A couple of publishers asked me this week to write a brief bit of catalog copy for them, describing MOBY–so I did. For those of you wondering What to Expect from the eighth book in the OUTLANDER series:
WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD is the eighth novel in the world-famous OUTLANDER series. In June of 1778, the world turns upside-down. The British army withdraws from Philadelphia, George Washington prepares to move from Valley Forge in pursuit, and Jamie Fraser comes back from the dead to discover that his best friend has married Jamie’s wife. The ninth Earl of Ellesmere discovers to his horror that he is in fact the illegitimate son of the newly-resurrected Jamie Fraser (a rebel _and_ a Scottish criminal!) and Jamie’s nephew Ian Murray discovers that his new-found cousin has an eye for Ian’s Quaker betrothed.
Meanwhile, Claire Fraser deals with an asthmatic duke, Benedict Arnold, and the fear that one of her husbands may have murdered the other. And in the 20th century, Jamie and Claire’s daughter Brianna is thinking that things are probably easier in the 18th century: her son has been kidnapped, her husband has disappeared into the past, and she’s facing a vicious criminal with nothing but a stapler in her hand. Fortunately, her daughter has a miniature cricket bat and her mother’s pragmatism.
The best of historical fiction with a Moebius twist, WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD weaves the fibers of a family’s life through the tapestry of historical drama.
NB: I’m still _writing_ this. With luck, it will be published in fall of 2013. (Update from the webmaster: This book will be released by the publisher on June 10, 2014, in the U.S.A.) Hope you enjoy it! (In the meantime, if you’re the sort of reader who likes to see bits and pieces as we go along, I do post brief snippets–from this book and other works in progress or coming up for release–most days, on both Twitter (my ID there is @Writer_DG) and Facebook.
NB2: I told my editor I want an octopus on the cover of this book. (There are eight main characters whose stories are told–and they’re all linked together.)
NB3: I call the book MOBY for short. My Own Heart’s Blood = MOHB = MOH-B = Moby. Geddit?
From the webmaster: Visit the MOBY home page for the latest information.
Hi Diana We will miss you at AJC Decatur Book Festival this year. It’s this weekend but I guess I’d
rather you be at home writing than speaking to us. Although, it IS very entertaining to watch the men in the audience squirm in their seats when you read excerpts!! Also, I think of you every time I go the
restroom and someone has left the seat wet! Can’t wait for MOBY Keep up the good work. Henrietta
Stop everything…no more blogs or daily releases…no more appearances…get the next book going faster…it is torture to have to wait until 2013 (now maybe not til fall…OMG)
As with every other comment I too cannot wait for MOBY. My friend and I are avid fans but get a little worried we might never get to know the final end to the story……..do any other `mature` readers feel the same?!?! There are so many questions left to answer we may need to live to be a hundred to read the last instalment.
My husband and I love to visit Scotland but he wasn`t very happy when I dragged him to Culloden to find the FRASER family stone, but it was well worth trudging around in the rain because I Found It and took a photo to prove it!!
Roll on 2013………
Oh wow, I didnt know where it was..Scotland is going to be on my bucket list with the Fraser Family Stone in my sight! thanks
Yes! But I didn’t have the guts to mention it first. Thank you, Jean, for doing it. I’ll be nearly 63 when MOBY comes out. I have a Nook, but the Outlander books are trade paper, except Echo, for which I took the day off from work to begin reading it in hard copy (got halfway thru the first day – sleep? fogedaboudit!). But, yep, I do hope I’m around for the end (I hate that word). Otherwise, there needs to be something after this life, and something with a bookstore!
Happy reading!
Jean
Yes !!!, I agree whole heatedly. Do we know for sure if MOHB is the final book for Claire and Jamie.
Lucille
Dear Lucille–
No, there will be (I think) nine books altogether–not counting the second volume of THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION, a prequel about Jamie’s parents, and perhaps another graphic novel or two, time and (publisher’s) desire permitting.
–Diana
I started reading your Outlander books again and Dragonfly in Amber was supposed to be the next. What happened to the book about Jamie and Claire living in France? I read it and Jamie was helping a Fraser in his wine business.
Dear Jeanne–
DRAGONFLY IN AMBER is the second book in the series. They _are_ living in France during the first half of the book; did you not notice?
