The State of the Wicket* – as of New Year’s Day, 2013
This is a quick run-down of everything I know about that y’all might possibly want to know about. [g]
1. The cable-TV series of OUTLANDER.
a) It _is_ an agreement for a cable-TV series.
i. It is NOT a mini-series.
ii. It is NOT a movie.
iii. It is not regular network TV.
iv. Yes, if it gets made, unless you already subscribe to STARZ, you will have to pay to watch it, sorry.
b) The cable-TV series is being developed by STARZ.
i. It’s being _developed_.
ii. It’s not (yet) being _produced_.
iii. There is no casting call at present.
a. If there was one, I’d have nothing to do with it.
b. Please stop sending me pictures of your male relatives that you think look like Jamie.
c. Please stop sending me photos of yourself, even if you’re _sure_ you look just like Claire.
d. _Really_ stop sending me photos of that grotesque Irish wrestler with the clown hair.
e. Yes, Kevin McKidd, Gerard (not Gerald) Butler, Kate Winslet and Alex Kingston are all wonderful actors.
f. All these people are about twenty-five years TOO OLD to play any of the main characters in OUTLANDER.
g. Jamie is 22. Claire is 27.
h. Makeup and special effects do have limits.
c) No, I don’t know when the series will air.
i. The pilot script is still being written.
ii. The pilot script is not yet approved.
iii. If it is approved, STARZ might or might not agree to confirm the whole series or they might shoot the pilot first; we don’t know.
iv. When I _do_ know, I’ll tell you.
d) Ron D. Moore is the developer, writer, and show-runner for the OUTLANDER cable-TV series.
i. Yes, I like him.
ii. He came out to my house and spent a whole weekend with me, talking over the books, characters, etc.
iii. I believe him when he says he cares about doing a faithful (but effective) adaptation.
iv. I liked his ideas and suggestions.
v. Yes, I’ve seen the outline for the (projected) first season.
vi. Yes, I think it’s good.
vii. No, I haven’t seen the pilot script. But
e) IF the series does get produced, I can pretty much guarantee that it will have a lot of sex in it.
i. If you are one of the readers who reads the books with a black marker in hand in order to cross out naughty words and scenes of intimacy, you might want to make plans to watch something else.
2. MOBY. Aka WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD. Aka Book 8 of the Main (Big Book) Series. Aka Yes, it’s about Jamie and Claire. (My Own Heart’s Blood = MOHB = MOH-B = MOBY. Geddit?) Also, it’s probably going to be fairly large. (Precedent, you know?)
a) No, it isn’t on bookshelves today, even though it –is- now 2013.
b) No, it won’t be on sale this month, either.
c) BECAUSE I’M STILL WRITING IT, THAT’S WHY.
d) Yes, it _will_ (God willing and the creek don’t rise) be published this year.
e) In the Fall, OK?
f) I live in the Northern Hemisphere. I mean MY Fall. All y’all Australians and Kiwis are smart people; I have complete confidence that you can make the mental adjustment.
f) No, I don’t have a pub date.
g) The publisher sets the pub date.
h) The publisher certainly wouldn’t set a pub date without some reasonable expectation of having a manuscript in hand by said date.
i) They don’t have a manuscript in hand yet.
j) BECAUSE I’M STILL WRITING IT, THAT’S WHY.
m) No, I can’t tell you that I will be finished writing it on X date.
n) Because it doesn’t work like that.
o) And for heaven’s sake, what possible difference could it make? (Talk about OCD…)
3. Other Stuff.
a) Novellas. There are several novellas, dealing with secondary characters from the main series. Most of these were originally written for various anthologies, but as I get the reprint rights back, are now being made available as print collections and/or standalone ebooks.
b) Which form you, personally, can get hold of easily depends where you live. Printing rights are sold and managed on a geographical basis: i.e., print rights are sold _separately_ in the US and in other English-speaking countries. In practice, it usually works out that the US and Canada have the same rights and timing, while the UK/Australia/NewZealand group of countries may have something different.
c) Now, I do urgently need to go back to writing MOBY, so I’m not writing up all the ghastly details of where/when/what about the novellas AGAIN. I’ve done it on Facebook and on my website, _and_ as a special “extra” for the UK edition of THE SCOTTISH PRISONER. You can find the complete (mind-numbing) explanation on www.DianaGabaldon.com later this week. However—
d) IF you live in the US, you can get “The Custom of the Army” as a standalone (i.e., cheap
http://tinyurl.com/CustomArmy
and likewise “A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows,” which is the story of Roger MacKenzie’s parents in WWII.
http://tinyurl.com/LeafHallows
e) IF you live in the UK/Australia/NewZealand end of things (OR you want to go to the expense of getting an imported book), you can get A TRAIL OF FIRE, which is a print volume containing both the novellas noted above, plus two others: “Plague of Zombies,” and “The Space Between” (which deals with Michael Murray, Joan MacKimmie, the Comte St. Germain, and Mother Hildegarde, among others).
