• “The smartest historical sci-fi adventure-romance story ever written by a science Ph.D. with a background in scripting 'Scrooge McDuck' comics.”—Salon.com
  • A time-hopping, continent-spanning salmagundi of genres.”
    —ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
  • “These books have to be word-of-mouth books because they're too weird to describe to anybody.”
    —Jackie Cantor, Diana's first editor

Quick Bits

I’m _just_ about to take off for the Historical Novel Society conference in San Diego, but wanted to remind everyone that I’ll be doing a signing at the Book Rack in Mesa on June 22nd, from 1-3 PM.

The Book Rack
1752 Signal Butte Rd.Suite 108
Mesa, AZ 85209

Our major crossroads are Signal Butte and the US60 and we are located in the Walmart Parking lot next to Cold Stone Creamery and Panda Express.

Our phone number is 480-380-0044.

And yes, to those who’ve been asking, I _will_ be at Bubonicon in late August.

I have a load of free Stuff described as “downloadables” (wallpapers, screen savers and the like) by Random House, which I’ll put up here  as soon as I get a chance–way up past mid-eyeball in finishing SCOTTISH PRISONER, which will likely be done wiithin a week! {crossing fingers}

And then…I have an informal poll question for y’all, which I’ll try to put up tomorrow night, i I’m not too wiped from a six-hour drive, a dinner cruise, and a dress {ahem} rehearsal in the bar for the Late-Night Sex-Scene readings. (I normally do these in my nightwear, but Chris Humphreys, who is doing a literary three-way with me and Gillian Bagwell, tells me he requires a sword, one of which I have borrowed from my son.)    SCOTTISH PRISONER is a two-man book–the men in question being Jamie and Lord John.  At the moment, it begins with Jamie’s story, with a scene that caused my husband to write, “Can you even _print_ this?” in the margin when he read it.   Now, I’ll definitely use that scene {g]–but not sure if I should lead off with it.  It might cause new readers either to slam the book shut and throw it back on the table–or rush to the cash register with it.   But I _could_ begin with Lord John’s part of the story, which is also very good, but a lot less…er…{cough}.  But I’ll show you both beginnings and you can give me your opinions, if you’d be so kind!

Manana!  (You’ll have to imagine the tilde over the first “n” there.  I stink at putting in diacritical marks.)

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83 Responses »

  1. Did I miss it Where is Diana posting this?

  2. Where exactly were the exerpts posted to compare?

  3. I LOVE this series. I wish you’d write more! It’s definitely the favorite of my life – and I’m an avid reader and almost 50! I just wish you would publish them more frequently – I can’t wait for each one to come out. Although, once I bought A Breath … I re-read the entire series first and it was so FANTASTIC to read them all from start to finish without having to wait! For anyone wondering, for sure Lord John isn’t as romantic as Jamie & Claire but its still Diana and still the story! Get ‘em all!

  4. Lead off with Jamie – oo-la-la!

  5. Ok, Just to be clear, Love everything you have written, Diana…the narrative that never ends…my dream come true! I have really enjoyed the Lord John series, as it fills in many blanks, with LJ, and Jamie. I love Lord Johns voice…very smart and that dry wit, that can slice and dice with the best of them… It brings to light a side of life that I know very little about, I find that interesting. If you haven’t read the LJ series then you have no clue who Percy Wainwright (Echo) Beauchamp is…Big part of the story, and my guess is that he will resurface in the next book, along with Randall Isaacs…
    As to the new book, I think it should start with Lord John, it is his book after all…
    I know this is off topic but does anybody else think the “Vancouver Kiss Couple” look like Jamie and Claire? He has some very “Fraser” um…attributes, shoulders, nose, …and as the men in my house commented, She is “Hot”…I know, I obsess….

  6. I started reading the Outlander series when they first came, out so I have been, like all you others, reading, waiting, reading, and waiting some more. Now my granddaughter!!, says to me, gma, do you have anything that I could read, I love historical novels!! Do I have something for you to read!!So now she has just started Outlander, and calls me up and says, how many more of these did you say there are? My dear child, you don’t the half of it yet. She absolutely loves it, so thank you Diana, for this additional something special to share and pass on to my children. So waiting some more…

  7. I love this series so much! I really hope it becomes a movie series. I think Chris Hutchison (I think this is how you spell it, haha) the lead actor from the movie Thor would be the perfect Jamie.

  8. Well, I just finished the Outlander series, for the umpteenth time. It seems to be always on my summer reading list. That being said, I still have a hard time believing Diana left little Jem in the tunnel. For heavens sake, get the poor little guy out of there!!! So looking forward to the next book. And hoping it will be on next summers reading list. I’ll read whatever you write, Diana!

  9. Diana – it was lovely to talk with you today at Book Rack and have you sign our books (always enjoy meeting you wherever you have been in the Valley!) You are a brilliant writer and have enriched us all with your words. Many thanks!

