Oookay, then!
Sorry to be so late in getting this post up; I’ve been in New Mexico for the last week, and the internet connection there was Just Abysmal; could barely keep it open long enough to tweet, let alone upload anything longer.
First things first: Upcoming appearances.
I’m flying to New York on Monday, and will be appearing (briefly) at the RWA convention, held at the Marriott Marquis. Appearances will be:
The Literacy Signing, where most of the published authors taking part will be available to sell/sign books—this is from 5:30-7:30 on June 28th, at the Marriott Marquis. This event _is_ open to the public, and I _believe_ that you’re allowed to bring in up to three of your own books from home to be signed, if you like.
The opening panel of the convention, where I’ll be taking part in a discussion with two other Random House authors, Steve Berry and Tess Gerritsen. This is part of the convention and open only to convention attendees. It’ll be from 8:30-10:00 AM on June 29th.
Then on July 5th—publication date for the cool new 20th-anniversary OUTLANDER edition!—I fly to Laramie Wyoming, where I’ll be doing the keynote speech for the Sir Walter Scott conference at the University of Wyoming. The conference program is here http://www.uwyo.edu/scottconf2011/program.html , but I don’t yet have a detailed personal schedule. I _will_ be doing at least one public book-signing, though; will post time and place as soon as I get them.
On July 8th, I fly _back_ to New York, for ThrillerFest, at the Hyatt. There, I’ll be doing a Livestream event with James Rollins (Powell’s Books is supplying books to be sold during this event—and I certainly _hope_ they’ll have the 20th-anniversary edition!) from 2-4:00 PM on July 8th.
On the evening of July 8th, I’ll be doing a joint signing with several other authors for a collaborative mystery novel called NO REST FOR THE DEAD. (This is one of those for-charity efforts—proceeds for this one go to cancer research—where a number of well-known authors take turns writing chapters, and the editor then goes through and kind of smooths things out so the story is coherent. Or so we hope, anyway.)
The signing will be held at 7:00 PM at the Center for Fiction, (17 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017), and authors attending will include Peter James, Marcia Talley, John Lescroart, RL Stine, Diana Gabaldon,Jeffery Deaver, Gayle Lynds and Andrew Gulli. (Just for my own part, I’m fine with people bringing their own books to be signed, too.) This is open to the public.
Aaaand, on July 9th, I’ll do a Spotlight Interview (at the Hyatt) for ThrillerFest, Kathleen Antrim being the interviewer. That’s from 1:00-1:50 PM. And then I’ll do a book-signing for the convention (open only to convention attendees) from 5:00-6:00 PM at the convention bookstore in the hotel.
Then I rush home on the 10th {g}, and do the Official Launch Party for the 20th-anniversary OUTLANDER on July 11th, at The Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale. 7:00 PM!
Righto. Now, I had promised to show you the two openings I have for SCOTTISH PRISONER. As it stands, I’m opening the book with Jamie’s point of view—but I _could_ open with Lord John’s first chapter instead, and do Jamie’s second. I did it this way because I’d like people to realize right away that this is Jamie’s book, as much as Lord John’s—but it _is_ a Rather Unusual {cough} way to open a book.
So—those of you who don’t read excerpts should stop Right Here.
Those of you who _do_…here you go, and hope you enjoy them! Let me know what you think: Jamie first, or Lord John?
THE SCOTTISH PRISONER
(Copyright 2011 Diana Gabaldon)
Chapter 1:
Helwater, the Lake District
April 1, 1760
It was so cold out, he thought his cock might break off in his hand. If he could find it. The thought passed through his sleep-mazed mind like one of the small, icy drafts that darted through the loft, making him open his eyes.
He could find it now; had waked with his fist wrapped round it and desire shuddering and twitching over his skin like a cloud of midges. The dream was wrapped just as tightly round his mind, but he knew it would fray in seconds, shredded by the snores and farts of the other grooms. He needed her, needed to spill himself with the feel of her touch still on him.
