Site Announcements 2003

This page archives the announcements that Diana sent in 2003, which were originally posted on the home page.

8 September 2003

Our Most Grateful Thanks
Lord John Grey is most exceedingly obliged to those of you who have been so kind as to examine his recent adventure in print--Lord John and the Private Matter--and by your kind indulgence, have propelled this modest volume onto the New York Times bestseller list within days of its original publication. He is most humbly gratified, and expresses his sincere wish that you will enjoy the ensuing experience of reading it. (Ms. Gabaldon subscribes her own modest thanks, as well.)

For those of you who are desirous of obtaining a book sporting the discreet signature of its creator, whether as a Christmas present, or for your own delectation, such an item may be obtained promptly from The Poisoned Pen.

Lord John and his creator do beg leave to note most respectfully that this particular volume, while composing part of the Outlander series, is in fact an interpolation within the series, being a historical mystery adventure focused upon Lord John himself, and taking place in 1757. (The next volume in the main line of the series, focused upon Jamie and Claire, and of the usual size {cough}, is entitled A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and will be finished sometime next year--if Ms. G. is not obliged to run around the world to any great extent for the next few months.)

Update from Diana
My profound and grateful thanks to all of the kind, supportive readers who wrote to assure me that you really want the next book--Jamie and Claire, mystery, or Lord John--but are willing to wait for it, and will understand if I can't answer all the email. {g} (The books are going really well, thank you!)

If I can't answer all the email, I do at least try to read it, though. And while--as I've said before--I don't do anything in response to poll numbers, I did notice two general types of response to my last update here:

Type 1: "I'm really offended at the arrogant, condescending tone of your website. I like your books, and plan to keep reading them, but I really think you should have more respect for your fans!"

Type 2: "My husband and I both roared with laughter, reading the latest update to your website. You're even more hilarious in person than you are in your books! Your wit and humor are delightful, and we are completely charmed."

The score so far is:
Type 1 - 5
Type 2 - 546

So--my profound and regretful apologies to anyone who has felt themselves offended by anything said here. It was never my intent to show any disrespect to anyone (though it does occur to me to wonder how anyone can possibly have read all of my books without noticing that I actually do have a rather sarcastic sense of humor. I mean, where do you think Claire gets it?). I do apologize, though; offense, like beauty and humor, is in the eye of the beholder.

Now, moving right along to new Frequently-Asked-Questions
When will the new Lord John book be published?

A very excellent question. It already is published in Germany (see Q2, below), where it luckily seems to be appealing to people.

The US/UK/Down Under/Canada tend all to publish at the same time, or nearly so--if only to keep people from having to spend extravagant amounts on postage, shipping a book in from some different continent--and had decided to publish Lord John and the Private Matter in November, in time for Christmas.

HOWEVER, as I was in the very act of composing this update, my agent called to say they had decided to move the publication up to October--no doubt encouraged by the fact that the book was doing well in Germany.

So at the moment, the Official Pub Date for Lord John and the Private Matter is October 3. (Which, publishing being the sensible, straight-forward industry that it is, means the book will actually be in bookshops somewhere around September 30. So the Amazon.com listing promising it for September is--for once--at least technically correct.)

Now, given that I presently have commitments to do brief tours/appearances in Germany, Sweden, Finland (and possibly Holland), starting in mid September, and probably will not be back on US soil until October 4...at which point I will presumably kiss my husband, recycle my underwear and race off to do

1) a US tour,

2) the writers conference in Surrey, BC that I do every October (it's Oct. 16-20, this year), and

3) a Canadian tour...I expect I will arrive home just in time to drop dead and appear as a thoroughly realistic zombie in time for Halloween.

(***HUMOR ALERT ON****)
Anybody who approaches me on the road, say, around October 24, and asks brightly when the next Jamie and Claire book will be out, can expect to be struck smartly upside the head with a dead fish, if I am still capable of the forethought necessary to bring one with me to signings.
(****HUMOR ALERT OFF***)

Why is Lord John and the Private Matter being published in Germany (as Das Meer der Luegen - "A Sea of Lies") before the US? I'd think a book would be published first in the language it was written in!

Well, normally that's the case--for the excellent reason that foreign translations can't be done until the original manuscript is delivered. That means that the English-speaking (in this case) publishers can go ahead and produce the book, while all the non-English publishers are scampering around arranging the translation--and translation of most of my books takes a little while, given their size.

In the case of the new Lord John Grey novel, though, we have a few different factors at work. First, it wasn't a book written under contract (largely because I didn't realize it was a book, until my literary agents told me it was), so none of the publishers were expecting it.

Ergo, everybody got the manuscript at the same time, with no advance warning--hence, no production schedule or pub date was in place.