f) “The Space Between” _will be_ released in the US/Canada market IN AN ANTHOLOGY (that means you should look up the title OF THE ANTHOLOGY on Amazon.com/ca, not the title of the story) in February of This Year. Right soon now. The ANTHOLOGY is called THE MAD SCIENTIST’S GUIDE TO WORLD DOMINATION. (I’ll be doing an appearance to sign this—and anything else anybody wants signed—on Feb. 20th, at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, along with John Joseph Adams, the editor of the anthology.)
g) For information on getting autographed copies of any of my books, see
http://bit.ly/DianaGabaldonAutographed
THANKS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
You are the best! Have just wiped away all tears of laughter after reading your New Year greeting. I absolutely love your books and wait patiently for the next one. Wishing you a wonderful new year and that you’ll take good care of yourself.
Diana,
You are AWESOME!!
Do what you do and be blessed! I love your talent and will patiently (maybe not patiently but i wont bug you) wait for MOBY!
Love ya!
My husband who is an avid reader but only his macho man books, Flynn, Baldacci (I also like these in moderation so not busting on them or anything) etc. finally broke down and read Outlander after my incessant nagging. He quietly burned thru the whole series without me asking him if he wanted to read the next one. Your work is impressive and is not limited to a select group of readers, it captivates all. Thank you for sharing your stories with us!
LOL. This sounds like answers to questions David Gerrold answers all the time about his Chtorr series. I guess that is the problem with authors who write popular books! I’ve been waiting for the next Chtorr for years, and I will patiently wait for MOBY as well.
dear diana, I want to thank you for the gift of your outlander books . i feel that I should know jamie and claire. I know its probably not your vision of them , but its mine and I can see them so clearly . I am so happy that you will soon be publishing the new one this year(we hope!) because poor jemmy has been left in the dark entirely too long ! every time I Hear that you are about to give us another one, I read them all over again . uh, the fiery cross just fell apart into 3 pieces this time. I am kinda rough on books!by the way. you are right about all those people being too old to play those parts ! I know because I’m too old too ! with the greatest admiration, I will goodnight. bonnie
Thanks for your great Advent blogs Diana – knowing that we have to wait another 6-9 months for MOBY to come out – the excerpts make it more bearable!
I really enjoyed Trail of Fire and in particular The Space Between. I’m hoping to see more written about Joan and Michael!
I LOVE the Happy New Year post! OMG, Diana–you clearly get interrogated by fans! Though I can see why! Your Outlander series is awesome! I’ve read all the books, but listening to Davina Porter is amazing! She is the perfect narrator for your books. Cant wait for 8
P.S- I wonder if people really do the black marker thing???? YIKES
Dear Jessica–
Yeah, they do [g], though only two (I think) people have written to tell me that they do.
–Diana
Diana, you are so funny. But waiting is wonderful, it whets the appetite. In fact, when An Echo In The Bone came out I didn’t read it for months, just looked at it on my bookkcase with thrilled anticipation and re-read all the others first.
Re: the black marker thing, to quote my elderly mother: “Sarah, that book you recommended had far too much sex in it. I read it twice.”
Wanted to pass on that I have loved the books from the moment my grandmother and mother got me interested in Outlander in the early 90′s. You had 3 generations of fans from the first book, in our family! (I am close to your age.) I do want to read some of the spin-off series, as well (so many books, so little time…) I want to commend you on your top-notch writing skills. Very articulate, detailed descriptions of historical and cultural information. You know so much about so many things, and I have learned a lot, as well! So many feelings can be provoked from relationships of the characters. Thought I would pass on a comment, even though from your blog comments, you are tired of getting suggestions for actors to play Jamie. I just wanted to share my recent thought when watching the new Tom Cruise movie Oblivion. I really was intrigued by the actor named Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who was working along side Morgan Freeman in the movie.
Sam Heughan…. good choice! Must grow his hair…..image complete, cant wait until I speak to my sister, I really hope we can get the series in the UK!! Cant wait for the new book, I dont care when you finish it, I can wait to read it. I think I will start all over again while I wait. thank you so much Diana
Ms. Gabaldon -
Can you at least ask your future Movie Directors to hire Gerard Butler as Jamie gets OLDER?
Most of the projected male stars look like the boy next door, without the edge of darkness that OUTLANDER Jamie possesses.
Also, Dougal needs to be REALLY handsome to highlight his betrayals;
we gotta fall in love with him first, then get faced with the challenge of working that through.
Thanks, I hope, M.Jackson
Dear Marianne–
I think the casting people are doing a good job so far; we’ll hope for the best! [g]
–Diana
Hola, me encanta la saga de la forastera y me gustaría mucho que la serie o película si llegara a salir llegase a España. Enorabuena!!!