Well, aside from incessant travel, a new puppy (our son’s, but he comes over to run around in our big backyard), 2-300 emails a day, and the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival (at which I accidentally had breakfast with Alan Dershowitz)…you know, not that much… But I’m digging my way through the email and engagements—but also writing, so thought I’d share a bit of Book Ten, for fun. [EXCERPT FROM UNTITLED BOOK TEN, Copyright © 2023 Diana Gabaldon – possible spoiler, but not likely]...| dianagabaldon.com
Archive for 2024| dianagabaldon.com
OK, this is a) for fun, and b) a brief illustration of how books and film work. Below is a brief excerpt from the first Prequel book (which I‘m thinking of calling A BIRD IN THE HAND, but not set on it yet). NB: I wrote this three or four years ago. The copyright exists from the moment of creation in a concrete form, but is updated to the current year, until the book is published, at which point that year is set as the beginning of the copyright period. That’s why it says “2025”. NB a...| DianaGabaldon.com
I said I’d post my enchilada recipe today, but time got away from me, in the rush. If there’s no time to make them for tomorrow, there’s always New Year’s! ENCHILADAS My father was always one to recognize both merit and shortcomings. Consequently, while he was often generous with praise, all his compliments came with a “BUT…” attached. “This is wonderful, BUT…” In fact, I remember only three unqualified compliments from him. Thirty years ago, he told me that my swimming st...| DianaGabaldon.com
Today is the Fourth (and final) Sunday of Advent. The waiting is almost over, but the anticipation is still to be enjoyed. The final candle (since we’ve used the other labels) is Peace. Peace is one of those things that you can’t really define (not that people don’t, but—like love—it has depths and shimmering facets of meaning), but you know it when you encounter it. Hence the Biblical quote, “The peace that passeth understanding.” Peace often comes and finds you in the midst of...| DianaGabaldon.com
This is the Third Sunday of Advent. People and sources differ as to whether this particular candle should be “Joy,” “Love,” or “Peace,” but the Catholic Church has historically called this day “Gaudete” Sunday—which means “Rejoicing.” Are we rejoicing that Advent is nearly over, and Christmas is coming? Or panicking because we’ve just thought of three people for whom we haven’t yet found presents, and omg, we haven’t touched the Christmas cards!? Oh, wait… yes, y...| dianagabaldon.com
Ever wonder what I do as an author? How do I write my books? What is involved in publishing them? Below are some essays and thoughts about What I Do and about writing in general: Focus and Endings, Part 1: I’ll be teaching at the Surrey Intl. Writers Conference (again!) this October, 2024 (that’s Surrey, British Columbia, not the one in the U.K.), and the two topics I’ll be dealing with are “Focus” and “Endings”. I think I may use these two consecutive/connected scenes from Book...| dianagabaldon.com
What This Is… What this is, is a “Collection of Outlander Fiction,” as the cover states. It’s seven novellas, all written by me, and all dealing with the interesting side-stories and lacunae of the Outlander universe. Five of these novellas were originally published in various anthologies, and in the US/Canada, have then been published singly as ebooks. (Not, however, in the UK/Australia/NewZealand, Germany, etc.) The final two novellas of SEVEN STONES, though, are brand-new stories t...| dianagabaldon.com
On November 3, 2018, I posted a first excerpt from a book I would like to write about Master Raymond in my blog entry titled, “Days of the Dead”: Social Media Hashtags: #DailyLines, #Prologue, #MasterRaymondsBook, #NOitisntwrittenyet, #HappyHALLOWEEN In the chilly season, when the air grows cold and the spiders die, comes a thin time. The days are short, so all the light of them is concentrated, squeezed between the dawn and dark. This is why the light is different, and each thing has a S...| dianagabaldon.com
Archive for 2025| dianagabaldon.com