Secondly, it's a relatively short book (i.e., it's the size of the average "normal" novel; personally, I thought it was a short story, all the time I was writing it {cough}); ergo, it takes much less time to do the translation. And since the US publisher didn't expect the book and didn't have it scheduled, the German publisher was able to arrange the translation while the US publisher was thinking how best to schedule the book.

Thirdly--because of the translation lag--The Fiery Cross appeared in Germany less than a year ago, and pleased everybody by doing extremely well there. It spent weeks and weeks on top of the bestseller lists, got good reviews, and had lots of press coverage- -all very desirable for a book. That being so, the German publisher naturally wanted to take advantage of the popularity of Das Flammende Kruez (The Fiery Cross) by getting the next book out before the reading public forgot how to spell "Gabaldon."

It's been longer, since The Fiery Cross came out in the US/UK/Australia/New Zealand, so there's not as much to gain by rushing the new book into print; if people don't remember who I am in those countries, it's too late. {g}

So, the English-language publishers decided to release Lord John and the Private Matter, in time for Christmas. (And for anybody who wants a signed copy for Christmas presents, you can order them from the Poisoned Pen bookstore. And no, I don't get a percentage of their sales {g}; they kindly handle the autographed-copy orders and shipping, because I just couldn't do it anymore.)

I've noticed one or two sites online selling "Outlander" T-shirts. Do you have any connection with these sites--or do they at least operate with your permission?

No, and no--and thank you for telling me about them, since I wasn't aware of them.

There is one site--http://www.lallybroch.com--which sells or otherwise distributes trademarked "Lallybroch" merchandise, which they do by properly arranged license with me. It's a non-profit arrangement which supports the Ladies of Lallybroch site (excess monies are donated to charity), and I have nothing at all to do with designs, sales, income, etc., nor with the site or the Ladies of Lallybroch organization. They don't pay me anything; I just license them to use the trademark, which I own.

All other merchandise sites operate entirely without my knowledge or consent.

And along the same lines...

I write fan-fiction, and would really like to do some stories involving some of your characters, but thought I should write to ask whether you have any objection to my doing this.

Well...um...yes. Actually, I do mind, and I really, really appreciate your asking first. {smile} I'm aware that many people think fan-fiction is somehow a compliment to the original author--or is at least innocuous. In fact, from a legal point of view, it's copyright infringement (and no, it does not matter whether the infringer is making money from their stories or not, it's still illegal), and from a personal point of view...well, I'm afraid the notion of having someone write stories using my characters makes me rather ill.

(I imagine someone here may bring up a book by Sara Donati, in which Jamie and Claire are mentioned.

A) They're merely mentioned, in a story that one of Donati's characters is recounting; they don't actually appear as characters in that book, and

B) Sara's a friend of mine, who--many long years ago-- wrote that bit as a joke and showed it to me, assuring me that she wouldn't use it if I had any objection. Seeing that in fact Jamie and Claire were not being "used" as characters--but only mentioned as though they were real historical characters of the time--I said that was OK. Given all the subsequent hoo-hah about a 2-paragraph snippet, I wouldn't do it again, even for a friend.)

Now, I do have a couple of other friends who have had characters in their novels reading my novels--Dana Stabenow and Alex Keegan being the authors in question--which really is very flattering of them. {g} But that's quite a different thing.

I have led a very interesting life, and many people have told me what a wonderful story it would make. I've recently decided that they are right, but I'm no writer. I'm a huge fan of your books, and think you would be the perfect person to write my story. Can I meet with you to discuss it?

Well, I'm very flattered that you would think to entrust me with the raw material of your life--that's a great compliment, and I appreciate it. {smile}

However, there are a few considerations. First, this is your story. No one could tell it like you could, and I think you should try. You might discover that you are a writer--or begin to develop into one (it takes time to learn to write well, but the good thing about it is that the more you do it, the better you get at it).

The second thing is that I'm a novelist, not a biographer. My skill lies in "seeing" a fictional world, and pulling that through onto the printed page. To turn a real-life story into either a formal biography or a fictionalized one is a particular and specialized skill, and one that I don't possess.

The third thing--and it's not inconsequential--is that every writer I know has more ideas than he or she will ever be able to write about. I hate to tell you this, but the ideas are the easy part. {g}

Speaking personally, I have {counting on fingers} eight books presently either already under contract with publishers, or in some way in progress. At the rate I write, the chances of my being free to undertake any further projects are...well, kind of remote. I do wish you the best of luck with your project, though!

Is there any further talk of a movie version of your books?

Oh, sure. All the time. {g} No, really--we're entertaining proposals from a couple of very reputable production companies (including one in Japan!) at the moment; if these come to anything, I'll be sure to announce it here!

I am a married father of two from the UK, and find your books wonderful, as do many of my male friends--altogether as entertaining as Wilbur Smith or James Michener! We are rather dismayed by the "girlie" covers, though. Can you not suggest to your publisher that something be done to accommodate the sensibilities of your male readers?

