AOL April 99

The following is an abridged transcript of an America Online chat that was conducted in AOL’s Book Central in April 1999. Be forewarned that there may be Spoilers for upcoming books in the text of the interview. You may find that some of the information is outdated. Updates on the publication of books, tours, etc. are more current on the pages of this site that are devoted to those topics.

Question: In Outlander one line really hit me the line where when Claire and Brother Anselm are in the chapel and when Claire asks what to do Brother Anselm says, nothing...just be....that line really hit me because we have adoration in our parish...what I would like to know is if your faith has carried you through the rough times in your life too??? Does that make sense??
DGabaldon: Well, thanks. I’m glad that struck you. We have Adoration, too; I go every Sunday night at midnight. Of course, some times are more spiritual than others, since my partner is a professional psychic, and occasionally he feels the need to tell me all about what he’s “seeing.” [g] Very nice guy, though. As for faith in general, yes. Actually, that’s why the chat had to be rescheduled tonight; I’d forgotten about the Holy Thursday services, until I walked into church on Sunday and saw everyone waving palms around!

Question: Can you tell us more about who the Alex BJR is calling out the name of while he’s torturing Jamie is? I waiver between thinking it’s his brother, and Alex MacGregor depending on who is convincing me of their view on it [g]
DGabaldon: Well, it could be Alex MacGregor--you recall him? Or his brother. I’m not sure I know myself which one it was--but we will find out more about the Randall family (you recall, there’s one brother left, whom we haven’t met yet [g]), and Jamie still has (or perhaps Jenny is keeping it for him) MacGregor’s Bible--we may yet find Alex’s mother.

Question: Will the brother be more like Alex or BJ? [VG]
DGabaldon: Oh, Edward Randall is quite his own man. [g]

Question: When you first started writing Outlander at point did you figure out that it was going to take you six books to tell the whole story.
DGabaldon: Oh. Well, to start with, I just wanted to write one book... for practice. [G] But when I finished it and sent it to my agent, I told him...“I think there’s more to the story, but I thought I should stop while I could still lift it.” [G] He told the publishers who offered for it that there was more...and they all said, “Oh, trilogies are hot right now, do you think she could do three?” To which my agent (he being a very good agent) replied, “Oh, I’m sure she could!” So they gave me a three book contract. Only then I got halfway through Dragonfly and realized I couldn’t possibly cram the whole American Revolution into one more book...Anyway, about two years ago, is the short answer. [g]

Question: Yes, at what point did you visit Scotland?
DGabaldon: After I sold Outlander, but while I was writing Dragonfly. I couldn’t very well tell my husband I had to go to Scotland to do research, while I wasn’t telling him I was writing a book. [g]

Question: If Outlander was made into a movie, who would you cast as Jamie?
DGabaldon: I wouldn’t. Cast anyone as Jamie, I mean. [g]. I’ve never seen any actor who looks like him.

Question: I have two questions. Is the character of Jamie components of people you have known? Is Roger going to be written as a stronger
DGabaldon: Well, my husband is 6’4” with red hair, and a very good sense of humor. [g] As for Roger, he’ll come further into his own, now that he’s in the New World--I mean, there’s just not a lot of heroic scope in Oxford or 1968 Inverness, no matter how great a guy is. [g] Yeah, at the moment Roger is sort of wondering whether he can really bring himself to kill someone in cold blood--and wondering how he can’t. Well, see, these books are Jamie and Claire’s story; Roger and Bree are important mostly because they’re important parts of Jamie and Claire’s life--they aren’t meant to take over the show, but they are real characters in their own right.

Question: I have a trilogy question--first, are you as adept with witty repartee as your characters?
DGabaldon: No, I think rather slowly. [g] That’s why I write books--I can take my time.
Question: Any particular significance to the black thumbprint on Roger’s wrist--is it from Jamie/Ian fight or the indians?
DGabaldon: Just that Jamie has a strong grip. [g]

Question: Diana, do all of these characters clamor for your attention? I certainly clamor to read your books..
DGabaldon: Yes, they talk to me pretty much all the time, but not all at once. [g] It’s usually only one specific voice I “hear” or one viewpoint that I’m seeing from.

