This blog is also a post on my official Facebook page, in response to a spirited debate there: Well, let’s see now. What you’re looking at are the cover of a free giveaway edition of OUTLANDER, at left, and the cover of a recent edition of Entertainment Weekly, further down on the right, featuring a shot of Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan as Claire and Jamie Fraser. (BTW, the cover on the left was written by me. Random House, a few years ago, decided to do targeted giveaways of OUTLANDER by street teams at public events, and they asked me what I thought about the cover for this promo edition. I didn’t like any of the sketches they’d shown me. They got fed up with me/ran out of time and asked me what I’d like on the cover, so I wrote that little thumbnail run-down of the contents, and the resident genii of the art department promptly turned it into an appealing cover.) OK. 1. What I’m seeing in the […]
Archive for 2016
A Stubborn Mind (Book Nine)
Facebook Hashtags: #DailyLines, #BookNine, #AStubbornMind "But you told Frances—you promised her that no one would take advantage of her. And I could have sworn she believed you!" "Aye," Jamie said quietly. He picked up the piece of rock maple and his knife, and began mechanically cutting slivers. "Aye, I thought so, too—hoped so, at least." I sat still, watching him. "I suppose it was foolish," I said at last. "To think that reassurances and promises would be enough. I imagine we don’t know the half of what she saw, being raised in a brothel like a—a prize calf." "And one knowing it was bound for slaughter?" he put in quietly. "Aye." We lapsed into a strained silence, both thinking of Fanny. After a few moments, Jamie’s hands resumed their work, slowly, and a few moments later, he glanced at me. "How many times did ye tell me Jack Randall was dead, Sassenach? How many times did I tell myself that?" The wood shavings fell in small, fragrant curls around his […]
New German eBook Release in April
Good news for German fans! We changed German publishers last year, which caused a slight lag in the publication of some books, with the previous publisher no longer publishing one title and the new publisher not yet having released it again. But now LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE (I don’t recall the German title, but I’m not looking it up, because I don’t like it and hope to persuade them to change it) is about to be released as an ebook again! It will also be released in a new print version, but that will happen a little later. We’ve had a lot of inquiries about it from readers, so I’m very pleased to be able to tell you that the new ebook (by Droemer-Knaur) will be released in April—hope you enjoy it!
Hula Hoop (Book Nine)
Below is an excerpt from Book Nine of my OUTLANDER novels. Note that there are SPOILERS… Facebook Hashtags: #DailyLines, #BookNine, #WorkingPeacefullyThisWeek, #SoreFootButOK It was a sapphire, a raw one. A misty, cloudy blue little thing, half the size of his little finger’s nail. He shook it free of its wrappings and it landed silently but solidly in the hollow of his hand. "Ye said it maybe doesna matter whether it’s cut or not," Buck said, nodding at it. "I think not. I hope not. I wish I could say I can’t take it." Roger closed his fingers gently on the little rock, as though it might burn him. "Thank you, a charaidh. Where did ye find it?" "Ach…" Buck said vaguely, with a slight wave of his hand. "Just saw it and picked it up, ken?" "Holy Lord," Roger said, squeezing the little pebble involuntarily. Too late, he remembered the castle in Strathpeffer, him talking with the factor about Jemmy and Rob Cameron—the earl being away from home—and Buck gone, […]
Myth and Mountain Birthdays (Repost)
My birthday was always the coldest day of the year. If not literally true, it was family legend, and everyone knows that myth is much stronger than meteorology, even in the north country, where the snow lies deep on the mountaintops, and houses are built to keep the heat in, not out. This particular legend had its origin—reasonably enough—on the date of my birth, January 11, 1952. My family lived in Flagstaff, but the family doctor had been having a difference of opinion with the hospital board, and had moved his practice to the Williams Hospital. So, when my mother went into labor early in the morning, my twenty-one-year-old parents were obliged to drive thirty miles over a two-lane ice-slick road, through the teeth of a driving blizzard, in order to get to the doctor. When I was finally born, just at dark, my father was so unnerved by the entire experience that he went out to a nearby restaurant and ordered ham and eggs for dinner—forgetting that it was […]
Golden Globes!
From the Los Angeles area this week with Ron, Maril, and the stars, staff and crew from the Outlander series… The Outlander TV series is nominated for three Golden Globes for its first season! MASSIVE congratulations to everyone—cast, crew, and fans <g>who’ve made the show the wonderful thing that it is! Wish us Luck! There’s Stuff going on every day: the TCA (Television Critics Assn.) (and a zillion follow-up interviews) on Friday, the STARZ pre-Golden Globes party Friday night, the BAFTA Tea on Saturday (that’s me above with Maril and Ron, on the red carpet). And the awards ceremony will be broadcast live TODAY at 5 p.m. (Pacific Time), with red carpet coverage beginning at 4 p.m. (More information below). Blue Suede Shoes Either Sam and Catriona have grown, or I’ve shrunk… Actually, I just took my shoes off at last night’s STARZ pre-Golden Globes party. I’d bought some pretty new pointy-toed blue suede shoes (yesterday was Elvis’s birthday…), which do in fact fit very well, but they’re not best […]