Oh, I've suggested it--with varying degrees of tact (ranging from zero to about .03 {g}; tact is not one of my natural gifts, I'm afraid) And the suggestions are in fact bearing fruit; the UK cover for Lord John and the Private Matter is wonderful, I think.

In fact, the latest round of UK covers are much less horrible than early attempts--which were indeed "girly." But as it becomes evident that this sort of historical adventure fiction appeals to men as much as to women, we are gradually seeing a great improvement in the cover art, worldwide.

My friends and I constantly argue over which of the Outlander books is our favorite. Do you have a favorite among the books, and if so, why?

Well, to me, my favorite is always the book I'm working on, because it's the one where I don't know yet what happens. {g}

No, really--to me, it's all one enormous story, but structured and engineered for presentation as individual volumes.

Having heard opinions on the various books throughout the years (some expressed directly to me, and others heard indirectly), I can tell you that which book appeals most to a person seems to depend on a variety of factors--including age (readers in their teens like Outlander best, while older readers often prefer one of the later books, if only because they find it heartening to see people in their 40's and 50's having sex {g}), life experience (if you haven't had kids yet yourself, you're likely to enjoy the books with more running-around and less family-life, whereas conditions are reversed if you have), and just plain old whim of the moment. {shrug}

I do notice that many people write at one point to tell me that they didn't like the new book (whichever one it was) as much as the older ones--but then write again months or years later to tell me that they were surprised to realize that now the "new" book (whichever one it was) is their favorite.

This happens with every single book; initially, I see a rash of...not quite complaint, exactly, just people saying, "Well, I wish she'd done more of X," or "I was hoping Y would happen," or "I thought the French stuff was kind of boring," or "There were too many leaky boobs," or "It was just too busy; I wish they'd stay put for awhile!" or "It was a little slow," or "There's too much history!" "I wish she'd send them back to Scotland!" You know, that kind of thing. {g}

Anyway, I think this kind of reaction is pretty normal, especially when there's a series that everybody has been living with (and re-reading and discussing) for a long time. It's like having a nice group of friends that you've known for a long time, and suddenly some new person moves into the group.

You may be able to see that they're perfectly nice--but at the same time, you notice all the ways in which they're -different-, and it makes you slightly uncomfortable, because you aren't as used to them as you are to your usual people. You feel critical, and obliged to point out all the ways in which they don't meet your expectations--since the expectations were based entirely on your previous experiences.

But then you become accustomed to them, and start to be interested in and value the differences and novelty. I'm pretty sure it works the same way with the books, because the initial rash of "Well, it was good, but I wish she'd [insert phrase, indicating the reader wishes I had simply rewritten one of the previous books]," always dies away within a few months, and then everyone is just discussing and rereading the newest book--and writing to tell me that that one is now their favorite.

People's tastes and needs generally change as they grow older, too, so that people write to tell me that they liked this book best when they began reading the series, but now their lives have changed in X manner, and they find that suddenly that book has a lot more to say to them.

See, these are big, fat, complex books, and they span a very long time, a lot of history, a lot of geography, and a great many changes in the characters' lives. Naturally, different things are going to appeal to readers at different times of their own lives--but the nice thing is that the whole story is always available to you; you can move back and forth, according to what you need and want in the story.

This is not a real common thing for novels to do, frankly. It's much more usual for a novelist to write books that strongly resemble each other in tone and general pattern--and that's a very popular approach. I don't really want to do that; I like to try new and different techniques of writing and structure, as well as evolving storylines in which people truly change, rather than simply remaining themselves and going through new
adventures.

This does mean that each new book is likely going to feel jarring for a little bit, though, because it won't be just like the others. Luckily, most people seem to find this a good thing in the long run, and I hope the readers will continue to come along for the ride. {smile}

Are you going to devote more time to Fergus and Marsali? They're two of my favorite characters, and I'd like to see more of them!

Are we going to see more of Young Ian? He's one of my favorite characters, and I really wonder what happened to him during his time with the Mohawk?

Are we going to see more of [fill in the blank]?

Well, probably. {g} See, there's a limit to how much material I can physically cram into a book, and therefore, I have to make frequent choices about where to concentrate, in terms of storylines. Rather than try to give equal time to all characters, it makes more sense artistically to concentrate on the central conflicts, and then return to other characters and their conflicts in the next book--one of the nice things about writing a series. {g}

I loved The Fiery Cross--but I was a little disppointed that you didn't show us Stephen Bonnet's death. He's so horrible! I really wanted to see him die, and see Brianna spit on his corpse.

Geez, you really think he's dead? {g} I thought it was so apparent that he wasn't, that I didn't even bother trying to disguise it. (As my husband says, "You can't rely on anybody in your books actually being dead, unless they went "Gak!" right in front of you." Which is, of course, why you didn't see Stephen Bonnet go "Gak!" right in front of you.) You are, by the way, not alone in your opinions. Extremely blood-thirsty, but not alone.

