.244.179/~dianagab/excerpts/rah_excerpts.html
Love your books!
Dear Pat–
Oh, yes, I will indeed post the excerpt to my website later this fall. Promised the UK they could publish the paperback with it first, though.
Dear Jana–
The website is HUGELY out of date, and in process of being redesigned, even as we speak. With luck [crossing fingers], it'll be reconstructed and up by mid-September, in time for THE EXILE's launch.
Meantime, I put up news–tour dates, book releases, etc.–here, as well as on the website (when it's all finished, the blog will sort of become part of the website, or so I'm told by the web designer).
RED ANT'S HEAD is about half finished, but I have several things ahead of it in the work queue!
Dear All–
No, I have no idea when Book Eight will be finished. It normally takes me about two and a half years to write one of the Big Books (the main OUTLANDER novels), what with the size, the research, and the increasing complexity of structure.
Add to that, about a year for book-tours, promotion, and other travel and nuisance (I don't mean _you_ guys are a nuisance, but–for instance–this morning's email included a draft of a back-of-book ad for my approval, marketing information from Costco, a request from Barnes and Noble to do a "3 favorite books" feature, an invitation to guest-blog somewhere, and a discussion from my agent regarding a clause in the film option agreement (that's all OK, btw), and a boilerplate contract from the Random House Speakers Bureau. Oh–and the draft of an announcement regarding Something Interesting [g] that you'll hear about in the next few days. ALL this stuff has to be handled today–plus a few travel arrangements for the trip to Scotland and Ireland in August. This is necessary, but it sure does eat into the time available for work).
That's three and a half years. Add six months (ideally) for production of the book–editing/revision/copy-editing/proof-reading/book design, etc.–and it's usually about four years between the major books of the series.
That's one reason why I do occasional shorter pieces–shorter books, like the Lord John novels and the new graphic novel, or novellas and short-stories for anthologies. These don't detract from my main work (because I always work better when I have a number of projects going; and I've _always_ worked this way), but they do mean y'all get something in read in between. Hope you'll enjoy it all!
Thanks for posting part of the excerpt! I loved it!! As always, you masterfully keep stoking my anticipation for book 8.
-Sarah
4 years? Gadzooks! I guess I'll have to wait on excerpts to help me get through.
Thanks for writing– I enjoy your style tremendously and have found that when I read other author's works I am constantly comparing them to your high level of prose. (Needless to say most are nowhere near your standards) Keep up the outstanding work!