Lord John and the Plague of Zombies

Here are some of the frequently asked questions about Diana Gabaldon's upcoming novella, "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies".



1) What is "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies", and where can I find it?

Diana Gabaldon's latest Lord John story, a novella called "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies", will be published on October 4, 2011, in an anthology called DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, the same people who brought us WARRIORS and SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH.

There is a list of the other stories in the anthology here.

2) Where does this story fit into the chronology of the Lord John books and stories?

Diana says this story comes after THE SCOTTISH PRISONER.  Which is interesting, because "Plague of Zombies" will be published on October 4, and SCOTTISH PRISONER doesn't come out until November 29.  We may see references in "Zombies" to events that occur in SCOTTISH PRISONER that we haven't read about yet.

For the full list of the order of the Lord John books and stories, look here.

3) How can I get an autographed copy of DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS?

You can order autographed copies of all of Diana Gabaldon's books, including DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS, from the Poisoned Pen bookstore, in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is Diana's local bookstore, and they ship all over the world. Their staff is very friendly and knowledgeable about Diana's books.

4) Where can I go to discuss "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies"?

There is a thread (discussion) about this story, including excerpts, in Diana Gabaldon's section of the Compuserve Books and Writers Community.  The thread is here.

5) Will there be an audio version of DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS?

Yes. The audio version will be released on October 4, 2011.  You can pre-order it here.

6) What about e-book editions?

DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS is available for pre-order for Kindle, Nook, and probably other e-book readers as well.

7) Why is Diana Gabaldon writing about zombies, of all things?

I've never asked, but I suspect it had something to do with the popularity of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, which had just been published when Diana first began talking about this story several years ago.

And for what it's worth, this story takes place in Jamaica.

4 comments

Cari said...

Hmm, maybe I'll read Plague of Zombies AFTER Scottish Prisoner, just to keep things in chronological order. Then again, I might be badly in need a DG fix by the time October comes around and read Zombies no matter what. ;-)

Thanks for this info, Karen!

Frankie said...

So...Is Diana going to have two stories in "Down These Strange Streets"? Because, over a year ago in her blog, she said she was providing a story called called "Terror Daemonium". http://www.dianagabaldon.com/2010/06/a-closer-look/

Karen Henry said...

Frankie:

That's a good question, and something I should probably add to the FAQ, in case others are wondering.

There is only one Diana Gabaldon story in DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS, and that's "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies".

The Joan-and-Michael story, tentatively titled "Terror Daemonium" or "The Space Between", was indeed originally scheduled to go in this anthology, but when the deadline approached, Diana decided that the story was not yet ready for publication. And "Zombies" was, so it's going in DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS instead.

Don't ask me what a story about zombies, set in Jamaica, has to do with "urban fantasy", which is supposed to be the theme of DTSS. Oh, well. :-)

Anyway, we do not know when the Michael-and-Joan story will be published. Diana has not talked about it in a long time.

Karen

Frankie said...

I was wondering about the urban fantasy thing too. Probably the first story would have fit the genre better, but I'm not complaining. Besides, from the excerpt I read (http://www.dianagabaldon.com/blog/page/8/) I'm assuming that "Plague of Zombies" is set in Kingston, which is-technically-a city which is the main requirement for urban fantasy.

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