I've just purchased [insert title] and discovered that it is part of a series! Can you tell me the order in which the books should be read?

The order is:
Outlander (or Cross Stitch, in the UK)
Dragonfly in Amber
Voyager
Drums of Autumn
The Outlandish Companion (or Through the Stones, in the UK)

-- NB: This book is not a novel. It's a "companion" volume that provides background, trivia, glossaries, synopses, etc. on the first four novels, plus essays on my writing and research methods, and a 600-volume bibliography of source material. You don't need to read it, though, unless any of that is of interest to you.

The Fiery Cross
A Breath of Snow and Ashes (in progress)

Also, we have a series (in progress) of novels which do belong to the OUTLANDER series, but which are focused on Lord John Grey, one of the minor characters from the main novels. These Lord John books are interpolations in the storyline of the series, and cover adventures that take place during times when Lord John is not interacting directly with Jamie and Claire.

The first of Lord John and the Private Matter. It's set in 1757, just after Lord John has left Jamie Fraser at Helwater, as a paroled prisoner of war, and come back to London to join his regiment. [see Excerpts]

All the books of the series are designed to be able to stand alone, but I do think it's desirable if you can read them in order, if only because it will be easier to keep things straight. {g}

[Hint: And meaning no disrespect whatever; many people just don't realize that that page of fine print in the front of a book gives the year of publication. When you aren't sure of the order of a series, you can just check the books to see when they were published.]

Interviews and Web Thingies

I have just finished an interview with a site called "All About Ghosts." They tell me it will be posted and available as of July 1, in case you're interested.

Meanwhile, there is also available a feature titled "Authors Summer Reading Lists," done by BookReporter.com. This is a feature where a number of authors were asked to list books they intended to read during the summer. Frankly, I don't recall what I told them {g}, but if you're at all curious, here's the direct link.

[***SPOILER ALERT*** People who have not read The Fiery Cross should skip the next two questions.]

Are we going to see more of Young Ian in the next book? I just love him, and missed him in most of The Fiery Cross?

and

Are you going to let us know about Young Ian's life with the Indians?

Yes, and yes. Mind, I can't go into any great detail about a story that isn't completely written yet--partly because I have no idea exactly how it will all work out, and partly because I don't want to give away too much {g}.

But I can tell you that in fact, I had written several scenes involving Ian's life with the Mohawk, which I had originally intended to include in The Fiery Cross, moving back and forth between the Mohawk village and the storyline on Fraser's Ridge.

As it was, though...well, you've seen The Fiery Cross. That's about the limit of how big a book can physically be. Also, when my editor began to read the earlier sections of the book, she said that while she loved both storylines, she felt that it was a little jarring to switch abruptly to the Mohawk setting--she spent several pages each time, wanting to be back at Fraser's Ridge, before settling into Ian's life.

Given both considerations, I thought the simplest approach was just to remove the Indian scenes from The Fiery Cross, and tell that part of the story in flashback during the next book, since Young Ian will of course begin to tell his family what's been happening to him over the last two or three years.

26 January 2003

All right, my personal New Year has now begun (my birthday is January 11, so that's when it starts for me. This is helpful; I need the extra ten days to put away the Christmas decorations and start clearing junk out of my office), and high on the List of Things to Be Done, is to update the website. [g]

So, first things first:

1. Yes, there is another Jamie and Claire book to come. In fact, there are at least two further books in the series, after The Fiery Cross . (There's no way, no how, I can get through the whole American Revolution in one more novel.) I hope this comes as good news!

2. The next Jamie and Claire book does have a title: A Breath of Snow and Ashes.

3. I know I said I thought the next book would be titled Sons of Liberty, but it just isn't. Sorry. Books evolve, and I don't generally know a heck of a lot about them before I write them. As I write, I learn more--and sometimes what I learn is that it has a different title. (And it's not my fault that Amazon snatches titles of unpublished books off my website and offers said titles for sale when the books don't even exist,
either! Take it up with them.)

4. I do not have the slightest idea when A Breath of Snow and Ashes will be published.

A) The book isn't written yet, for heaven's sake.

B) Once it is written, setting the publication date is up to the P-U-B-L-I-S-H-E-R (that's why they're called "publisher," see? Publishing the book is what they do. I am a W-R-I-T-E-R. I write the books. I don't design the covers, I don't set the price, I don't decide when to publish, I don't decide when the paperback comes out, I don't decide how many to print, I don't tell bookstores where to shelve the books or when they should go on sale, etc., etc. I write the books, y nada mas. OK?)

