Diana Gabaldon Update

I had e-mailed Diana Gabaldon, and today I got a reply from her. She is such a nice person. I'm copying her letter here because it tells so much about her future plans:


Dear Paul,

Thanks so much for writing! I hope you will also enjoy A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES, the sixth book in the Jamie and Claire series. According to your weblog, you had just finished DRUMS OF AUTUMN and were ready to begin THE FIERY CROSS. You did know that these books are the fourth and fifth in a series, right?

If not, the inside title page should provide a listing of the books in the order they were written so that you can read the backstories of the various characters, and discover how twentieth century people came to be living in the eighteenth century.

This won't be the end of the series, though. There will be at least one more book following A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES, featuring Jamie and Claire (I can't guarantee that it's _only_ one more; things have a way of expanding on me, and I do intend to get all the way through the American Revolution, which was Rather a Long War...).

In addition, there will--in the fullness of time--also be a prequel book about Jamie's parents, and a second volume to THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION, to cover the final books of the series.I am currently working on Book Seven in the Jamie and Claire story and have been for some time, but it is still in the creation stage -- not the "put together, ready to read" stage.

These books require a great deal of research to accurately depict not only the characters but the political attitudes of the time as well, so don't expect the next book for 2-3 years.

Now, in addition to the main series, there will be at least two further books focused on Lord John Grey. I don't know whether you've read LORD JOHN AND THE PRIVATE MATTER--that was originally written as a short story (whereupon my agents and publishers looked at it and said, "No. That's just what a normal book looks like."), but the publishers were so thrilled to get a short book (and my editor loves Lord John so much) that they asked whether I could do that again. "I don't see why not," I said--so they've given me a contract for two additional Lord John books.

These are part of the series, but are shorter adventures, and focused (reasonably enough) on Lord John, rather than on Jamie and Claire (though Jamie will be a major character in the next of these books--LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE). PRIVATE MATTER is set, timewise, about the middle of VOYAGER; it's the story of what happens to Lord John after he leaves Jamie Fraser at Helwater and returns to London.

Since they are shorter, the Lord John books take much less time to be written and published, so I'm hoping that they'll serve to help tide readers over while waiting for the next of the enormous Jamie and Claire books. I hope to finish BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE within the next month or two, and I'm sure the publisher will have it available sometime during 2007,and when I get an actual publishing date, I'll be sure to post it on my website.

And somewhere in the middle of this eighteen century historical chaos, I am also working on a contemporary (modern-day) mystery, set in the American Southwest. Change of pace, you know. If you're interested in ongoing news of my progress, publication dates, public appearances and book tours, or any other matters connected with the books (or, perhaps, an occasional excerpts of the books under construction), you might want to visit my recently updated, website www.dianagabaldon.com.

Thanks for writing, and I do hope you'll continue to enjoy the books!

Best wishes,


--Diana Gabaldon