Question: Where did you get the idea for her as the first-person character?
DGabaldon: Well, I wanted an Englishwoman, because I thought that had the potential for considerable conflict, given the historical timing. [g] But when I started writing a scene with this Englishwoman, she just announced who she was, and promptly took over and started telling the story herself, making all sorts of smart-ass modern remarks. At this point.. I said, “YOU don’t sound like a historical person!” So I struggled with her for a couple of pages, but I couldn’t beat her into shape and make her talk like an 18th century person... so I shrugged and said, “Phooey, I’m not going to fight with YOU all the way through this book. Go ahead and be modern and I’ll figure out how you got there later!”

Question: You’re very spiritual and have a friend who’s a psychic. Do you believe in the paranormal? Any experiences?
DGabaldon: Well, yeah, within limits. [g] I walked into a ghost in the Alamo once, but that’s the only really striking thing I can think of. As for the Alamo ghost, I didn’t see him either--I just walked into him. [g] Well, I just crossed this spot on the floor, and there he was. [shrug]

Question: Are you planning on going into detail of Randall family and will this take you beyond six books?
DGabaldon: We’ll meet the Randalls and find out more about both their background and their future (i.e. Mary Hawkins and her baby) in the sixth book, I think. Yes, I do have another series in mind--but it belongs to Master Raymond, not the Randalls.

Question: Will Bree and Roger have any more children?
DGabaldon: I sort of don’t think birth control in the 18th century was all that reliable. [g]

Question: I find myself liking and despising Stephen Bonnet. Will we see more of him?
DGabaldon: Yes, we’ll certainly see more of Stephen Bonnet (I quite like him myself)--after all, he knows (or thinks he knows) that Brianna’s baby is his.

Question: Do you plot these books formally beforehand, or are you a seat of the pants writer?? :)
DGabaldon: No, I don’t plot them; they wouldn’t be any fun to write if I knew what was going to happen. [g] No, no outline as such--it’s just that as the story goes on, I do know a few particular things that will happen--but I don’t know how, and I don’t know when. They just kind of give me a foothold on the story; a place to work from.

Question: Did Geilis intend bodily harm for Bree, or Royal rewards?
DGabaldon: Well, we’ll know more about what Geillis intended, probably, when we learn the details of the Fraser Prophecy. [g]

Question: At the end of Outlander, Claire was pregant, then she later lost the baby. Was that planned, or was the timing off? I mean, was the miscarriage planned?
DGabaldon: Was that planned? Geez, by who? You mean, did I intend for her to lose the baby? Goodness, how could I intend something like that? No, it just happened.

Question: In Voyager Gellis mentions that she has met one other person from the future. Will we learn who that is? Hints?
DGabaldon: Yes, you’ll learn who. I can tell you, if you want. [g] I don’t know as it will help you any [g]--it’s Master Raymond.

Question: In reading Drums, I LOVED especially the dialogue between Brianna and Lord John.
DGabaldon: Yes, Bree and Lord John kind of hit it off together very well. I just listen to them; I hardly have to work when they’re talking.
Question: When Bree said,“ I just love the way you talk” I thought you were giving your self a well deserved pat.
DGabaldon: No [g], I liked the way he talked. [G]

Question: How is the mystery coming along and do you have any idea yet when it will be published?
DGabaldon: Mystery is coming well--or it was before I had to drop everything and do galleys. For those who don’t know what galleys are--this is the typeset manuscript of a book--the pages look just like the printed pages, but they aren’t bound. Last chance to fix things! No kidding--and zillions of tiny details to fix and pin down, besides ten billion typos per page to catch (hopefully) and fix.