C) Fwiw, it normally does take me 2-3 years to write one of these big historical novels, owing to the research, the complexity, and the sheer bloody size of the things. The Fiery Cross was published in November of 2001--which was 14 months ago. However, I spent just about six of those 14 months doing book tours on three continents. As I think I may have mentioned elsewhere--you can look at me, or you can have the next book
faster; not both. A lot of people wanted to look at me this time.

OK, subtract six from fourteen. Eight months is how long I've had to work on the next book so far. You may extrapolate an estimated date of publication from that, if you'd like.

5. On a brighter note, there will be a new Gabaldon novel published THIS YEAR (2003)!--and I hope this will help to tide everyone over while waiting for A Breath of Snow and Ashes.

6. This new novel is titled Lord John and the Private Matter. As one might suspect from the title, it stars Lord John Grey, one of the lesser (but still important) characters from the Outlander novels. Private Matter is set in 1757, soon after Lord John has left Jamie Fraser as a parolee at Helwater, and returned to his regiment in London--only to be confronted with a Very Delicate Family Matter, and a dead comrade-in-arms who might possibly have been a spy.

Add in a Scottish whore, an Austrian transvestite, an Irish apothecary, a helpful Hun with a plumed helmet, a vanishing footman, a Cornishman with a Horrible Secret (or two), a molly- house, a Nasty Young Man, and Lord John's mother ('Quarry's shaggy brows shot up. "What sort of mother talks about whores on her deathbed? Your mother wouldn't do that, would she?" "I have no idea," Grey said. "The situation has fortunately not arisen."'), and he has enough to keep him from spending all his time thinking of Jamie Fraser.

7. Lord John and the Private Matter does have a publication date, more or less. Which is to say, the US publisher says they would like to put the book on sale in either November or December of this year (the German publisher says July!), but has not yet decided which. This winter, though. (I don't know about the UK, but they usually like to publish about the same time as the US. Canada will also be publishing simultaneously with the US.)

8. No, I did not delay the writing of the next Jamie and Claire book in order to do Lord John and the Private Matter, so let us not be hearing any silly accusations of that sort. It was an accident, that's all.

See, a few years back, I was invited to write a short story for a British mystery anthology. It was to be an anthology "of historical crime" stories, in honor of the late Ellis Peters. Now, you will quite possibly be aware that I don't do "short." [cough] However, I was very flattered to be invited to contribute to this particular anthology, which included stars like Anne Perry and Steven Saylor, and so I did my best, writing a short story of some 12,000 words, entitled Hellfire.

Now, Hellfire starred Lord John Grey, because

A) I couldn't take time to research a completely different period of history, so was obliged to use the 18th century, about which I already knew something,

B) I couldn't see doing a short story about any of the major characters from my novels, because their stories are sort of structurally embedded in the novels,

C) I've always liked Lord John, and d) it occurred to me that--unlike the main characters--there are long stretches of time in which he is not present in the novels, nor are his actions during those times mentioned. So, obviously, he was doing something interesting during the periods when he wasn't interacting with Jamie and Claire--why not write about one such episode? Hence, Hellfire, in which Lord John investigates the death of a red-haired man and gets entangled in the affairs of Sir Francis Dashwood's notorious Hellfire Club.

OK, fine. The story was published, in a volume edited by Maxim Jakubowski, entitled Past Poisons, and published by Headline, a UK publisher. It was a good story, everyone (who read it) seemed to like it--but it's never been printed anywhere else, and that book is long since out of print (though you may be able to find a copy on e-Bay, I suppose).

Still, enough people heard about Hellfire that they kept asking me for it. We e-published it briefly, more as an experiment in e-publishing than anything else, but the company publishing it folded, and the experiment wasn't so successful as to make it worthwhile finding another. But, people kept asking for the story.

Well, I'd enjoyed writing it; I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to write a couple more Lord John short stories. Then the stories could all be printed together as a single volume, thus making Hellfire easily available in print again. So, in January of last year, when I came off the first round of book-tours, I started writing what I supposed was the second Lord John short story, as a means of easing back into my writing routine.

I quickly picked up the threads of the two novels I was working on (A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and a contemporary mystery novel titled Red Ant's Head--see below), but went on working on this story, more or less with my left hand. (It's helpful to have more than one writing project "live" at one time; it's much more productive to be able to switch back and forth among them.) And, coming back from a tour to the UK in August, I stopped in New York City to visit with editors, agents, etc.

I met with my two literary agents (Russell Galen, of Scovil Chichak Galen, and Danny Baror, of Baror International, Inc., for those curious. Russ handles my US rights; Danny does the foreign ones) over lunch, and brought them up to date on everything, adding casually that I was nearly finished with the second Lord John short story. "Oh," said one of them, "and how long did it turn out to be?"

I replied that I was still working on the last scene, but had done a word-count the night before, and it ran about 85,000 words. I'd probably need another 5,000 or so to finish it, I added.

