Scotsman.com interview with Diana Gabaldon

Finally — found it. Been waiting for this to see if Diana Gabaldon would say anything new about her characters or writing or possible movie etc. in this Scotsman.com story. I didn’t see anything new about the OUTLANDER series, but it’s a nice piece about her — and heck — she’s in Scotland. Here are a few excerpts from reporter Claire Black’s interview: (link to complete interview is below!)

Diana Gabaldon/Scotsman.com

Sitting at a corner table tucked against ceiling-height windows, Gabaldon is striking, her long black hair poker-straight, her eyes bright, but the view is gritty reality. The poetic beauty of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs is only half an hour away, but the urban sprawl of Glasgow is a reminder of what Scotland really is, a million miles away from Gabaldon’s literary confection, whipped up from guidebooks and historical texts, old paintings and photographs.

***

So it’s interesting that the books came about almost accidentally. The central character was a Scot only because Gabaldon happened to see a Dr Who repeat featuring a man in a kilt as she conjured her character. She chose to fix him in the 18th century simply because being allowed to research the period meant she could avoid having to make the whole thing up. The time-travel element came about because the other main character, Claire, was resolutely modern when she appeared, apparently full-formed, from Gabaldon’s imagination.

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But it hasn’t all been straightforward. Gabaldon’s novels are impossible to classify in terms of genre: replete with historical detail, they might be described as military history, and focused on the relationship between Jamie and Claire, there are elements of romance, including plenty of lusty sex. But then there’s the time travel. Gabaldon’s first editor had to threaten to quit to ensure that the three-book deal the writer had been offered was honoured. Gabaldon herself has had several skirmishes with editors and the book industry to have her work positioned on the general fiction shelves of bookshops rather than amongst the romance or fantasy. In one letter sent to an editor, she described the problem of her literary identity in typically Gabaldonian terms. “We seem to be in a certain difference of opinion regarding my literary identity. I think I am Alexandre Dumas with a time machine and you appear to think I am Dame Barbara Cartland in the large economy size.”

To read the complete interview, CLICK HERE!