–Diana
Diana,
i have got to say, your Outlander series is awesome. I went for a long time not knowing there was additional books after the 4th one. When i found out, I made a made dash to the bookstore. I am a fan from the first book and I am looking forward to the 8th in the series. You go girl. And, to know they will be making a mini series, wow!!!
Thanks for your time,
Cricket
Oh, I see now. That doesn’t start until Part Two. Thank you.
Several of my friends have tried to get me to read these books for years. Finally, at the end of June, one of them handed me a copy of Outlander and said to just read it – I wouldn’t regret it. She was right. I have been reading the series since June 28. I bought a Kindle midway through Dragonfly in Amber because my biceps were getting unusually large and I had a nasty knot on my forehead from dropping the hardbound library copy on it. This series has surpassed any standalone or series I have ever read. I cannot wait for MOBY to come out! Thanks for being awesome!
Diana,
I and many of my family and friends have loved your books!!! In my opinion, over the years, the Outlander Series has been my all time favorite. I love history and I love Romance. These books you have created have made me laugh, cry, and feel so emotion. Nothing but the best, but from the description of MOBY I am getting scared!!! Jamie and Claire cannot end without each other and they can’t do the I married someone else again!!! PLease………… They belong together…like the sand and the sea. Thank you for creating such a wonder epic series and know so many just loved it. One day I will find out where your going to be for a book signing etc. however, I am in LA area so you travel so many places I hope one day to meet you and get an autographed copy of your book. Til then keep on writng and I so hope the books really become a movie series. Loved the fantasy characters… they were really accurate with the vision my friends and I see of the characters. God Bless Jamie
Who are the eight characters? For sure Claire, Jamie, Brianna, Roger, Ian, William, but the other two?
John, the Hunters, Jenny, Jem …
Dear Laurie–
Lord John and Rachel Hunter.
–Diana
Fall? Didn’t you write somewhere MOBY would be ready in spring 2013? *sigh*
Not being on Facebook and Twitter obviously is a disadvantage in some ways … I would love to read the “snippets” you post there.
Thank you for your wonderful work.
Is MOBY the sequel to the 7th book in your Outlander Series?
Dear Bette–
Yes. It’s titled WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD, though, which is kind of long for convenient reference, so I call it MOBY for short. My Own Heart’s Blood = MOHB = MOH-B = MOBY. Geddit? [g]
–Diana
I read ALL THE TIME. Many times, more than one book a day. For many, many years my favorite books were Herman Wouk’s The WInds of War, War and Remembrance, and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Others came and went, but I remained, as the song says “true to you, Darlin’, in my fashion”.
Then a bomb was dropped on my paper-strewn world, a tall, red-headed, tartan bomb. Outlander and it’s successors are my absolute, hands-down, I swear on my father’s grave favorite now. Herman Wouk and Harper Lee are still wonderful, but oh, my.
Diana, you had me from Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ.
Type as fast as you can, and keep the Highlanders coming….why are you reading this? Shouldn’t you be typing?
Dear Diana, I have read all of your Outlander series multiple times, including An Echo In the Bone. I just read the short story “a Leaf on the wind…” in the anthology. At the end, you tell the reader to read An Echo in the Bone if they want to find out more about the two men who rescue Jerry in the past. The only reference I could find is when Claire tells Roger that his dad didn’t die over the English Channel and hints that he disappeared through the stones also. I figure that the dark haired one with green eyes is Roger, but who is the other man and what other reference in An Echo in the Bone talks about this event? Thanks, Barb
I hope the Mayan calendar is wrong and the world doesn’t end this year and we all miss MOBY. I am with others who find it distressing when Jamie and Claire are apart. I absolutely abhor it and hope they are together again earlier in MOBY than later. The books are keeping me company as I recover from what can only be described as a living hell of a first half of 2012. I lost my dad and then almost died twice myself after complications from brain surgery. Let me tell you. Spinal meningitis is not fun the first time around more or less the second time through. How would Claire deal with a case of meningitis in Revolutionary War America? When I had it in 1978, the mortality rate was 95%. I did die from it but they brought me back and I survived. This second time around, I at least knew that I had it and was able to get into the hospital much sooner.
I am reading Drums of Autumn for what must be the 12th time and enjoying it just as much as I did the first. I am to the part where Claire has lost the baby and it made me cry again and again and again. That is some powerful writing when I know it is going to happen and it still makes me cry as I read it. I had to put it down for a day so I could get myself together again.