Hanks stirred in his sleep, chuckled loudly, said something incoherent, and fell back into the void, murmuring, “Bugger, bugger, bugger…”
Jamie said something similar under his breath in the Gaelic, and flung back his blanket. Damn the cold.
He made his way down the ladder into the half-warm, horse-smelling fug of the barn, nearly falling in his haste, ignoring a splinter in his bare foot. He hesitated in the dark, still urgent. The horses wouldn’t care, but if they noticed him, they’d make enough noise, perhaps, to wake the others.
Wind struck the barn and went booming round the roof. A strong chilly draft with a scent of snow stirred the somnolence, and two or three of the horses shifted, grunting and whickering. Overhead, a murmured “‘ugger” drifted down, accompanied by the sound of someone turning over and pulling the blanket up round his ears, defying reality.
Claire was still with him, vivid in his mind, solid in his hands. He could imagine that he smelled her hair in the scent of fresh hay. The memory of her mouth, those sharp white teeth …he rubbed his nipple, hard and itching beneath his shirt, and swallowed.
His eyes were long accustomed to the dark; he found the vacant loose-box at the end of the row and leaned against its boards, cock already in his fist, body and mind yearning for his wife.
He’d have made it last if he could, but he was fearful lest the dream go altogether and he surged into the memory, groaning. His knees gave way in the aftermath and he slid slowly down the boards of the box into the loose piled hay, shirt rucked round his thighs and his heart pounding like a kettle drum.
[end section]
(more stuff in this chapter, of course)
Chapter 2: The Fate of Fuses
London
Argus House
Lord John Grey eyed the ribbon-tied packet on his knee as though it were a bomb. In fact, it couldn’t have been more explosive had it been filled with black powder and equipped with a fuse.
His attitude as he handed it to his brother must have reflected this knowledge, for Hal fixed him with a gimlet eye and raised one brow. He said nothing, though, flicking loose both ribbon and wrapping with an impatient gesture and bending his head at once over the thick sheaf of densely-written sheets that emerged.
Grey couldn’t stand to watch him read through Charles Carruthers’s post-mortem denunciation, recalling each damning page as Hal read it. He stood up and went to the window of the study that looked out into the back garden of Argus House, ignoring the swish of turning pages and the occasional blasphemous mutterings behind him.
Hal’s three boys were playing a game of tigers and hunters, leaping out at each other from behind the shrubbery with shrill roars, followed by shrieks of delight and yells of “Bang! Take that, you striped son of a bitch!”
The nurse seated on the edge of the fish-pool, keeping a tight grip on baby Dottie’s gown, looked up at this, but merely rolled her eyes with a martyred expression. Flesh and blood has its limits, her expression said clearly, and she resumed paddling a hand in the water, luring one of the big goldfish close so that Dottie could drop bits of bread to it.
John longed to be down there with them. It was a rare day for early April, and he felt the pulse of it in his blood, urging him to be outside, running bare-foot through young grass. Running naked down into the water… The sun was high, flooding warm through the glass of the French windows, and he closed his eyes and turned his face up to it.
Siverly. The name floated in the darkness behind his eyes, pasted across the blank face of an imagined cartoon major, drawn in uniform, an outsized sword brandished in his hand, and bags of money stuffed into the back of his breeches, obscene bulges under the skirt of his coat. One or two had fallen to the ground, bursting open so that you could see the contents–coin in one, the other filled with what looked like poppets, small wooden doll-like things. Each one with a tiny knife through its heart.
Hal swore in German behind him. He must have reached the part about the rifles; German oaths were reserved for the most stringent occasions, French being used for minor things like a burnt dinner, and Latin for formal insults committed to paper. Minnie wouldn’t let either Hal or John swear in English in the house, not wanting the boys to acquire low habits. John could have told her it was too late for such caution, but didn’t.
He turned round to see Hal on his feet, pale with rage, a sheet of paper crumpled in one hand.
“How dare he? How dare he?”
A small knot he hadn’t known was there dissolved under John’s ribs.
“You believe Carruthers, then?”
Hal glared at him.
“Don’t you? You knew the man.”
He had known Charles Carruthers–in more than one sense.