As part of the Sudden Storm (wasn’t that the title of an old soap opera? Or was it “The Gathering Storm”? My parents both worked in the school system (principal and teacher, though not the same school) and so hired a housekeeper who would be there for the couple of hours between our arrival from school and our mother getting home—her name was Annie Mae, and she was wonderful. She also watched soap operas while ironing, which is how I come to know that…) — . Anyway, someone on anot...| dianagabaldon.com
What’s on my mind? Hmmm…. Well, I was reading through a chunk of ABFAWGO (hey, at least it’s a pronounceable abbreviation. If you want to call the book BLESSING or WARRIOR, though, fine by me…), and came to this sentence: “I took the bottle and poured a bit more whisky all round; this was clearly going to take some time.” Beastly Microsoft Word naturally popped in with its Helpful Suggestions, to wit: That as I’m making a comparison (it thinks), I should change “whisky” to ...| dianagabaldon.com
Well, first things first— A Very (slightly ex post facto…) Happy Birthday to Sam Heughan! When he was first cast to play Jamie Fraser, I noted that he was born on April 30th, while Jamie’s birthday is May 1st—one on either side of the Beltane fire. Beltane is the Celtic fire festival that marks the beginning of summer, so plainly a time of good omens. As it turned out, it was indeed a time of good omens for All Things Outlander, so it seems an appropriate time to offer up two bits of ...| dianagabaldon.com
A Happy Easter (and peaceful Passover) to everyone! (This was one of those semi-accidental/semi-metaphorical photos—showing how the Light touches our everyday things, and makes even the smallest and most trivial aspects beautiful. So may God touch your life.) Click on my image at right to view a larger version. So… descending to the beautifully trivial —what did y’all make for your feasts? We do Italian food for Easter (Mexican food is for Christmas): I made Drunk Chicken Pasta Salad,...| dianagabaldon.com
Well, it’s March 6th. This is my anniversary—not of marriage—but of beginning to write a book. I knew from the age of eight that I was supposed to write books; I just didn’t know how. I have had people ask me whether I regret not getting an English degree and starting writing sooner, instead of wasting time on all those science degrees. (Really, people will say anything to someone they see as a Public Figure…) I actually never thought about that for a moment, and in retrospect, the...| dianagabaldon.com
A BLESSING FOR A WARRIOR GOING OUT will be the tenth major novel in my Outlander series of novels. On May 1, 2025, I announced the title in my blog entry, “GOOD OMENS.” Book Ten will follow GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE, the ninth major novel featuring the story of Claire and Jamie, which was first published on November 23, 2021. A BLESSING FOR A WARRIOR GOING OUT will be the last of my Outlander novels which feature Jamie Fraser and Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser. After that, I have i...| dianagabaldon.com
Wednesday, February 12, 2025 I just got a text from our younger daughter, reading: “Happy Anniversary, you little cuties! Hope you’re celebrating 8 million years being weird together in some lovely way. Love you!” (As in, today is our 48th wedding anniversary—or 53rd, if you count five years together pre-wedding…) Which made me remember (when I stopped laughing) that last fall, one of the Outlander actors (name withheld for reasons of confidentiality ) asked me if I had any tips for...| dianagabaldon.com
Whew… just back from a working cruise down the Danube (and getting up in the middle of each night on the river in order to write a script for the Prequel, needed in two weeks. Luckily, I made it. ). So—just in time for a brief excerpt in honor of Jamie’s birthday tomorrow (and a quick “Happy Birthday!” to Sam Heughan, whose birthday is/was today): EXCERPT from BOOK TEN (UNTITLED), Copyright © 2024 Diana Gabaldon [Jamie and Roger sitting outside the malting shed, discussing Jamie’...| dianagabaldon.com
A Happy and Blessed Easter (or other spring festival/contemplative occasion or feast involving eggs…) to you all! HAPPY EASTER-EGG! [Excerpt from (Untitled) BOOK TEN, Copyright © 2024 Diana Gabaldon] They stopped for the night near a small creek, having passed the afternoon in silence, and made camp and ate, with no more than the occasional grunt of inquiry and acknowledgement while sharing out the last of the cheese, hard-cooked eggs, and soaking the last of the rock-hard journeycake in t...| dianagabaldon.com
