Friday, September 9, 2011

I'm back from Scotland and Book 8 has a title - Written in My Own Heart's Blood


 
So much news!  Yes, Outlander fans, Book 8 has a title!  With some tweaking and a few changes, Diana Gabaldon has settled on the title for her next book in the Outlander Series.  Most likely it will be published sometime in 2013.  I like the title a lot.  It goes without saying, I'm looking forward to it, now more than ever since I just got back from my dream vacation in the Scottish Highlands!  (And yes, I took this picture of the Clan Fraser stone while visiting the battlefield of Culloden.)

I apologize about the lack of posts lately. I have a bunch of books waiting to be reviewed which I will tackle soon, but I've been so busy, first in Scotland and now just trying to catch up on things here at home and work.  Plus, I'm so tired!   Please be patient, I hope to post a recap of my trip soon with pics - it was awesome!!  Scotland is breathtaking! 

Here's a brief peek of what's to come...


Above is a picture of the first place I went to upon my arrival in Scotland.  For those of you that are familiar with Ciji Ware's Island of the Swans, this is Lady Jane Maxwell's island in the novel, which is one of my favorite books.  Loch an Eilean Castle is near Aviemore and it is a beautiful romantic ruin that sits on a small island in the middle of the Loch.  There is no bridge to the island, the ruin sits peacefully alone, lending a quiet grace to the area.

Lining the banks of Loch an Eilean is a small forest of ancient Caledonian pine trees, which were once found all over the Highlands, but now sadly, only a few forests of the great pines remain today.  Their pungent smell was wonderful and fresh as I stood there among the trees, taking it in.  It was cool and damp in their shade and even though I'd just flown six and a half hours across the Atlantic on the red eye the night before - and then another three plus hours driving up from Edinburgh to Aviemore - I wasn't tired - I was exhilarated!  At last I was able to see Lady Jane's castle, patiently waiting for me in it's hidden and out of the way setting.  Breathing in the fresh air I had to pinch myself as I whispered aloud  "I made it! I'm here!"

10 comments:

Danielle said...

Oh wow, so jealous! Welcome home and all but, seriously, green with envy :)

'Written in My Own Heart's Blood' - ack! Isn't it perfect? Though it does give the impression that Claire and Jamie's beloved family won't have the easiest time of it in book 8 (I'm still crying over poor Jem!)

2013 is still a while away ... but I love that it's on the horizon. We have a TBA release date-ish and Diana Gabaldon's #DailyLines on Twitter. It's happening, it's really happening!

Penny Watson said...

Welcome home! I'm so glad you enjoyed your trip. I was thinking about you and wondering how it was going. Can't wait to see more photos and hear more stories!

Patti (@TheLoveJunkee) said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful time; I can't wait to hear all about it and see your pictures! That's my dream vacation too so I'll live vicariously through your post!

Julie at Outlandish Dreaming said...

Danielle, I suspect it will be released Sept. 2013, since that always seems to be when her other Outlander books have come out. What is she saying on Twitter about it? (I'm not a Twitterer).

Penny and Patti - never fear, I will post soon. I'm still digesting the whole trip, we did so much in two weeks! My favorite part of it was in the Highlands, such an absolute gorgeous country and the people were lovely too. Edinburgh was much more cosmopolitan. Beautiful too, but I missed the quiet country feel we got away from the city.

Julia Rachel Barrett said...

Oh! I have the very same photo of the Fraser Clan stone at Culloden. OMG! I'm so glad you went. Reminds me why I want to return to the Highlands ASAP. Sigh...

Danielle said...

OMIGOD! You must get on Twitter! Ms Gabaldon has been doing #DailyLines where she posts little one-line snippets from Book #8. Nothing spoilery (and since she writes MAMMOTH books you can bet we're be barely dipping our toes into the novel) but they've been great to follow. She has also been doing it for 'The Scottish Prisoner'!

Julie at Outlandish Dreaming said...

No way, Danielle! I don't want to go that route, I'll wait until the book comes out! :)

Julia - I'd love to go back to eventually, but not right away. I still want to see the whole Borders and area north of Aberdeen, St. Andrews and Grantown upon Spey area, never got there. And of course, I'd love to go to the isles like Lewis, Harris, the Orkneys and Shetlands! That's a whole 'nother two weeks easily!

Joanne said...

So glad you made it home safe and sound with wonderful memories! Looking forward to your future post when you've had time to reflect and absorb all your experiences.

I'm juggling several books right now, but Island of the Swans is one of them and it's quite good!

Julie - You're not going to believe this. I don't usually go searching for Book 8 excerpts or daily posts as I like to be surprised and I don't do twitter.....however, one day I read one of DG's blog posts with an attachment that had a spoiler warning -- and I don't know what got into me but I looked; all I can say about Book 8 is Oh,,,,,,MYYYYYYYY Goooooooooodddddddddddddd!!!!!!! It's going to be AMAZING.....this is the excerpt that had people gasping and running out of the tent in Scotland to avoid hearing DG say more! ha!

Julie at Outlandish Dreaming said...

Joanne - OMG! Now you're really scaring me! What is it?????!!!!!

Joanne said...

Don't be scared -- it's not about death or anything like that! It's just an amazing turn of events! (The post on her blog is "Bubonicon, Dragoncon, and an excerpt). Thank goodness Scottish Prisoner is coming out this year to keep us occupied because 2013 is just too darned far away!

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