Keep writing and I will keep reading. And I will hope that the Mayans were wrong.
Louise
Can everyone please stop blogging so someone can get a book done?
Hi there,
I heartily agree with all of the comments that fans of this series have left in this blog. I have just finished Echo and will begin reading/listening to the Lord John series…While Jamie and Claire are the power couple in the series, I must admit that Lord John is close to being my favorite character because of his integrity and his everlasting loyalty to Jamie and Claire. He provides a constant positive influence in their lives, despite the fact that the depth of his feelings can never be reciprocated in a manner that will completely satisfy him. I just love what he brings to the series.
I listened to all of the books in the series and I’d just like to know if the fabulous Davina Porter is going to be narrating the final book. This question may have already been answered in this blog but, as it seems to be growing in size every day, I may have missed the answer.
I cannot thank you enough for the gift(s) that you have given to the literary world Ms Gabaldon. I have spent many a night listening to these books in wonder, amazed by the depth of knowledge and sheer talent that you have in your possession. What a gift, indeed.
Thanks again,
Justinn
Diana,
It is uncertain if I will be able to survive the wait until Fall 2013 for MOBY! I have been panting to the finish of book 7 and now finished, feel like a ship without a captain, adrift. I will read the Lord John series next as you have advised others to do.
My Outlander journey began earlier this summer when I had a hip replacement and one of my dear friends and room moms (I teach 5th grade in Marietta, GA) gave me a copy of Outlander to read during my recovery. She had read them all several times and assured me that I would enjoy them. At first, I was daunted by the sheer size and length of the novel, wondering if I could ever finish one, let alone seven!
However, I soon discovered that instead of counting how many pages I had left to read hoping for the end, I found myself counting how many pages I had left to read with great sadness. It was also unfortunate for my family and friends since, once started, I could do little else but read about the lives of Claire and Jaime.
I am also grateful for the depth of research you put into your novels. I teach American History to 10 year olds and have enjoyed finding the subtle references and nuances that are woven into your stories. It has added another dimension to the enjoyment level.
Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents with so many of us. I look forward to MOBY and your other novellas.
I am a great….? granddaughter of Esra Stiles 7th president of Yale University 1777 and I love history. Esra wrote Warshington and offered him an Honorary Degree. I love your books and I am married to a Scothsman. My family came from Kent in England. One of them was Knighted by Henery the 8th. Eight family members came to Americaon on a ship called the Christian in 1635. So you can see why history of England and America are so very interesting to me, since my family has lived through it all.
Your books are so interesting and well writen. I can heardly wait for your next book…!!!
Did I miss the date of the release of Written in my own hearts blood.
I am 70 plus and keep hoping I will living long enough to read the last book of the outlander seris.
Dear Mary–
Fall of 2013. Take your vitamins!
–Diana
Mary,
I know just what you mean! I’m 81 years and wrote Diana at least a year ago that I would really appreciate if she would hurry on the next book. My gosh, we’ve had a kid in a tunnel
and then he goes through the stones, Claire has gone to bed with Lord John (totally unexpected),
Jamie——–well, just how ‘broad minded’ is he going to be! I feel like a kid whose favorite blanket is in the dryer and it’s naptime!
Well, good luck, and remember those vitamins! ev
I discovered the Outlander Series a little over a month ago. I am an avid reader and series are my favorites. I fell in love with Outlander immediately and have compulsively read all seven books since. I tried to pace myself but found myself so immensed and interested that I could not. So many nights after the kids were in bed I would read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open – and then wake early and head to work! Now I excitedly await the eighth. You are a very intelligent, diligent and creative woman to weave such a wonderful story with such historical accuracy. As Claire has found her passion is to heal, so yours is to write, and how wonderfully lucky for those of us whose passion is to read!
Hi Diana,
I have to tell you, the books that I have read, do not compare the the Outlanders Series, I am now on book 4, Drums of Autumn, I can not wait to buy the last three, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and the Echo in the Bone. Just reading about Jamie and Clair, makes me want more. I heard you have another one coming out in 2013, hope it still is about them!
And what’s this about a Mini Series, I will be watching, could not take me away from the TV!!
Keep up the wonderful writing you do, can’t wait for more to come!!
Kind Regards,
Cheryl