Tonight is the Vigil of Easter, a service where we hear readings from the Bible regarding God’s deliverance of His people (e.g., the flight from Egypt and the path through the Red Sea), the reading of the Passion (the description of Jesus’s condemnation and crucifixion), and the Resurrection. Catechumens (the people who wish to become Catholics and have been taking instruction) will be baptized, and others confirmed. It’s a time of mingled sorrow, hope and joy—the coming of Easter. Fo...| dianagabaldon.com
Originally posted on April 7, 2023. A VERY HAPPY EASTER, RAMADAN MUBARAK, and CHAG KASHER VE SAMEACH! I hope everyone (of whatever belief) has had a wonderful time this weekend/season with family, friends and rejoicing in the spirit of life. I was of two minds about posting this particular excerpt—it is a slight spoiler—but it seemed particularly appropriate for Easter. [Excerpt from UNTITLED BOOK TEN, Copyright © 2023 Diana Gabaldon] In which Jamie and William are crossing a patch of wi...| dianagabaldon.com
On March 6th, 1988, I began writing a novel. For practice. I didn’t intend to show it to anybody, and had no idea what it might turn out to be about. I just wanted to learn how to write a book. And I did. So, here are TWO brief excerpts from the tenth offspring of that line, to mark the 36th anniversary of the beginning of OUTLANDER. [Excerpt from Book Ten (Untitled), Copyright © 2024 Diana Gabaldon] [Excerpt One] How to pack for a rescue operation in which one has no idea where one may ...| dianagabaldon.com
MANY thanks to the Lowell Observatory (in Flagstaff, Arizona) for including me in their wonderful “I (heart) Pluto” Festival this weekend! Everyone had a wonderful time, including State Representative Justin Wilmoth, who is introducing a bill to the Legislature declaring that “Pluto is the State Planet of Arizona.” (As the Representative noted in his remarks, “No other state has discovered a planet!”) (Yes, we know that Pluto is dismissed as a “planetoid” by the uninformed; (m...| dianagabaldon.com
Well. First, HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! I hope you all had plenty of chocolate, and a nice day filled with warm breezes and spring flowers! Weirdly enough, today was also Ash Wednesday—some of you will likely have seen the occasional person going about their business with a smeary black thumbprint in the middle of their forehead; this is the application of ashes, which Catholics take as a sign of the beginning of Lent, a season of penitence and preparation for Easter. The combination of Ash W...| dianagabaldon.com
Just for general interest…(if you have any, I mean )… here’s the an interview/podcast (in two parts) that I did with/for Andrew Buckley (The Storycentric Podcast): Thanks, Andrew! -Diana There are multiple ways to listen to podcasts, on different apps/services, so choose whichever you prefer below. Don”t subscribe to any of them? Well, some of these services apparently will allow you to listen to a podcast or two on a trial basis without signing up and paying for a new subscription. P...| dianagabaldon.com
Oooookay….moving right along here… EVENTS FOR FEBRUARY! EVENTS FOR FEBRUARY Well, February looks pretty interesting, event-wise. It has our 47th wedding anniversary, but beyond that…. Monday, Feb. 5th – The Poisoned Pen – 7:00-8:30 PM (Ticketed Event – $35 to $45, which includes a copy of FOURTEEN DAYS signed by myself and Doug Preston. See below for buy links.) I’ll be doing a live (but also available online) event with Doug Preston (half of the Preston and Child team that prod...| dianagabaldon.com
GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE (aka “BEES”) is the ninth book in my OUTLANDER series of novels which focus on Jamie Fraser and Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser. BEES follows WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD, aka "MOBY," which is the eighth book in my OUTLANDER series. BEES was first published in hardcover on Tuesday, November 23, 2021 in the U.S.A., Canada, U.K., and Germany. A Spanish-language edition was first released in Spain on Thursday, July 7, 2022. Information on Global Publicati...| dianagabaldon.com