“Yes, I believed him when he told me about Siverly in Canada–and that–” he nodded at the papers, thrown in a sprawl across Hal’s desk, “–is even more convincing. You’d think he’d been a lawyer.”
He could still see Carruthers’s face, pale in the dimness of his attic room in [town], drawn with ill-health but set with grim determination to live long enough to see justice done. Charlie hadn’t lived that long, but long enough to write down every detail of the case against Major Gerald Siverly, and to entrust it to him.
He was the fuse that would detonate this particular bomb. And he was all too familiar with what happened to fuses, once lit.
[end section]
Too bad you’ve decided to use Jamie’s hot little adventure in the barn as chapter one for “Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner”. I would much prefer “The Fate of Fuses” to open John Grey’s new book. All the stories you’ve done for his series are his and should stay that way for each book. Personally, I hope you don’t go to excess with the Jamie POV. I want to know more about John and his life; not have to wade through more of Jamie’s angst, lamenting and whining. Yes, I have a major issue with Jamie Fraser that started on pages 170 through 178, and continued on pages 770 through 773 of “Voyager”. Pages 774 and 775 of “An Echo in the Bone” added to my irritation with this very shallow aspect of Jamie’s character. He has two major sins on his soul that have been glossed over and it’s about time he was required to answer for them. The last excellent chapters of Book seven and the strong potential for violence in Excerpt 2 of Book eight could create a phenomenal conflict and drama for Jamie’s third sin, the one that would drive a long overdue wedge between him and Claire. Jamie has always been so arrogant and proud about his honor. With his first two sins staining his soul, his honor was already heavily damaged after “Voyager”. With a third sin, if it occurs as the aftermath of Echo’s ending and the beginning of Book eight, the last of that selective Fraser honor would be gone. Despite Jamie’s description of him as “ye filthy wee pervert”, John Grey is the true man of honor of the two, real and honest and caring.
Ummm…What? As in, what on earth are you talking about? You do realize these are novels, right? And frankly, if you’re not totally in love with Jamie by the time you’ve finished the first book, then I’m not quite sure why you’re still reading. Are you related to Captain Randall, by any chance?
Yes, I am very aware these are characters in a series of novels. Since I read and reread the entire series as well as the Lord Grey books and novella in Warriors I in total just since the beginning of this year, I see the stories and characters as a whole. The Jamie Fraser character has two very serious flaws as written since Voyager – he’s a liar and a hypocrit. As he’s the “hero” of the series I know he’ll never be called to account by the time the eighth and final book is done. I just wanted to get my personal feeling across that I consider the John Grey character as written far more interesting, honorable and worthwhile.
I have not read the Lord John books, but since the book is half in Jamie’s perspective then I think it should start with him. Having the book start with Jamie would definitely suck me into reading it!
Jamie please!!!!!!!! And yes, you can start a book that way!
It is the love story of Jamie and Claire, their lives for the good and bad of it. Start with Jamie Please!!
well, if you’re looking to start off with a punch – then Jamie’s chapter is the way to go!
however, if you want to emphasize the differences between John and Jamie, putting his chapter in front would do that quite nicely, i think.
depends on the effect you’re looking for! either will be great.
: ]
Dear Diana:
My friend gave me a copy of ” The Outlander” saying that she could not get into it! Mmmph! I was hooked! I have red all of your Outlander series, and Lord John novels.
My vote would be for Lord John to open this book, since it is a Lord John novel; since I like order and continuity.
I am seventy two years of age and enjoy both of these series, so much so that when I buy one of your novels I MUST only start reading on a Friday evening, I as I continue into the early hours of the next day
Thank you for your novels, and long may you continue writing
Gotta go with Lord John, it does seem to make the entry more intriguing…and… we all know Jamie is coming (no pun intended) and look forward that part that much more!
In my rather humble opinion, I think opening with Jamie’s chapter is preferable. Not that I don’t adore John–bless his sweet soul, I love him dearly–but Jamie’s chapter has the better hook.