Russ and Danny looked at each other, then at me. "You do realize," one of them said, "that that's the size most normal novels are?" "Well....actually, no," I said. "I thought it was a short story."

Only it wasn't. It was, in fact, a perfectly respectable historical mystery novel, and Russ and Danny promptly took it away and sold it to the US, the UK, Canada and Germany (so far), so here we are. (Nothing like a good literary agent, believe me.)

9. NO, Lord John and the Private Matter is NOT "an attempt to extort money from loyal fans", as I'm sure some ignorant and/or ill-natured persons will suggest. (As though writers have any means of forcing anybody to buy books in the first place. Sheesh.) I wrote the book by accident, and there it is. Look at it. Read a few pages. Flip a few; read some more. If you think you might like it, buy it. If you don't, don't. If you're not sure, check it out of the library. What's hard about this?

(I mention this only because several persons of impatient nature wrote to accuse me of precisely such extortion when I published The Outlandish Companion--simply because they wanted the next Jamie and Claire novel Right Now, and therefore the publication of anything else was obviously a Money-Grubbing Plot on my part. Piffle.)

10. OK, moving right along here...I mentioned the mystery novel. I've had a contract for two contemporary mysteries for the last several years, and have been pecking away at the first such novel on and off for some time. However, owing to vociferous Public Demand, I've been devoting the major part of my working hours in recent years to the Outlander novels.

But, if you keep doing something, even a little bit at a time, you eventually Get Somewhere, and I seem to be getting toward a critical mass on this particualr novel, which is titled Red Ant's Head. (The original working title, for those who patronize this website regularly, was White Knight. As I say, titles do change now and then.)

11. I don't have a publication date for Red Ant's Head, either, for the same reasons noted above for A Breath of Snow and Ashes. However, this book is much closer to being finished, because a) it's a lot shorter, and b) I have been working at it, a little at time, for a long time.

12. Once it is finished, it's still up to the P-U-B-L-I-S-H-E- R as to when they want to schedule it. They may want to publish it right away; they may want to wait until I finish A Breath of Snow and Ashes. I don't know, and it isn't up to me. We'll all just have to wait and see.

13. Given that I do have these books to finish, I'm trying very hard not to go anywhere or do anything, so I can stay home and write them. You guys could help me out on this by suppressing the urge to invite me to go places and do things. [g] It takes time to say "no" politely, too!

14. However, I do have a few brief appearances scheduled for 2003, as will be noted on the "Tours and Appearances" page. Now, a word or two about this:

A) An author does not just randomly do "book tours" non-stop.

B) An author normally does a "tour"--meaning he or she travels from city to city (to city to city to..) giving talks, doing interviews, and signing books ONLY when a new book comes out. However, sometimes a publisher will want an author to tour for a new edition of a book that's already been published; in the case of The Fiery Cross, I did tours in the US and Canada for the hardcover edition, then a few months later, did tours in the UK and Down Under for the paperback edition. Likewise, foreign editions are sometimes published at different times than the domestic ones, and sometimes an author will go and do a foreign tour for these.

C) Since Lord John and the Private Matter is coming out in the winter of this year, it's likely that I'll be doing at least brief tours in Canada and the US, but I do want to keep the travel to a minimum.

D) If you want me to do an appearance in your city on a book-tour, the best thing to do is to talk to the manager of the largest bookstore near you. They can talk to the publisher's sales reps, and put in a bid for me, so to speak. As an alternative to this--write to the Publicity Department at Random House, 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036. They're the people who actually do schedule book-tour appearances. (I don't have One Thing to do with scheduling book-tours. I go where they send me.)

E) I have multiple books and projects to work on, and I really need to sit still and work on them. So, outside the possibility of brief Lord John tours late in the year, I really don't want to accept invitations for anything that isn't already booked. Those events for which I already am committed are listed on the "Tours and Appearances" page.

15. I really do appreciate all the email, and I do manage to read it--but there's unfortunately no conceivable way I can answer it all. It isn't physically possible anymore. I try, mind you, but I'm about two years behind, and bar something like those elves who magically appear and do all one's work while one is asleep, I don't see any way of catching up.

I get upwards of a hundred emails a day. Even a brief answer takes a minute or two--and there are a number of situations where a brief answer just isn't anywhere near adequate. Two minutes per email times a hundred emails...plus ten minutes per answer for five more...plus a half-hour answer for the two that require a lot of details...that's 310 minutes, which is a hair over five hours, if I remember my math aright. Look,
guys--I don't have five hours in the average day, even if I weren't trying to write multiple books, raise a family, and remain happily married. [g]

What I can offer as an inferior--but workable--solution, is to answer the major questions that most people seem to be asking, either here (on the FAQ page), or in the Writers Corner (and yes, I'll be doing new features for that, which will start being posted shortly). For the rest...speaking very generally...

