Tag: SiWC

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A Highland Tea with Diana Gabaldon!

Greetings, dear readers!

Five months have flown by since my last post, Anatomy of an Easter Egg Hunt! 😱

Dealing with summer crops, wildfire evacuation, and COVID have presented been BIG challenges. But, I am back today to share with you a most delightful experience.

On October 3, I was privileged to join author, Diana Gabaldon, and the Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Society (NACHS) for a virtual highland tea!

Note: The below photos and video were filmed from my iPad screen. Thus, the quality is not the highest. Bear with me, please, because near the end of this blog, I share a link to NACHS full video of this wonderful event!

We gathered via Zoom in the library at Diana’s home in Flagstaff, AZ.  The first thing I noticed were book-filled shelves, a must for any library! 😉 Many of these tomes feature her favorite genre – mystery and murder mystery!

Diana was introduced by NACHS’ Mistress-of-Ceremony, Jude McKenzie, who did a splendid job moving things along. Jude explained this is an annual event so every year on this day, they are known as NACHOS: Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Outlander Society! 😆

Diana has been supporting the NACHOS effort for 20 years! In case you may not know, Diana has supported many good causes over many years.

The Highland Tea is a ticketed event. Jude explained that funds go toward supporting all things Celt-ish! Among its various worthy causes, NACHS supports the Jim Thompson School of Piping and Drumming. To date, they have awarded over $120,000 in scholarships and will consider any proposal promoting Celtic heritage. A record to be proud of!

Diana sipped a blended tea, courtesy of a local Flagstaff specialty shop, Victorian Moon. The tea was served from a beautiful silver tea set which is partly visible in the foreground. Yummy-looking tea treats were made by volunteers.

As you all know, Diana is famous for “talking with her hands,” and this event was no exception. She used them throughout. I enjoy watching her expressive hands “chat” with us. 😜

I always check out Diana’s nail color. 👁 I may be wrong, but I believe she is wearing her favorite green polish. 

This is a closeup photo of that luscious green tone taken in October 2018, at the Surry International Writer’s Conference (SiWC) in Surrey, B. C.

Back to teatime!

Diana then consented to read excerpts from her ninth big book, Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone! Because time allowed, she read three!

Psst…..don’t you love her joyful smile! 

SPOILER ALERT!!!  With NACHS’ permission, this video clip is from the first scene she read. It occurs the morning after the end of Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (MOBY), Diana’s eighth book.

If you don’t want to be exposed to spoilers, you might skip the next paragraph and the film clip! 😱

Jamie and Claire had returned to Fraser’s Ridge just six weeks before this scene occurs. Bree is away on a hunting trip with da.  Roger is left to child care at Bobby Higgins’ cabin, which used to belong to Roger and Bree.

It is a wonderful scene starring Roger and Mandy.

Next, Diana read an excerpt about a “lively argument” between Jamie and Claire.  The subject: Lord John Grey and his, erm, history with Claire! 😲

The final excerpt describes  a shopping trip by Jamie where he provides insight as to why a murdered man is or isn’t Jewish. 😉

Listening to Diana read all three excerpts was an honor and a delight. I hope you enjoyed hearing the first one.

Jude then read a series of questions provided by ticket holders.  They were varied, interesting, and from all over the US and beyond. At the outset, Diana took the opportunity to answer an anticipated question: when will the show be filmed and when will book nine be published?

She pointed out that filming the show is postponed not only because of local COVID issues, but until the crew, many of which are Americans, cannot  travel to Scotland!  Let’s hope this ends soon! 🦠

Diana shared that she has read the first four scripts and verifies that they are good. Yay! 🤗

Then, she carefully explained the process involved in publishing her book and why it takes so long:

  • She has pretty much finished all of the pieces and is assembling and grooming them.
  • Once she is finished, the book is sent to three editors: One in US, one in UK, and one in Germany. The editors are encouraged to offer observations and suggestions. She considers input from all three – she may or may not incorporate their suggestions. This can take several weeks.
  • She sends the edited book to her copy editor (2-3 weeks).  She receives feedback about what to keep, what to modify, and what to eliminate. She then decides what to do with these suggestions.
  • Good news! The cover design is completed and is beautiful!
  • She then receives galley proofs, meaning a layout that looks like the finished book. Galley proofs take another few weeks
  • The next step is complicated: “Go Tell the Bees” is a big tome; roughly the same length as Drums of Autumn but slightly shorter than An Echo in the Bone. COVID has affected the printing industry, with several printers either cutting down on the number of books printed or going bankrupt. Currently, there are only TWO  companies that can print such big books! They already have books in a waiting cue to be printed. They must prioritize. She does  assure us: “They want to sell the book as much as you want to read it!” (Given her passionate fan base, this is a bit hard to believe! 😂)
  • The last step requires a decision of how many copies to make in the first printing: to do or not to do a full run?  A print company doesn’t want to over print and be left with unsold run copies.  And, it certainly does not want to under print a likely best seller. The middle of a pandemic make such predictions challenging for these companies. Fingers crossed they make the right decision for all! 🤞🏻

