Saturday 18 June 2011

Scottish Prisoner News!

As I'm sure you are aware there has been a lot of speculation about Diana Gabaldon's latest Lord John novel "Lord John and the Scottish Prisioner"!  I for one am really really really looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of this book and can't wait to find out exactly how Jamie and John went from hating each others guts to being friends. 

Karen over at Outlandish Observations has all the latest news regarding writing progress and release dates so I won't bother repeating the news but I will say that personally I wish to thank Diana for what I know will be a brilliant book!



Friday 17 June 2011

Sara Donati - Into The Wilderness Series

There are few things more annoying than having toothache. Other than self inflicted toothache caused by the removal of a wisdom tooth which was previously pain free!  I know I had to have it out because it was "compromised" (dentist talk for "gone bad") but ... well my face is swollen and I can't eat properly so ... I'm feeling a little bit down in the dumps. 

I decided to finally read "Endless Forest" to finish off the Wilderness Series by Sara Donati.   For those of you who haven't heard of Sara Donati she is a great author and came to my attention because she "borrowed" some of the Outlander characters to make guest appearances in her first book.  I found it quite amusing as I already knew what to expect but there is still a sense of "This woman doctor seems really familiar ... but ... but ... surely ... that's Claire Fraser!!!!"

The books are very well written and whilst the plots are no where near as complex as the Outlander books they have many twists and turns to them making them really compelling reading.  The books start in 1792 when an English woman Elizabeth Middleton goes to live with her father in the wilderness of upstate New York in a small settlement by the name of Paradise in order to become a school teacher. She meets Nathaniel Bonner who is  .... as sexy as hell ... no I mean ... who is a backwoodsman living life as a Mohawk with links to Scotland. The rest is history but of course the path to true happiness doesn't come easy (and let's face it if it did then the story would probably be boring).

There are five or is it six? books in the series and I'd recommend them to any Diana Gabaldon fan as they have a very similar way of writing and very likeable and realistic characters. The time period of these books covers 1792 to 1824 so they are set after the Outlander books but at the same time a lot of the themes are very similar.

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Kilted Caption Competition!

Life should never be boring and neither should blogs so just for a change I thought I'd try something a little bit different.  I have decided to run a caption competition to see which of my amazing readers can come up with the best caption for the photograph below.



Now I know that the word competition usually means that the lucky winner will actually win a prize of some kind but in this case they will simply win the privilege of putting a smile on the faces of their fellow Outlander fans!

Answers on a postcard ... oh no that's not right! If you would like to join in please leave your suggestions below.


Monday 6 June 2011

I Want Christian Bale In Outlander!

I'm not exactly what you would call a Balehead but I can appreciate the utter manliness that is Christian Bale.  He has a classcally handsome face and a sex appeal which leaves you wanting more but that isn't really why I want him in the potential Outlander movie or mini-series.

I want him because he is the one actor that you know will give 110% into any role he plays and go to great lengths to get it perfect.  He has stunned the movie world with his shear dedication by going as far as putting his own health at risk to physically look the part and his recent oscar for The Fighter was well won and well overdue in my opinion.

Initially I had him down as playing Roger but with hindsight I don't think that his face is quite right. In my mind Roger has a "friendlier" look about him whereas Christian Bales features are quite hard and sharp. 

 After much deliberation I actually think he would make a really good Frank/BJR. If any actor could manage to pull off the duel role it has to be a professional and dedicated Christian Bale.




A Nice Boring Frank Randall
 

Evil Sadistic Black Jack

Ummm ... a gratuitous shirtless photo to appreciate the body!


Sunday 5 June 2011

All Fanmade Outlander Videos Should Be This Good!

I've seen plenty of fanmade Outlander videos on Youtube and some have been quite good but I've yet to be as impressed as I have been about the latest one which was posted just a few days ago.  It basically tells the story of Outlander by using clips from other movies but the whole thing just sits so nicely together.

I'm not a huge fan of some of the casting choices but that isn't the motive behind the video, it's a kind of collage of clips which make a beautiful piece of video.  I have to admit that it doesn't bode well for me sitting dry eyed through the real movie (or mini-series) as I had a big lump in my throat just watching the end of this video! I could have lived without the Claire and Frank love scene though!


Friday 3 June 2011

Lord John And The Scottish Prisoner!

Unless you have been living under a rock you'll be aware that Diana Gabaldon's latest book is in the last stages of being written and hopefully "Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner" will be released (sounds like the books been on parole!) either in the autumn of this year or the spring of next year.  Currently there is some uncertainty because the British publishers want to go with the autumn and the US publishers want the spring but only time will tell!

It seems like such a long time before we see it but I'm sure it will pass fairly quickly and before you know if it will be in the shops, or in my case on my door mat!  If you don't already follow Diana Gabaldon on Twitter (@writer_dg) she is supplying two small snippets of the book each day as the writing progresses.

I have to say that at the moment I am really really really looking forward to this book, dare I say it, even more so than book 8. Mainly because I adore Lord John and the way the relationship between him and Jamie ended in "Brotherhood of The Blade" left me a little bit upset. It's going to be so interesting to find out how they went from that kind of antagonism to being friends.