[This excerpt is from WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD (which will be published June 10th, 2014. Copyright 2013 Diana Gabaldon.] She was shaking. Had been shaking ever since Lionel Menzies left. With a faint sense of abstraction, she held out her hand, fingers spread, and watched it vibrate like a tuning fork. Then, irritated, made a fist and smacked it hard into the palm of her other hand. Smacked it again and again, clenching her teeth in fury, until she had to stop, gasping for breath, her palm tingling. “OK,” she said, under her breath, teeth still clenched. “_OK_.” The red haze had lifted like a cloud, leaving a pile of cold, icy little thoughts under it. _We have to go. Where? And when_? And the coldest of all: _What about Roger?_ She was sitting in the study, the wood paneling glowing softly in the candlelight. There was a perfectly good reading-lamp, as well as the ceiling fixture, but she’d lit the big candle instead. Roger liked to use […]
Tag Archive for ‘Diana Gabaldon’ 
A QUICK TREAT FOR ST. ANDREW’S DAY
Thanks to Outlander_Starz (and Sam Heughan and Adhamh O’ Broin) for the lovely Gaelic lesson! “Speak Outlander, Lesson 1: Sassenach” [And on a more sober note, please take a moment for prayer or kind thoughts in support of those killed, injured or bereaved by the dreadful helicopter crash in Glasgow yesterday.]
Publication Date Change – Sorry About This…
Well. I _really_ hate writing this, and I do apologize….but the pub date for MOBY is moving. Two reasons for this: 1. The first—and by far the most important—is that I began to realize about a month ago that I needed a little more time in order to finish the book the way it needs to be done. I could get the necessary wordage on paper by the end of the year—but it wouldn’t be _good_. Good takes more time. And I’m really sorry, but you’re not getting a book that’s less than the best I can do. 2. The second thing has to do with the new Starz tv show. Two things about _that_: a. While the original guess as to the date for the series release was April, that _was_ only a guess. In New York last month, the Starz people were telling me (and the assorted fans present; it’s not a secret) that it will be (take your pick), “June,” “July,” “August,” or “summer.” So, you know…later. […]
Casting Commentary
Goodness, can’t leave you lot to your own devices for long, can I? [g] Given the amount of traffic I see in the stats for this blog and my Facebook page, I conclude that the Casting Wars are still boiling along. Well. Look. 1) People are entitled to their own opinions. Naturally, I’d prefer these opinions to be expressed—and received—civilly, but up to you, of course. I believe in the virtues of free discourse. 2) I—of course—am likewise entitled to an opinion. [cough] Now, my opinion is based on rather more information than most others expressed here, because a) I created Jamie Fraser and thus—presumably–have a pretty good idea of what he really looks and acts like. b) While I haven’t yet met Sam Heughan, I’ve seen Rather a Lot of him (about 95%, at a rough guess), both in terms of a. Photographs, and b. Film, and c. Bits and pieces, like audition tapes Naturally, everyone forms mental images while reading. Everybody. I do it when I read other […]
Fan Event in New York – Behind The Scenes Video
Thought you all might enjoy a glimpse of what’s going on with the new cable-tv show (at least those of you in the US; this video was produced and posted by Starz, who are the US distributors of the show, and I’m afraid the video isn’t viewable by other countries–yet. I’m hoping they’ll figure out how to do that shortly, but it’s not in my hands, sorry). This video is a Fan Event put on by Starz while I was in New York last weekend at Comic Con, promoting the new show with Ron D. Moore, the executive producer and show-runner. You’ll get at least a glimpse of the sets and characters and preparation going into the show–followed by 45 minutes of detailed Q&A with me and Ron. (At the upper right is a captured image of Ron and me from the video.) And a little later this week, I’ll be posting a round-up of the actors who have been announced so far, along with such photos and information as […]
FERGUS (Ontario) SCOTTISH FESTIVAL AND HIGHLAND GAMES
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 […]
It’s Official!
STARZ GREENLIGHTS NEW ORIGINAL SERIES “OUTLANDER” FROM “BATTLESTAR GALACTICA” EXECUTIVE PRODUCER RONALD D. MOORE Network Will Team up with Sony Pictures TV Series Based on Diana Gabaldon’s International Best-Selling Novels Beverly Hills, Calif., June 25, 2013 – Starz Chief Executive Officer, Chris Albrecht, announced today that Starz will partner with Sony Pictures Television to greenlight “Outlander,” an original series adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international bestselling books. The network has ordered 16 episodes of the series which will begin filming in Scotland this fall. It is slated to premiere in 2014. The series adaptation for “Outlander” will be written by Ronald D. Moore (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation”). Moore is best known for his work on “Battlestar Galactica,” which won him a Peabody Award in 2006. Ronald D. Moore and Jim Kohlberg are executive producers of “Outlander,” which is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Story Mining and Supply Company and Left Bank Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television. “We were drawn to ‘Outlander’ because it […]
ARE YOU FEELING….EXHIBITIONISTIC?
ARE YOU FEELING…EXHIBITIONISTIC? This year’s Historical Novel Society conference takes place Jun 21 – Jun 23 this year, at the Vinoy Renaissance Resort, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. And once again, I’ve somehow been persuaded/drafted into the job of ring-master…er, Mistress of Ceremonies for the Late-Night Sex-Scenes Reading, a regular feature of these proceedings. I inadvertently started this a few years ago, when I attended the HNS and was put on a panel discussing sex-scenes in historical fiction (actually, sex hasn’t altered much in the last few thousand years, so this is pretty generally applicable stuff). There were six people on the panel, and we were mutually introduced electronically and left to figure out how we wanted to handle things. Having done a number of workshops at writers conferences on How to Write Sex-Scenes, I mentioned that I thought it was virtually impossible to discuss the craft of such scenes without using examples to illustrate what you were talking about. General consensus on that point. OK…six people on panel. If each […]
Octopus/Octothorpe….there’re eight legs, what else do you want?
EW.com (ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’s electronic edition) reveals the official cover for MOBY (aka WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD), shown above. Here’s the link to their piece, which has a few questions and answers (such as they are [cough]). Image at left: From the 1600s, Sir Isaac Newton’s stylized version of the abbreviation “lb,” which was short for the word “libra” in the Roman weight libra pondo, the origin of the octothorpe (#). While I originally wanted an octopus on the cover—both because I really like octopuses and because of the symbolism (there are eight major characters whose stories I’m telling through this book—and it is the eighth book, after all), there were certain technical issues that made that difficult. My husband—never a big fan of the octopus concept—asked whether I could think laterally; surely there were other ways to get an “8” onto the cover. So I thought. And almost at once, the word “octothorpe” sprang to mind. I’ve always liked the word, and it certainly was appropriate (you may […]