  10. I my daughter and several friends have loved and adored Jamie ,Claire Lord John et al from the outset. Keep up the good (marvellous) work Ms Gabaldon Will be holding our breaths to see what everyone is going to do.
    Lord John books excellent just different to J & C.

    By the way our ages range from me – 70 to Gemma 23, so it just goes to show there is no age limit to gaining great pleasure from great writing.

  11. I cannot wait to read these two openers! I may be a little biased and say that you should start off with Jamie no matter what (esp. if it is a “ahem” scene), but I am always intrigued by Lord John’s experiences.

  12. I’ve read all of your books multiple times including the Lord John series and now have just finished listening to Echo in the Bone and Voyager on audio. It doesn’t bother me to skip around because like so many of your readers, I know the story by heart. Claire, Jamie, Lord John, Brianna and Roger have all been keeping me company on my commute to work each day. I can’t wait to get in the car every morning. The other benefit has been that I have a new and more respectful opinion of LJG. A friend of Jamie’s is a friend of mine.

    What a wonderful choice you made with Davina Porter!

    Looking forward to whatever you send our way.

    Thanks so much for the rich entertainment.

    Warm regards,
    Betty

  13. Looking forward to seeing the LJG bit to compare! I did love the Jamie bit, but it’s hard to judge which might be more appropriate since we can’t see the rest of the book yet!

  14. Well, I must say this quote in the article in the Daily Record.UK today was a disappointment.
    Quote:
    Now there is talk of a movie starring Gerard Butler as Outlander’s main character, dashing Highlander Jamie Fraser.
    Diana has created the kind of man most women dream of – a tall, strapping warrior who embodies the Scottish character. But does Gerard measure up? Samantha Booth investigates.
    When it comes to casting a film star to play Outlander hero Jamie Fraser, many of his female fans reckon Gerard Butler would be perfect.
    Author Diana Gabaldon is not so sure … she prefers his rival Ewan McGregor.
    She said: “Everyone always wants to know about the film and who I think would make the perfect Jamie.
    “While a film is a very real possibility, I don’t think it is the best idea to pick an actor who I think looks like Jamie.
    “That’s why there are casting directors who can bring the role to life and embody the character. That means you need a really good actor, such as Ewan McGregor, to play the part.
    ——————————————–
    I do not think it was very professional and necessary to blatantly call into question Mr. Butler’s acting ability so publicly. I like both actors so I wouldn’t liked reading that remark if you made it about Ewan McGregor either.

    http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2011/06/25/scots-actors-gerard-butler-and-ewan-mcgregor-battle-it-out-for-outlander-hero-role-86908-23226023/

    • Dear Michele–

      I didn’t make that remark–or any others “quoted” in the article. UK newspapers are just notorious for this; they interview you, but then blatantly make up “quotes” to decorate the article. And this is based (loosely) on an interview I did in _2010_!, to boot!

      –Diana

      • I think Ewan is a fine actor and not a bad singer too. But Jaimie he is definitely not! Goodness they’d have to animate all the other characters to put them in the proper proportion to him, he’s a little skinny guy!

        Thanks for the laugh though!

  15. I definitelylook forward to giving my opinion. But frankly I like the scenes (ehem) for both Jaime and Lord John, so I will definitely love to read both..but my guess is I will like Jamie’s more. :)

  16. I am an addict of your books, of course. Love the characters and the fact that they all grow older, just as I have been doing for 74 years. Love the descriptions of the scenery, details of life and culture of the 18th century. And, oh yes, the sex– realistic, amorous, of course, and often humorous, as good sex should be.
    As Jamie and Claire mature, so do the books. As good as “Outlander” is, it seems more just a well- written historical novel. As the series grows, the characters seem more imbedded in their time. I care more about them than just as romanticly satisfying people. We see their strengths and vulnerabilities and the way Jamie and Claire are nearly perfect complements, but still have their misunderstandings. I wonder how Claire’s marriage to Lord John, or rather its consummation, will be solved, eventually. That should be fun.
    Jem seems well on his way to becoming a second Jamie–lucky boy. And the paranormal events, while not blatant, seem to be a big part of his and Mandy’s future. Can you really stop with eight books??

  17. Darn–I forgot to say that I like Lord John tremendously and also like it that he is a romantic character. I think this has helped me understand some gay people in my own life of whom I am really fond.

  18. I seen a trailer on utube about a timelife movie called The Scottish Prisoner with Gerard yummy Butler. Is there an actual movie i can view. I am in absolute love with Jamie and have been for many years I own all the books I even bought the hardcover first book again just to get the cd with the music on it and the wedding vows for Jamie and Claire… which, by the way never worked, because of the manufacturing the glue stuck to the cd and you weren’t able to play the cd. Oh well It looks fantastic on my bookcase display.

    • Dear Eva–

      I’m so sorry about the CD! Email me with your address, and we’ll send you another one. As to the movie, I _really_ doubt it. There are dozens (if not hundreds) of little fan-made videos on YouTube. (There are lots of links to them on this site; click on the “Video” tab from the home page and you’ll see “YT Channel,” which has a ton of them.)

      –Diana

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