Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

As we welcome 2024, it's time for another annual tradition here on Outlandish Observations: an old-fashioned Hogmanay celebration, as they might have celebrated it on Fraser's Ridge 250 years ago.

A firstfoot was to bring gifts to the house: an egg, a faggot of wood, a bit of salt--and a bit of whisky, thus insuring that the household would not lack for the necessities during the coming year.

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 35, "Hogmanay". Copyright© 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I can't participate in a first-footing myself, even if I lived in Scotland (redheads being considered extremely bad luck on such an occasion), but I'd like to share these small tokens with you anyway.






Finally, