“”This is a morning my father never saw,” Jamie said, still so softly that I heard it as much through the walls of his chest, as with my ears. “The world and each day in it is a gift, mo chridhe-no matter what tomorrow may be.”
I sighed deeply and turned my head, to rest my cheek against his chest. He reached over gently and wiped my nose with a fold of his shirt.
“And as for taking stock,” he added practically, “I’ve all my teeth, none of my parts are missing, and my cock still stands up by itself in the morning. It could be worse.”
–The Fiery Cross, Chapter 58: “Happy Birthday To You.” Copyright 2001 Diana Gabaldon.
HAPPY MAY DAY! And many, many thanks to all of you who have sent me messages wishing James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser a happy 290th birthday. {g}
My husband was just asking me if there was a reason why I chose May 1 for Jamie’s birthday. In fact, there is—or there are, rather. To begin with, I thought it might have something to do with Claire’s passage through the stones, which happened on Beltane (April 30). (As it was, it didn’t really seem to have much to do with that, but that’s sort of what I had in mind to begin with.)
Beyond that—I knew Jamie was a Taurus, so obviously born sometime in May (ask me how I know this; my husband and all three children are born in May (this is the fault of Arizona State University, where I used to be a professor, and which said (at the time), “You can have all the maternity leave you want, but we aren’t going to pay you for any of it.” To which I replied, “Fine. I’m on a 9-month academic-year contract, and you don’t pay me in the summers anyway. I’ll have babies in May.” (A Ph.D. in Biology has to be good for something, after all))). My husband’s birthday is May 3, but I didn’t think it was right to make him share his birthday with Jamie, so….there you are. May 1.
(I have had assorted people cast Jamie’s horoscope, and assure me that yes, indeed, he is a Taurus. I never doubted this.)
Anyway, moving right along here—in Other May News:
LEPRECON 37 – May 6-8
I will be appearing at LepreCon 37, an sf/f con held in Tempe, AZ next weekend. The con runs May 6-8, but I’ll be there only on the 7th and 8th. The location is the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, and here is the con’s website.
I’ll be doing the following appearances:
(panel) LIT – HOW TO DO A READING — Sat 10a-11a, Joshua Tree
(panel) LIT – DIY SOCIAL MEDIA – Sat noon-1p, Xavier
READING – Sat 2p-230p, Boardroom
AUTOGRAPHING — Sat 230p-330p, Dealers Room
(panel) LIT – OUR FAVORITE MILITARY SF – Sun 10a-11a, Xavier
(panel) LIT/MED – BOOKS TO MOVIES — Sun 3p-4p, Xavier
Now, on my way home Saturday from LepreCon, I’ll be stopping at the COMIC ZONE bookstore for a quick one-hour signing, as part of their “Free Comics!” Day festivities:
Location:
Comic Zone
5909 N. Granite Reef, rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85250
480-483-2685 for more info
This appearance will naturally be focused mostly on THE EXILE, as it’s a graphic novel, but if y’all have other books you’d like signed, I’d be happy to do that.
KABAM! (Kingman Area Books Are Magic) –aka the Kingman (AZ) Book Festival – May 12-14
I couldn’t begin to remember what-all I’ll be doing for this festival, but it ranges from school visits and public autographings to panels, readings, and all sorts of stuff. I’ll be there for three days, and busy most of the time, let’s leave it at that. {g}
SCOTTSDALE PUBLIC LIBRARY AUTHORS AND APPETIZERS – May 20th , 7:00 PM.
This is a nice event, held at the Scottsdale Public Library, wherein they invite a number of different authors, each of whom does a quick 7-10 minute talk and is then available to chat and sign books—and they provide food!
(There are several websites where you can find more detail and/or buy tickets: here’s one.)
Right, see you at one of these events—and if not…I’ll post the schedule for June/July/August a little later. Meanwhile, in Other Interesting News:
THE UNABRIDGED AUDIOBOOK FOR A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES IS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH AUDIBLE.COM!!!
I’ve explained (roughly ten million times) why THE FIERY CROSS and ABOSA were not available via Audible.com—owing to restriction in the contract with Bantam Audio, who do the (disgustingly eviscerated, bloody mangled shreds) abridged audio versions, we were not allowed to sell the unabridged versions through retail outlets while the original license (ten years from date of print publication) was in effect.
The licenses to earlier books have expired and been revoked, thus preventing those abridged excrescences from being sold any longer, and ECHO was fortunately not covered under the earlier contract (so there has never been and never will be an abridged audio version). Great. Well, THE FIERY CROSS license expires this November, and the instant it does, FIERY CROSS will also be available via Audible.com and anywhere else audiobooks are sold.