Question: Is this the galley for the novel or the Companion?
DGabaldon: It’s a beautiful book, though. Yes, these are galley proofs for the Companion; production on it is terribly late--the book will be on shelves in two months!--hence huge rush, time-crunch, general panic and nonstop FAXes, telephone calls and Emails. Well, the galleys left my hands late yesterday; nothing more I can do. All up to the book designer, etc. now. The production people are just wonderful, though; they always do a marvelous job.

Comment: I adore Fergus.
DGabaldon: I like Fergus, too. [g] Though I notice that Geraldine James evidently forgot who he was between DIA and Voyager; he has a Scottish accent on the abridged Voyager tape!

Question: What is the difference between abridged and unadridged (is that right)?
DGabaldon: The difference between abridged and unabridged is about thirty hours of tape. [g] Really. The abridged version of each book is 6 hours (on four cassettes)--that’s maybe one-fifth of each book. The unabridged Outlander runs 32.5 hours, the unabridged Dragonfly something like 37 hours. Voyager and Drums will be out later this year in the unabridged. Unabridged tapes are wonderful; the reader--Davina Porter--sounds just like Claire. [g] They’re expensive (naturally, I suppose), but you can rent them for a month for $10-15, I think.

Question: I remember reading that you ’found’ Jamie in a historical text. Did you also ‘find’ Claire somewhere?
DGabaldon: No, she just marched in and took over. [g] I didn’t “find” Jamie prior to writing him, for that matter--just in the process of writing, later--much later--I did come across mention of the Dunbonnet, whose real name was James Fraser. Well, I thought it was pretty odd. [g] That sort of thing always happens when I’m kind of the right track with a book, though.

Question: Dear author, I am wondering about your frequent use of the word savages in Drums.
DGabaldon: “Savages” is just what the common reference would have been in the 18th century. It’s common and usual in most writings of the period that refer to Native Americans (not being so all-fired enlightened and politically correct back then, you know [g]).

Question: Bree and Lord John...ewwww! I haven’t gotten that far in DOA, but I’m not sure I like him ? About the skull?
DGabaldon: Ewww? You don’t like Bree and Lord John? Somebody was just saying how much they liked that particular interaction. Oh, the skull. [g] Yes, indeedy. The gentleman with the silver fillings.
Question: Bree, YES, Lord John...ummmmm you said you didn’t have to work, they did all the talking!
DGabaldon: I’m very fond of Lord John. Unfortunately, he’s just suffered a severe shock--he is gay--when he found himself on a dock in Wilmington, between William and Brianna.

Question: OF COURSE it doesn’t REALLY matter . . .but. . . do you know who the father of Brees and Rogers Jemmy is?
DGabaldon: Do I know? Yes. [g]

Question: Will we find out about Jamie’s “ghost” that appears in the very beginning of Outlander, which Frank saw before Claire went back?
DGabaldon: Yeah, you’ll find out about the ghost. Last thing in the last book, but you will find out. [g]

Question: What is underpainting in writing?
DGabaldon: Oh, underpainting? Hm, kind of complicated to explain in this venue, but it’s essentially all the little bits--the body movements, attitudes, incidental details--that the reader doesn’t consciously notice, but that provide a deep, rich background that makes the writing very vivld. Sorry--“vivid.” I sneezed. [g] Well, you’ll probably like the Companion, then--it has LOTS of details!! I could talk about underpainting for an hour, believe me.

Question: Are all 4 books now on audio tape?
DGabaldon: All four are available in the (severely) abridged versions; only the first two are out in the unabridged--but Voyager unabridged will be out in May (they tell me), and Drums later this year.

Question: Hi! Which “Alex” was BJR referring to when he had Jamie in Wentworth? His brother? Or Alex MacGregor?
DGabaldon: I’m not sure I know (yet) which Alex he meant. I’ll find out more about Black Jack in the sixth book, I think, when we meet the third Randall brother and hear more about the family.

Question: I understand you wrote Outlander before travelling to Scotland; how did your imagination compare to the real place? pretty accurate?
DGabaldon: Luckily, Scotland was just like I had been imagining it; the only thing I couldn’t get from research was the smell. [g]

Question: In DOA we learn that Bree studied engineering, will she have and opportunity to use thse skills?
DGabaldon: Yeah, I reckon she will--and to be frustrated at the lack of opportunity for using them!