So there you have it!  Lots of moving pieces needed to bring this puzzle together as quickly as we all desire. And, hopefully, this helps us be a wee bit more patient with the wait. 🙏🏻

After this Q and A session, Jude moved to an interesting section of the tea – Diana autographed several items for an auction benefitting NACHS. A splendid idea!

The items included:

China tea cup and saucer:

Stained glass sun catcher – Celtic knot design:

Dragonfly stained glass lamp (💓 the green color!):

Then a second round of questions. Diana was asked to repeat her line from Outlander episode 104, The Gathering.

In a brief exchange with Mrs. Fitz (Annette Badland), Diana playing Iona MacTavish, pointedly remarks: “I see you are keeping the place as bright as a penny!” Mrs. F responds with a snide remark about Diana’s gown which, BTW, has a Fraser tartan inset to the bodice.

She recited her line perfectly, complete with Scottish accent. Lovely! 🤗

As always, Diana’s remarks were intelligent, economical, and pithy!  Her mind is keen, no? 🥰

The event concluded after more questions from ticket holders. Overall, it lasted about 1 1/2 hours, $25.00 well spent!

If you missed this lovely event, please dinna despair.  You can view NACHS’s full recording after making a small donation. Just send an email to the following address: nachs.events@gmail.com. I highly recommend the experience and the cause is worthy!

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Photo and Video Credits: NACHS; Sony/Starz; Outlander Anatomy

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2019 Surrey International Writer’s Conference (SWIC)

Hallo, Outlander fans!

Yesterday morn, I turned the nose of my Subaru Forester (named Sophea) northward towards our wonderful neighbor, Canada!

Five+ hours later, I arrived in beautiful Surrey, B.C., for the Surrey International Writer’s Conference at the Sheraton Hotel. I will also be attending Outlandish Vancouver events! 👍🏻

The weather was beautiful. Fall colors riddle the cities streets and parks!

Time to check in to my hotel, situate my stuff, grab a quick shower, then head 10 miles south to Indigo Chapters, Grandview Corners. Deliberately arrived 1 1/2 hrs early to ensure a good seat and still, I was in the second row! So many faithful Outlander fans! 😜

The panel included Lisa Palmer, KC Dyer, Michael Slade and Herself! Same panel as last year, and a real treat as every author is lively, clever and articulate!

But, first, we were entertained by a crooner, whose name I did not catch! I am sure someone will be able to identify him. We heard several songs, including  Sinatra and Presley tunes.

The moderator enters and announces the authors one-by-one.

First, Diana strides in looking confident and lovely in deep Burgundy velvet! 🤗

Everyone is seated and ready for action!

The moderator, presented a series of questions to the authors. For the sake of brevity, I recorded only Diana’s responses. Apologies to those folks who wanted to hear the hour-long panel in its entirety!

The first question was, how do you do research for your books?

Diana continues her response regarding research methods and sources.

Next question, and an interesting one: How did your writing change after you were published? Again Diana’s response.

In a nutshell, her writing process did not change after she was published. Why mess with a proven approach? 😁👍🏻

Third question: did you experience any mistakes that you were unable to avoid? She explains a difficulty but this one appears to have happened just once! 😉

Dinan continues her response!

Fourth question: What media have you consumed lately that you can recommend to fans? Yes, she has an answer and wishes she could share it in full!

But, surprise!  She does share what she can about writing Episode 511 for Outlander! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

That ended the panel discussion for this evening. Fans who purchased a book at Indigo lined up for autographs. Unfortunately, I have one or more copies of every Gabaldon book they had on hand, so no autograph for me after this event!

More to come. Stay tuned!