The license for ABOSA, though, doesn’t expire until 2014. We tried to get Bantam Audio to allow us to sell the unabridged version now (without revoking their abridged one), but they wouldn’t budge. So—in order to make the whole series available in unabridged form as soon as possible—we (me and my agent) did them a deal. They go on selling the abridged version until 2014 (at which point we cut them off at the knees), but meanwhile we release the unabridged version in retail markets—and share the income with them.
So that’s why ABOSA is now available and FIERY CROSS isn’t yet. It wasn’t worth doing a deal to get the unabridged version into retail outlets six months earlier than it will happen anyway. But come November, ALL the OUTLANDER and LORD JOHN books will be available in Unabridged versions through any retail outlet you care to use!
LOL…I have always loved that chapter in the book and I just had to read it to my husband and ask him if he rises in the morning too! My husband is a very modest man and his comment back was: “who writes this stuff”, my reply a verra wise woman!
Happy Spring Diana!
lauren
All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you. Trying to explain to my daughter about abridged and unabridged I said, “It’s like having cake without the frosting. It’s good, but it would be REALLY good with frosting.
Happy Birthday Mr.Fraser! Happy May Day! (one day late!) Thank you so much for your new wbsite! In love reading all the updates and cannot wait for the new book to come out! I’ve got it on my calendar when the 20th anny. edition comes out,as I will be at the book store purchasing it. Thank you also for EXILE,the graphic novel of Outlander. I enjoyed so much!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello Diana!
I would like to write you a letter but I didn´t find an address where I can write you so I decided to write you here in your blog.
My name is Rosa and I am writing you from Spain. Recently I found your books in the library. I don´t really know what happened, because I was looking around the books, and then I saw a big, big book named Outlander (Forastera in Spanish)
I liked the argument, and being sincere, the first time I took it from the library I only read 30 pages because I didn’t have time. And maybe, 1 year after, I remembered the book and I took it Again. 2 months ago.
I read the book in 1 week (I only had time in the nights, so I was reading for hours in the night, despite of the fact I had to wake up early. And in the morning I spoke with a partner about your book, because I was enthusiastic). I liked very much, I love the history, Jamie and Claire, and of Course I love the way you describes Scotland. I want to go there because I imagine I am going to the places you describe.
Now, I am finishing Voyager (Viajera in Spanish) and I have Drums of Autumn (Tambores de otoño) in my shelf. I want to finish the third book to start de next.
2 days ago I entered in a bookshop, and I saw your book “viento y ceniza” I don´t know the title in English, not the last one, the book before. I was surprised because I thought I couldn´t find your books in a bookshops. Now I know that I can buy them, I only have to wait to save money lol, because I am a lover of books and I want to have your books in my house´s library =).
And I have received a new good notice when I read in internet that you wrote another book, the last An echo in the bone (ecos del pasado). I read the argument and I entered in shock because it´s really amazing.
Well, I don´t want to be bored, so I want to give you my admiration and thank you for write this special and wonderful story. Thank you very much for give me another world to go with my imagination. I hope you the best in all aspect of your life.
Well, I want to say something. I like you to will go to Spain to sign books. I know it´s very difficult but I hope you can do it in a soon future. Thank you very much.
Thanks for reading me, and sorry for my English, I am studying it, I tried to do the best possible. Sorry if I have some mistake.
Best regards.
Rosa, from Spain.
Pd: I like to know an address where I can write you. Thanks.
Dear Rosa–
Muchas gracias! Your English is much better than my Spanish, I assure you! {g}
Yes, we have a new Spanish publisher–Planeta–that published VIENTO Y CENIZA and is doing ECOS DEL PASADO; that’s why you find them in bookshops. (ECO is not the last book, by the way–not the final one of the series, I mean. There will be more!)
I’ve been to Spain for a short book-tour once; would like to go again, very much!
–Diana
oops! Now I find your email addrees, I didn´t see resources and now i found it. sorry.
Happy Birthday Jamie! Delighted to hear news about the unabridged version of The Fiery Cross – roll on November :o)
Lovely to hear from you – I always enjoy your blogging-never know when I may hear news of what you are up to with your current writing.
Lovely you are out and about Diana, but please stay home and finish writing the next installment of Jamie and Claire! I miss them and to get a fix, I am rereading the saga again. (Just restarted The Fiery Cross. On behalf of your millions of fans waiting for what happens next…..
All solid reasons for Jamie’s birth date if you ask me. Write what you know and all that. ; )
(disgustingly eviscerated, bloody mangled shreds)
Diana, tell us what you really think. You really need to get over this shyness in expressing an opinion
Thanks for the explanation of where the May 1st date came from!
I had to laugh at your triple-nested-parentheses there. As a programmer, this sort of thing never fails to make me smile.
Karen
Dear Karen–
I’m fond of parentheses. {g} Never thought to connect it with my early days as a (very crude) programmer in FORTRAN, though!
–Diana
Wow, a house full of Tauruses. (say that 3 times fast) I’m a bull, too. My birthday is May 3 also.
