JOIN ME IN FERGUS, ONTARIO NEXT WEEKEND!
I’ll be at the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games next weekend, August 9-11! (Well, I’ll actually be in evidence only on the 10th and 11th, but there are public events on Friday—the “Heavy” competitions, and the Tattoo—that you may be interested in as well.) The official website is here, but the part of the schedule that applies specifically to my own appearances is listed below:
Saturday, August 10
Doors Open: 8:00am
8:30am- Fergus Scottish Festival, Diana Gabaldon & the Ladies of Lallybroch through the ages. ~ Lynn Boland Richardson
9:00am-10:00am – Diana Gabaldon
10:00am- Booksigning and Photo Opportunities
1:30pm- Fergus Scottish Festival, Diana Gabaldon & the Ladies of Lallybroch through the ages. ~ Lynn Boland Richardson
2:00pm-3:00pm- Diana Gabaldon
3:00pm- Booksigning and Photo Opportunities
Sunday, August 11
Doors Open: 9:00am
9:30am- Fergus Scottish Festival, Diana Gabaldon & the Ladies of Lallybroch through the ages. ~ Lynn Boland Richardson
10:00am-11:00am – Diana Gabaldon
11:00am- Booksigning and Photo Opportunities
2:30pm-3:30pm- Diana Gabaldon
3:30pm-6:00pm Booksigning and Photo Opportunities
[I’ll also be doing the Opening Ceremonies onstage at the field, mid-day on Saturday. The bookstore is open Friday from 4-6 PM, but there are no formal events on Friday, bar (I think) a ceildih in the evening. Check the official website for more details: http://www.fergusscottishfestival.com/
NO, you won’t get advance copies of MOBY—I haven’t finished writing it yet [g], and it doesn’t come out until next March, in order to coordinate with the (hoped-for) launch of the STARZ TV series. BUT…you _will_ get free (yes, FREE!! [g]) copies of the advance Excerpt Booklet, which includes the first seven chapters of the book. Random House Canada said they’re printing several thousand, so there should be plenty for everyone who wants one.
(And no, sorry—Sam Heughan will _not_ be joining me.)
Saw Diana give her talk in Fergus on Saturday, it was amazing! I have never been so engaged in a author’s forum about their books, although never have I seen any other of my favourite authors in person either. But she was witty, smart, and above all the voice of Claire/Jamie et all that shines through in her speaking of them like old friends (which for all of her readers they are). A tremendous personal story that lead up to these awesome books. I did not expect that she would be so engaging and personable even when speaking to a room with hundreds of people in it. And even cooler on the tech/computer side of her story that I had no idea about!
She is Even Cooler in Person!
Why, thanks, Jeannine! [g]
I had a great time in Fergus with all of y’all–thanks so much for coming!
–Diana
Dear Diana,
I am very relieved to find out that there is a next book coming in The Outlander Series! I have read the first seven books and loved them. I couldn’t believe that you would leave all this hanging….and, you haven’t!:)
I personally am just not that thrilled about graphic books…. and love your writing….sooooo- I will await the new one next March. How does one sign up for the free excerpts, and when does that happen?
I have some Scottish Ancestry, so was delighted when a friend told me about your series, months ago, now. I’ve even tried drinking some Scotch, just for fun….(it’s too strong for me-)….
Anyway, thanks for a great series, and all the best in writing the next book!
Alexandra MacLean Hawley
I want to thank you again for coming to the games in Fergus. I appreciate the time you took to answer my question when you must have been very tired after signing so many books. Hope to see you again in two years.
My pleasure, Gord!
Lovely to see you. [smile]
–Diana
It was great seeing you again at Fergus. I am sorry for inconvenient in giving you a wee Lego gift. I do know it wasn’t ideal to give gifts at signing events and the trouble of taking them back home. I only thought it was just tiny enough to carry. No matter I will be just more happy if you already gave it to someone you know that would love to have it. Thank you so much for coming to Fergus and will see you again in 2015 (hopefully this time I ll be able to see a naked Scot running in the field! Just heard they said there was one on Sat night?)! Smile.
Thank you, again, for joining us at dinner on Saturday evening. It was a great pleasure for Ed & I to sit at the head table with you and your DH. I so enjoy watching you and your DH interact, whether laughing together or sending private messages with eyes and body language. You are so good together . No wonder Claire and Jamie’s marriage works so well. I suspect that in many ways you are using examples of issues from your own marriage to fill in the private lives of Claire & Jamie.
Looking forward to seeing you again in 2015. We enjoyed exceptional weather this year – no rain to speak of, not too hot and dusty, lots of big puffy clouds. If only the mosquitoes hadn’t swarmed us during/after dinner. Hope you didn’t end up needing a transfusion after all that blood loss.
Dear Cathy–
It was great fun to share supper with y’all! Thanks to Michelle’s giant bottle of DEET (I bathed in the stuff), I was only bitten once.
–Diana
I Dianna, I live in Australia & was wondering about the excerpt booklet that was going to be hand out at the Fergus (ontario) Scottish Festival.
Is there any way I could get my hands on one of those?????????