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Photo and Video Credits:   Sheraton, Outlander Anatomy

 

 

 

 

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OV 2018: John, Lauren, Cesar and Steven!

Greetings Outlander Fans! Many of you saw my conversation with Diana as we attended Surrey International Writer’s Conference (SiWC). For those who did not, you can see my post here: Diana Shares at 2018 SiWC.

Concomitant with this august meeting, Pacific Northwest Sassenachs (PNS) sponsored the 2018 Outlandish Vancouver (OV) fan event.

I managed to attend both and they were wonderful! The OV event allowed attendees the opportunity to interact with four cast members, the organizers, and like-minded fans and I had the privilege of meeting many new fans, most from the Pacific Northwest.

Who should be present at the Outlandish Vancouver 2018 event? PNS admins wrangled John Bell, Lauren Lyle, Cesar Domboy and Steven Cree to attend, hence, the title of this post. <g>

The first PNS event was a Party at the Suites on Saturday night.  Shortly after 8:00 pm, all four stars swept into the room in roaring high spirits. They were greeted with cheers largely because it was John’s 21st birthday (also Claire’s). He was greeted by with happy birthday wishes which he received with style and joy.  He rushed around the room giving hugs and promptly forgot who he had embraced – as I enjoyed three of them over the course of under three minutes!

For the next hour, we drifted between the cast members enjoying conversation and sharing. John, gushed about a trip to Gucci’s! His lovely mum bought him a splendid gift which he was wearing, but swore us to secrecy, not to be revealed until the Outlander premier in Savanah, GA.

No photographs or videos were allowed, but as we left, each of us got a photo with the cast on our own cell phone. Here, I am holding my Outlander Anatomy tag, designed by Jody Change of the FB group, Aloha Outlanders!

The next morning began with a series of panels involving the cast. Photos but no videos were allowed.

First up was Steven who shared with us The Little Princess, an 8 minute film he has written and produced with Jason Maza. This short film is deeply moving and features an riveting premise which is powerfully executed.  You can catch a glimpse of it on IMDB.

The film was followed by Q&A session.  I asked if he had submitted the film to the various award groups for consideration because it is that good! Aye, he answered, he has done that.  I hope you get to see it soon!

Ian the elder was then joined by Ian the younger for more Q & A. John is amazingly poised and interactive for one so young! To me he looks more youthful than 21!

A 15′ break and then the entire cast entered the theater dressed in Hallowe’en gear!  Steven led the troop wearing a toothy monster mask, Cesar sported a ghoulish ghost mask, Lauren donned a dragon hat and John………  😂

Well, John appeared with a bone through his head and Rollo between his legs! <G>

Here he is with stuffed Rollo tucked under his arm for moral support –  a service pup, for sure!

Another very fun Q&A ensued. I asked John if he was as terrified during the filming of ep 312, The Bakra, as he appeared on screen?

Paraphrasing his response John explained that the bed-sitting bit was filmed entirely without Lotte even being present. He was acting to thin air and not to a bloody Mrs. Abernathy!

He further stated that they were laughing and giggling through the parts they did film together such as the witch running her little piggies across his wee cheek!

Then, he delighted us all by stating that besides, Lotte has the “peachy-est bum he has ever seen!” This unexpected response really brought the house down!

The cast was asked when they first decided to become actors. For Steven, it after seeing Jesus Christ Superstar!

For John, it was after acting in A Shine of Rainbows. Here is the trailer.

Cesar started in music and by happenstance, tried out for an acting part. It turned out to be a good fit!

Lauren has been acting for quite a long time in a number of different films. She is the only one in her family to pursue acting, but her parents supported her passion, especially after she earned her first paycheck!

In the afternoon, we headed for guess where? Why, the Fraser River, for a paddlewheel adventure.

We were joined by the cast and the organizers. Everyone mingled together, noshed on hors de’ oeuvres, sipped cocktails, talked Outlander and anything else we could think of.

This is the view from the stern of the boat.  The day was splendid, clear and warm.

A view of the river bank – facing south toward Surrey, B.C. Fall colors were on full display. The cruise lasted a little over an hour and then back to the dock.

Hopped into my trusty Subaru at 5:22 pm and pointed her nose south towards home. Sophea (my car) knew her way and 5.5 hrs later, I pulled into my driveway, entirely satiated and satisfied with my delightful SiWC and OV adventures!

Farewell, beautiful Surrey, until next time!

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Photo credits: OA, Sony/Starz