That is one of my favorite sections in the book. After this past weeks storms north of us, I’m feeling very gifted. I need to think of the “gifted” line more often.
Of course, I like the “stock” part, too.
Happy Birthday to your husband and children. Have a great May!
Melody
Thanks so much for your efforts to get us ABOSA on Audible. I will willing wait until November for Fiery Cross. I have them all from Recorded books on tape but I love my I-pod too. My husband just shakes his head at my listening to them again but I can still find things I missed the first dozen times or so.
I am just grinning from ear to ear. The prospect of Fiery Cross unabridged will keep me floating for months. November can’t come soon enough!
Hi Diana ~
Am a big fan & have hooked soooo many others on your incredible books! I recently had a huge genealogical breakthrough on one of my lines, & discovered I am related to Colonel Ninian Beall (he’s my 9th great grandfather), a famous Scot, 6’7″ tall with “flaming red hair”. His history seems to closely follow Jamie’s, and I was wondering if he might have been your inspiration for Jamie? He is lauded as the “unsung hero of American history”. Would love it if he was! Would explain my obsession with all things Outlander!
Can’t wait for the next installment. Hated you just a little for leaving me hanging over a cliff like that! Hope to hear from you!
Julie
Dear Julie–
Congratulations on finding Ninian Beall! But no, I’m afraid he wasn’t the inspiration for Jamie.
–Diana
Happy May! Leaves are back on the trees, flowers are blooming, the rain has gone and May first was a good day for a celebratory bit of dram to acknowledge beloved James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser’s Birthday. I so appreciate your attentiveness to your fans. Happy Birthday to your husband and children. It is so kind that your family shares you with us all, you have to be the most busy person.
Dear Diana,
Thank you for the explanation. Yesterday was the best day ever, because you gave us someone special to celebrate.
And good job getting audible.com to carry ABOSA, and soon the rest (lots of iMachines with memory to fill up with all the unabridged books!)
Like you, my husband and twin boys are all Tauruses, born in May. As a matter of facts, tell Doug I’ll be thinking about him tomorrow, as it’s my twins birthday.
Good luck with all your appearances…please keep setting some time aside everyday to continue writing about Jamie and Claire. Mmphmm, 2 or 3 years seems like an eternity away…
I can’t wait to download ABOSA from Audible and I’m thrilled that Davina Porter is the narrator. Has this unabridged version been recently recorded or has it been on shelf waiting to be released for a while?
Dear Alicia–
{sigh} It’s been totally available for the last six years. It’s only that you would have had either to google “A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES unabridged recording” or have happened to see any of the ten million explanations I’ve posted on blog and website during those years, and thus know that it was only available through the Recorded Books (the producer of the unabridged recording) website (or through libraries).
Not blaming you for not doing either of those things, mind. {g} I just get tired of repeating myself.
–Diana
I am writing you from a small and surprisingly charming town in central Florida, Mount Dora. My husband and I when on sabbatical spent a year on a boat and during that time a fellow “cruiser” who happened to be Scottish recommended your books. Welllll let me tell you, like many of your fans I became obsessed. I have NEVER written a letter to any author or to anyone other than friends and family but I feel compelled to tell you how much I am enjoying your books. I discovered that as I was reading Outlander my sister in Philadelphia was reading book II. Totally unaware that we had started the same series. As it turns out three of my local friends were also reading your books… something is happening here!!!!! Looking forward to the movies and even talking to some fellow readers about a trip to Scotland next summer. The country should pay you for increasing their tourism.
Thanks again. RW
Dear Rachel–
Thank you! Glad you and your friends and family have been enjoying the books!
The Scottish Tourist Board is (they say) very grateful to me, though they stop short of actually paying me a bounty. {cough}
–Diana
Diana –
Well, they are Scots . . .
Elaine,
the one from MI
Dear Elaine–
{g}
Will I see you in Fergus this year?
–Diana
Diana –
I certainly am going to try and make it there. Finally have my ‘enhanced’ driver’s license, so border crossing should go smoothly. It’s been too long since I’ve been to any Highland Games. I am due.
Elaine
(fr MI)
Somehow I missed the explanation about the audio books. Thanks for sharing the news! I will be so excited to complete my audio book collection via Audible!
Oh, and my grandfather’s birthday is May 3, too. I have a lot of Taurus friends and family, and Jamie is SUCH a Taurus.
any more thot’s of making a tv series of jamie and clair? way to long and involved for a movie. be like “north and south” or “roots”. anyhoo, in watching the royal wedding friday, it came to me we have a jamie. prince harry!! he fit’s the bill to a “T”! think he would be willing to be an actor for a while? seems like the kinda fella up to most any new thing. give him a call, diana, and see what happens! he sure is one fantastic looking guy. hope his personality is as sweet!
pam
ps. i hope you are happy, i can’t read any other author now without thinking you could have done it better!