Question: I really like Bree and Lord John...I wish John would find a permanent companion.
DGabaldon: I like John, too, but I don’t know exactly how his story will turn out. He’s not going to have an easy time of it in the Revolution, though, I’m afraid. No, no. I don’t imagine Lord John feels like that about Bree. [g] Well, I just can’t tell. He’s very robust and self-reliant--but he does need people.

Question: Did you EVER expect your book to have such an effect on so many people, as you were writing Outlander?
DGabaldon: No, I never expected this kind of thing. Ever. [g]

Question: Will we ever find out when/if Frank knew all about Jamie before he died? There is the debate that he knew that Jamie survived
DGabaldon: We’ll find out more about Frank and What He Knew, for sure. I can’t say exactly what, though.
Comment: good. I keep seeing that book on the hutch in the kitchen about the Revolution and thinking Frank was tracking Claire and Jamie through history! :o)

Question: you absolutely killed me at the end of Drums with that whole deal with the headstone.
DGabaldon: Well, Brianna does note to Roger at one point that her father (Frank) took considerable pains to teach her both to ride and to shoot--odd skills, don’t you think, for a man from the 1960’s to think of giving his daughter?

Question: I read how you have been inspired by everyday events to come up with story ideas like the ice crystals. Any other ideas you could share?
DGabaldon: Gee, I don’t know. Ideas are just...everywhere. Anything at all can trigger a scene--or some days, nothing does, but you write anyway.

Question: You said that Claire marched in and took over. Any other characters surprise you that way?
DGabaldon: Yes, some characters are mushrooms; they just pop up and there you are. [g] The onions and the hard nuts take more work.
Question: onions?
DGabaldon: The mushrooms include Mother Hildegarde (and her dog Bouton), Murphy the seacook, Fergus, Marsali, and both the Ians.

Question: After Jamie discovered acupuncture in Voyager, I began to want to sail in an old ship. Did you, for reseach?
DGabaldon: Um, yes--if you count the Columbia at Disneyland. [g] Which is, actually, a reasonably good replica of the original, which sailed in 1796 or so--so it isn’t far off.

Question: About the big meeting between Jamie and Bree...was that one of the scenes that just “appeared” or was it one that required some “work?”
DGabaldon: No, that was work--though as usual, once I started working, they had their own ideas about it. I mean, I didn’t plan for her to find him peeing on a tree!

Question: Why did you pick NC for J&C to settle in? I’m from the Randall County area, I’m curious.
DGabaldon: Actually, I didn’t really “pick” North Carolina--that’s where the majority of the Scottish Highlanders went, after Culloden. I just followed them.
Comment: Funny thing they were highlanders.
DGabaldon: That’s why they liked NC--mountains.

Question: Just wanted to let you know that I’ve read the excerpt from Excalibur...wonderfully written, as usual! Will it be included in one of the Outlander books?
DGabaldon: Oh, good--Excalibur is out of print, but that excerpt will be in the Companion, yes (with the minor error about Lot and Abraham corrected!) That excerpt--it was published as a short under the title “Surgeon’s Steel” is really part of the sixth book--it takes place after one of the Battles of Saratoga.

Question: Have you researched how much of a connection between the Highlander’s independent spirit and the connection to our Revolution? I find that link intriguing.
DGabaldon: Yes. Oddly enough, the Highlanders mostly ended up fighting on the wrong side of the Revolution (the British side, I mean). Fiery Cross sort of explores and explains why.