A) Please don't send me your manuscripts or excerpts. My agents don't let me read stuff unless it comes through them or through the publisher. Legal considerations, and all that. I wish you good luck, though.

B) I really can't recommend a good literary agent "who handles [poetry/women's fiction/sf/romance/historical novels/nonfiction books about alien abductions] etc." I'm not familiar with the preferences of any agents other than my own, and I couldn't recommend someone to them without being also familiar with the work to be represented (which I can't do; see A), above). (I can tell you one thing, though; nobody represents poetry. It isn't that you can't get it published--you can--but almost no one makes any money at it, and if a project doesn't make money, the agent representing it doesn't get paid. So agents don't do poetry.) For general information/advice/opinions on finding an agent, and titles of some helpful references, please see the "Writers Corner" feature.

C) If your husband has left you for a younger woman and doesn't pay child support, you have my profound sympathy, and I totally agree he's a louse. However, I'm afraid I really can't send you any money to go back to school and become a botanical healer like Claire, I'm sorry.

D) I do know a few things about the 18th century. However, I'm not a genealogist, and alas, I really don't know the names and personal histories of everyone alive during that time period, let alone other times and places. So I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that I have never read anything helpful about your eight-times great-grandfather, John Cornelius McChatto, or his wife Matilda. Try typing "Genealogy groups" into Google, would be my advice. Or talk to the LDS (the Mormons). They're genealogists.

E) If you are a student doing book reports or author profiles or whatever, I will write back to you personally. It might take me awhile, though, so if you need an answer by a specific date, please tell me.

F) I seem to get quite a number of letters asking where I get my research information. I'm not sure what kind of exotic resources people are envisioning here, but the rather plain and stodgy answer is--from books, mostly.

I do most of my research via libraries (and the odd bookstore--National Park bookstores have by far the oddest books), with occasional bits from websites (the Web is a fascinating resource, and getting better all the time, but it isn't suitable for hardcore historical research).

G) I'd be happy to tell you all about my working methods, but I just plain can't do it one-on-one anymore. That's one reason why I wrote The Outlandish Companion, which--among other things--does explain exactly how (and when) I write, do research, find character names, and all the other bits and pieces. I realize that you may not have easy access to this book, though, so will be putting some of this material in the Writers Corner here. That's where it all is, though.

H) You know, I really don't feel comfortable sending out photographs of myself. This may be some primitive superstition on my part, or just a reaction to the inconvenience of having a decent photo taken and replicated [g], but I really don't want to do it.

I) I am happy to sign books, though. If you have books (written by me, I mean; I would feel awkward signing books written by somebody else) that you'd like autographed, feel free to send them to me (with return postage, please) at PO Box 584, Scottsdale, AZ 85252-0584, with a note as to what you'd like inscribed in them.

J) Yes, I'll be happy to do an email interview for your magazine, website, listserve, or whatever, but I may not be terribly prompt about it, because I do get a lot of these requests, and I do have limited time to do it in. Let me know if it's urgent. Oh--and you might just consider having a look at the posted interviews I have done ("Interviews" page, on this site) before you start asking questions. I really hate to repeat answers word-for-word, but anybody who asks, "So who would you cast for Jamie Fraser in the movie version?" is going to get the same reply, believe me (i.e, "I don't know, I don't care, and I would have nothing to say about it in any case.").

K) And speaking of "Have you ever thought of making a movie of these books?"...Gee. No. [slapping forehead] What an idea!

Please pardon the sarcasm. [g]

No, actually, I haven't, because--contrary to public opinion--writers of books actually don't "make movies," just as they don't publish books. P-R-O-D-U-C-E-R-S make movies--or at least, start the process, which then requires D-I-R-E-C-T-O-R-S, A-C-T-O-R-S, and the 1,240,032 miscellaneous people whose names all appear in the tiny print credits at the end of a film.

W-R-I-T-E-R-S just write books. They may, then, occasionally sell an "option" on a book. This means that a producer (either an individual or a production company) pays the writer a small amount of money, which gives the producer a limited time in which to try to round up the necessary pieces for making a film: chiefly, somebody with $20 million or so, but also, perhaps, a script, a director, etc. (If you have the $20 million, though, the rest tends to fall into place.)

If the producer fails to find sufficient backing for the project within the time limits set, then the option expires, the rights revert to the writer, and said writer can either renew the option, sell another option to somebody else, or decide to h*ll with the whole thing.

OK. The Outlander books have been optioned for film (and/or TV) several times, and undoubtedly will be again. It's a big jump from an option to an actual production, and most projects don't make that leap.

At the moment (January 18, 2003), none of the books is under an option, because the last one (for a TV mini-series) expired recently, and we chose not to renew it. Several different producers have made inquiries, though, and are presently talking to my agent. So we'll see what happens next. As I always tell people, though, I'm not holding my breath about it, and I suggest you don't, either. If something happens, it happens; meanwhile, I have books to write.