Dear Cynthia–
The excerpt booklets are done as a promotion by the US and Candian publishers (both Random House)–to be given away at large events, like Fergus, or (closer to the book’s pub date) distributed free in bookstores. Don’t really know how you’d get hold of one, save by making friends with an American or Canadian who’d send you one, though.
–Diana
Hello,
Will the audio version of MOBY be out the same day as the print version? And will it be narrated by the incomparable Davina Porter? I hope for a “yes” to both!
Thank you,
Amy
From all the wonderful pictures and stories I am seeing from my Lallyfamily, it sounds like it was a fantastic weekend!
I was wondering if all the free Excerpt copies of MOBY were given away. Is there any way to get a copy?
Loving the casting so far for the Starz series!
Dear Diane,
I am a huge fan of the “Outlander Series” and have been waiting like a child at Christmas for your next book “In My Hearts Blood” to be released. My friends and daughters share my enthusiasm. My concern is for the series to be released on Starz, I hope you have a great deal of control over the script content and other details around the series. I have found that so many books, when they make it to the big or small screen, seem to lose the integrity and detail that made the books so good. I am sure you know what I mean by this. I was also a fan of Josh Whedon’s, ” Firefly” but when it was distributed it was done out of order and eventually cancelled. It became famous after the cancellation. An artist, such as yourself, is busy creating art and not able to control factors that diminish that art. I really hope that “Outlander” does not fall prey to these factors and those that have not read your books will be inspired as those of us that have read your art. Best wishes and Thank you for your artistry.
we need real Scottish actors and Jamie and Brianna need to have red hair or the story is ruined the books were brilliant don’t want the story to be rubbish on tv hopefully they wont change to much
Consider Alicia Menshew as Claire.
Hi Diana,
Thank you soo much for all the amazing work that you do! I really love it!
I was just wondering if you could mention the Second Oulandish companion? I know that you mentioned earlier that its in the works…is this still the case? Have you enjoyed some sections of it particularly?
Kindest regards,
Ilka
Whoops my fingers are keyboard fatigued and left out the letter T from previous post, …i meant Outlansish Companion numero dos!
(grin)
~Ilka
Will the advance 7 chapter excerpt be available online for us to read? ty.
Dear Joyce–
Not immediately. Maybe in the new year, when the booklets are widely available in paper form.
–Diana
Hi Diana,
My future wife loves you and your books. We have several copies of each including the worn out ones that she just can’t let go of because they were the firsts. I’ve gotten to take her to Scotland and the Clava Cairns and I swear that was the happiest she’s ever been on a trip.
If there were any way for you to send her a note or anything she would be over the moon (and it would help me in taking one more step towards living up to Jamie!)
Cheers
Dear Fiance’ (g)–
Email me (dgabaldon@aol.com) with your fiancee’s name and where to send the note, if you would; will see what I can do.
–Diana
Hi Diana,
I sent you the email. Hope you got it!
Cheers
Any chance you will be coming to the Great Lakes area? You have many fans in the Ohio/ Michigan area who would love a chance to see you! Most of your appearances are too far away for us to come to!
Dear Angela–
Probably not in the immediate future. It’s a beautiful area–and they _do_ send me to Chicago once in awhile [g]–but the bottom line is that there’s only one of me and I just can’t be everywhere.
–Diana
Hi Diana,
I like so many people can’t wait for book 8 and hope that time will crawl by at a faster pace till it is released. I live in Idaho and not a lot of tours come this way.
I am amazed at how many projects you work on and finish at the same time. I herd that you were going to work on a second outlandish companion book and wondered if that was still in the works.
Thank you,
Chris
Dear Chris–
Yes, the second volume of THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION is kind of standing by, waiting ’til I’ve finished writing MOBY, but should be out fairly soon after that!
–Diana
I am so excited for the release of MOBY, although March seems so far away. You had a previous release date of December 10th which I was so excited about because that was my birthday.
I can’t wait to watch the Outlander Series and love the actors that have been chosen mostly because you had a say in choosing them and also because Sam Heughan is real life Scotsman! Whenever I hear the song “Gone, Gone, Gone” by Phillip Phillips, it makes me think of Jamie and Claire. When you get a chance, listen to it. I can picture the whole trailer for the miniseries in my head when I sing it everyday on my way to work!
Thank you for all of your efforts!!! I just hope you will continue to be a part of the descionmaking process for the miniseries.
I only wished I had checked up on your blog sooner! I can’t believe I had the chance to see you only an hour away! I just recently named my cat Fergus if that gives any content to my: a) geography and b) enjoyment of your characters! My husband threatens to call our next child Fergus,…but that could be odd after a cat having the same name under the same roof. AND, I did love your books so much that I was on a bit of a Scottish kick when I had my twins, Ewan and Fiona, but thankfully our last name is Scottish so it wasn’t much of a stretch. Well, I guess I will just have to take the twins under the guise of visiting the Fergus highland games another year!
Best of luck on the Starz series…I know I will be watching it!
On Twitter, I keep seeing references to “Thru the Stones”. Have I missed something here. Is it a new Novella?
Love the series (began and ended the 7 this year).
Just a plea to DG to consider the actual manifestations of moon phase and tides on the lives of the characters and actions which people the books.
Dear Tommaso–
Well, I’ll do my best. Though I don’t think I have much seaside activity in this book…
–Diana