Hello Diana,
Just putting in my 2 cents worth here. I LOVE the Jamie excerpt, but as an opening, I think it should be Lord John. I like to look forward to those little Jamie Gems throughout the book ! If it is right at the beginning, that leaves it “over and done” already. Then I already have to leave him and miss him. I want to wait for it a bit, if you know what I mean
Lord John just seems like more of a lead in.
I do not care about John Grey except that he is a friend to Jamie and Claire.
I am not interested in John although I do want to know what will become of his friendship with Jamie in Book 8.
Please, I want to read Book 8 while I can still read.
Because this is a Lord John book, I think you should start with John. I love Jamie and Claire, and I understand what being apart meant for both of them. I myself enjoy the books, because they give more insight into the man who raised WILLIE. Whether anybody else sees it this way, even though Lord John is not a central character in the Outlander books, he is part of the family. Look what he did for Brianna, while she was at Aunt Jocasta’s waiting for her parents to bring Roger back. Those are some of the wittiest scenes in Drums of Autumn
JAMIE FIRST….PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!!! =)
Lord John, save the good stuff about Jamie for when you get into the book.
Hmmm…opening a book with masterbation or not…I vote for masterbation.
Jamie _is_ gripping (ahem) but the Lord John piece is the better beginning. I agree wholeheartedly with Courtney and Elaine above. It sets up the plot, brings you in with a swirls of narrative possibilities, and leads off from the previous Lord John stories. The Jamie piece is obviously hot, but I need a bit of narrative foreplay before being hit with that kind of climax (as it were). With the actions in the Jamie start, not sure that I would read further if it weren’t one of your books.
I can’t wait to see this series intertwine with Jamie’s POV!
Dear Diana (and everyone else here!)
I know I must have been going around with my head in the clouds for years, but I only just discovered and started to read the Outlander Series this year – Easter infact – after basically inhaling Cross Stitch (as ‘Outlander’ is called here in the UK) in one gulp :-)! I am currently in the middle of A Breath of Snow and Ashes and have not read any of the LJG books yet.
As Diana has replied to one of the posts (on the 7th July) and said that because the book is at least half Jamie’s story, the publisher has decided it would not be a ‘LJG and the…’ book, I would vote for Jamie being the opening chapter.
If Lord John Grey is the opening chapter in all the other books (as they are about him), then as this one is different, I’d go with Jamie. Apart from anything else, what a great opener!! Got my attention anyway! I loved it.
Just my 2 pennies worth here across the pond!
Thank you Diana for such fantastic books. I cannot believe they have been around so long and I have missed out all these years but I have the advantage of being able to read 7 in a row I suppose, so that makes up for it!
Marie-Louise xxxx
Diana,
After reading a few comments and as you know already, it is split 50-50 between Lord John and Jamie. So go with your instincts ….they are usually not wrong.
Diane
With what you’ve written (I’m so sure there is more detail that would be good opening material from Jamie’s perspective), I would go with Lord John first. Anyone who is a fan of your work will know that this book is both John’s and Jamie’s perspective and will be drooling for whatever Jamie’s experience is (as noted by the water marks on the above pages
). I agree with whoever said that Lord John would be a good red carpet for Jamie’s appearance. Lord John is so much a part of Jamie, how could you go wrong with leading off with his Sherlock Holmsian activities…. it will grab the reader in and then the Jamie pages can be the icing (albeit, dripping cuz its melted) on the cake… it can the “ahhhhhhhhh” that so many of us are addicted to when pouncing on more info about the beloved characters. Ps… I am working on a family history…. many are from southwestern Virginia transplanted to western Kentucky. I’m having trouble navigating the lack of info in the census material from the late 1700′s/early 1800′s. Are you attempting to use this info in any of your research? if so, do you have resources that you fall back on when the census is vague? thx in advance…. Jenni
It’s Jamie for me
because I get drawn into the story by the deepth of his emotions
which you are able to show without naming them.
It’s incredibly intense and clear.
But if the book is more about ‘outside’ events of a crime story and less about the tides inside the men… then I think beginning with John’s side is more consistent.
Thank you for writing their (Jamie, Claire, John, Brianna, Roger…) stories!!!
Love, Anne