L) Thank you very much for sending me your photos and/or resumes, but as I noted above, I don't really have anything whatever to do with the details of any eventual film versions, let alone casting. I wish you the best of luck with your career, though.

(As for the assorted suggestions for casting known actors, thanks for those, too, but all I can say about most of them is that I doubt you can have been reading the books with any sort of attention if you think Mel Gibson would be a reasonable choice. Mr. Gibson is a lovely actor, but he's much too short, too old, and...well, it wouldn't be kind of me to say things about his version of a Scottish accent, so I won't.)

M) I don't know whether I'm related to you or not. "Gabaldon" is my own name, not my husband's (it's therefore slightly unnerving to get tons of mail addressed to "Mrs. Gabaldon." It's actually Dr. Gabaldon, if you think you need to be formal about it [g]-- but most folks just call me Diana and don't worry about it), so if your last name is Gabaldon, I might be related to you.

Given that my father was the youngest of fifteen children, and that at last count, I had approximately 500 first, second, and third cousins (that I know about)...yeah, it's a possibility. On the other hand, we unfortunately have few details about my father's family prior to his parents' generation. About all I know is that Los Gabaldones of my father's branch have lived in or near Belen, NM, since the early 1600's. If your name is Gabaldon and you come from this neck of the woods--Hola, primo![g]

Fwiw, my father's parents were Antonio Gabaldon (Sr.)--my father's name was also Antonio--and Inez (Chavez) (Baca) Gabaldon [which is to say that my grandmother's maiden name was Chavez, and she married a man named Baca, had three sons by him, then when he died, married Antonio and had another twelve children with him. Abuelita Inez was tough stuff.]

N) I'm afraid I can't tell you whether you should pay someone to publish your book, though my instincts are more or less against it. Still, there are situations where self-publishing is a sensible (or the only) way to go. If you have a church cookbook, for instance, by all means, take it to Alphagraphics or Kinko's and go for it. If it's a novel...maybe not.

All I could really advise you to do is to think very carefully, and find out as much as you can about the proposed publisher before you sign anything. Make sure you understand what you're getting--and not getting--for your money.

O) By the same token, I can't tell you whether you should pay umpteen-hundred dollars to take a writing class or workshop, or whether you should go back to college to get a degree in writing.

Many people find the structure of classes and the associated feedback very helpful. On the other hand...I don't know a heck of a lot of successful commercial authors (i.e., those who make money at it) who did it this way. If you get right down to it, the only way to learn to write is to write, and no class or book in the world can do it for you. You can certainly learn to write by yourself, but whether a class would assist your process--I can't say.

P) No, I can't really recommend any how-to books on writing, because I've never read any (this, of course, will probably not stop me eventually writing one myself). My general impression is that some people find some books helpful, and some not. Bear in mind that anytime anyone tries to tell you "how to write," what they're telling you is just what works for them. There is no One Best Way to write, and don't let anybody tell you that there is.

Q) No, I can't give you the names of any editors "who are particularly receptive to long novels," because there aren't any. [g] Publishers in general break out in hives at the notion of very long novels, because there are very sound business reasons for not doing them. Costs of paper, printing, and production being only a few.

On the other hand, obviously [cough] a few long novels do get published. But such a novel had better have something major to recommend it. All other things being equal (not that they ever are), any publisher in their right mind would prefer to publish short books rather than long ones.

They would likewise strongly prefer to publish books that are easily categorifiable--"This is a mystery," "This is a romance," etc., because they're a whole lot easier to market and sell. Ergo, if you are (as many of you seem to be) writing a 450,000 word cross-genre novel that is the first of a trilogy...good luck. I mean, you gotta write what you gotta write, but...good luck.

R) No, I'm afraid I can't recommend any "romance novels like yours"--because a) I don't write romance novels, and b) nobody writes like me, no matter what genre you're looking at. [g]

I can, however, recommend any number of good novels, whether romance or otherwise. The Outlandish Companion has a feature called "The Methadone List" (Ed Note: A modified version of The Methadone List is available here) (for people who wrote wanting to know what to read while waiting for the next Outlander book), which lists a lot of books that I personally like, in a variety of genres and styles. A selection from this list--with additional titles I've encountered since that book was published--will shortly appear as a feature on this website (as soon as we get it up and running).

16. Yes, I will be posting new excerpts from the books in progress. I do mean to be a little more circumspect about it, though, owing to the inability of some people to control their appetites, [ahem] who then complain all over amazon.com that the excerpts "ruined" the story for them. If you can't handle excerpts, better lay off altogether, is my advice.

17. In addition to new excerpts, we'll be updating the whole site over the course of the next month or so. So if you have any suggestions for things you would like to see (or topics you'd like to see covered in "Writers Corner"), please let me know!

Thank you, and a Happy Groundhog's Day to all of you!

--Diana