Question: Will you be borrowing Sara Donati’s Nathaniel character in the 6th book?
DGabaldon: Nathaniel? Er...no. Never occurred to me. I sort of don’t borrow other fictional characters. Got too many of my own already. [g]

Question: Diana...do you know if any of your characters will have another cameo in Sara’s sequel?
DGabaldon: No, I’m sure they won’t. Sara asked me if I’d let her mention them in Wilderness (she’s a friend; I saw parts of the ms. while she was working on it)--not to appear as themselves (I wouldn’t let anyone do that), but to be mentioned by one of her characters, as though they were real historical people. We thought it would be kind of a cool literary in-joke. [g] But once is a joke; don’t need to repeat it. It was a good book, wasn’t it?
OrGaidheil: excellent

Question: My favorite part out of all the books is when Jamie and Claire are talking in the arbor when the first meet again after she lost the baby.
DGabaldon: Yes, I liked that one, too.
Question: Do you have a favorite part from all the books?
DGabaldon: No, it varies. I have several favorites in each book--but my main favorite is always the book I’m working on. [g]

Question: I’d just like to commend the way that you handled the African slaves in Voyager.. very humane and nicely done..
DGabaldon: Thank you! I did do a lot of research on slavery, especially in the Caribbean.

Question: will Joe Abernathy or his son Lenny become directly involved in Claire or Bree’s 18th century life?
DGabaldon: No, so far as I know, neither of the Abernathys is a traveler.

Question: Back to “Alex”? Will Jamie ever get the Bible back to Alex’s mother? Also, what happened to Hugh Munro’s family and his promise to take care of them?
DGabaldon: He might. I think Jenny’s keeping it (the Bible) for him. As for Hugh Munro’s family, yes, he’s been supporting them--along with all his tenants--from the income from Lallybroch, his smuggling ventures, etc. Now, of course, he has to worry about paying alimony to Laoghaire. [g]  

Question: will Bree have more children?
DGabaldon: As for Bree and more children...well, I don’t think birth control was all that reliable in the 18th century, and Roger isn’t the right religion for the rhythm method. [g]

Question: How did women deal w/ feminine hygiene back then?
DGabaldon: Feminine hygiene? You mean menstrual periods? Rags. Aka “cloths”. They saved them, washed them, and used them over and over again. Yes, a woman would just take her personal cloths along, and do her best to rinse them out as needed. We’ll sort of deal with that in the first chapter of Fiery Cross, in fact. [g]

Question: what was it like in the beginning
DGabaldon: What it was like in the beginning? When? For me, you mean? I wrote Outlander for practice, got an agent before I finished the book, he sent it to five editors, three of them made offers, we got a three-book contract...and THEN things got out of hand!

Question: Are you ready to move on from Jamie and Claire?
DGabaldon: Yes, there will be a prequel--in the fullness of time. [g] That’s the book about Jamie’s parents and the 1715 Rising.

Question: Whose bones were under the tree in Drums?
DGabaldon: Whose bones? Otter-Tooth’s. Of course, we may find out who he really is, later on. [G]
Comment: That’s what I thought. Somebody said earlier it was Geillie -- but she died in a cave!
DGabaldon: We don’t know who he is yet--but he did have silver fillings, which is sort of a Clue. [g]

Question: Will Jamie ever meet Willie in battle?
DGabaldon: Will Jamie meet Willie? For sure. [g] In battle? Gee, I don’t know. I know what you mean; I just don’t know what will happen.

Question: I miss Young Ian already. Will we hear much from him and his Mohawk family?
DGabaldon: Well, the Mohawk did fight in the Revolution, so I sort of think we’ll see Young Ian again, yes. Yes, he likes living with the Indians. Not everybody was happy to see him go, though! You should see my mail!  

Question: Diana..what about Laoghaire...when will we see the last of her? [VEG]
DGabaldon: Laoghaire strikes me as one of those very durable characters; I’d bet on her lasting all the way through, even with life being as chancy as it was in the 18th century.

Question: Will Laoghaire show up in America to terrorize all the Frasers?
DGabaldon: No, don’t reckon she’ll emigrate--but you never can tell. About Jenny... She doesn’t. Relations are rather strained at the moment between Jamie and his sister. No, but Ian was her baby. She’s upset.

Question: what about Ian? how does he feel about his son’s new people?
DGabaldon: Ian is a man; he’s much more inclined to let his male children be men, too. He might miss Ian, but he’d be pretty resigned to his younger children leaving home and likely not coming back--people often didn’t, back then.

Question: Perhaps if Jenny were aware of the vast similarities (historically) between Highlanders and Indians she might
DGabaldon: True. She may find out more about these--too bad Young Ian isn’t a very good correspondent. [g]

Question: Diana...what about Lallybroch...will it ever be resided in again...in the 20th century???
DGabaldon: I wouldn’t be surprised; the place was vacant when Roger visited it, after all. [g]

Question: Will we see more of Jamie and his grandkids? I missed hearing about him as a father.
DGabaldon: Yes, Jamie gets on very well with kids. Of course, he’s had a lot of experience as an uncle.

Question: I’m worried about thet title The Fiery Cross.
DGabaldon: Oh, I can tell you about the title. [g] In the ancient days, a Highland chief who meant to go to war would make a cross from wood, and set it on fire. The flaming cross was then extinguished with sheep’s blood, and then sent round the glens and corries, with a couple of clansmen, as a sign to the rest of the clan, to fetch their weapons and come to the gathering place, prepared for battle. Very passionate. [g] One friend objected to the title because she said it reminded her of the KKK and she thought a nice book should have a better title. I coughed politely and asked if she had any idea where the KKK--who were frequently descended from the original Highland immigrants, got that idea? Besides, I said, I don’t write nice books anyway, so it didn’t matter. [g]
Question: Was that ritual co-opted for some reason by the Klan? So clansmen are related to Klansmen then?
DGabaldon:Um...Klan? Why ought they to have called themselves that, pray?

Question: do we ever hear about how Roger got the jewels from Bonnett?
DGabaldon: I don’t know; we’ll have to wait and see what happens when Roger and Jamie find Bonnet.
Comment: I don’t think Bonnet’s as ‘interesting as Black Jack’
DGabaldon: Well, we’ve seen relatively little of Bonnet, too. He sort of grows on you. Like fungus. [g]

Question: Will Geillis’s familytree be in there?
DGabaldon: Geillis? No, her family tree isn’t in there--I have NO idea where she came from. Yet. [g]

Question: but, since Geillis was a real person..did Gillian Edgars become her after you found Geillis, or was she her all along?
DGabaldon: Oh, Gillian was Gillian before she became Geillis--but I don’t know whether she was anybody else before that. We know she was a few other people afterward. [g]

Question: well, meaning in relation to the actual person..wasn’t there really a Geillis who was a witch?
DGabaldon: Yes, there was--in 1590-something.
Question: Aren’t we all other people along the way?
DGabaldon: And yes we are; see The Gabaldon Theory of Time Travel, sub-section on disjunct identity!

Question: The excerpts we’ve been reading seem to jump around. Do you always write that way? Not in chronological order?
DGabaldon: Yes, I do always jump around when I write; I never do write in order--I don’t use outlines, so I have no idea what the order is until I start messing around with the pieces.
Question: How do you tie everything together?
DGabaldon: Geez, you think I know? I just keep writing, and things kind of stick together.

Question: I just read White Mare’s Daughter, Diana -- your recommendation on the cover caught my eye
DGabaldon: did you like White Mare’s Daughter?
BkCnRed: Oh yes indeed! That was a page turner!
DGabaldon: Oh, good. Judy’s very good. I think White Mare was intended as part of a trilogy, but I’m not for sure; I haven’t seen Judy for some time.

Question: I was wondering if you personally know anyone like Jamie?
DGabaldon: Well, my husband is 6’4”, with read hair and a sense of humor. [g]
Question: But would he break into a prison to save you from a ruthless villain?
DGabaldon: He wouldn’t let anyone take me from him, in the first place. [demure smile] Gotta go soon, guys. It’s past midnight, and I got kids And a Happy Easter, and Hag Sameach to all of you! Loved it, guys! Sleep tight!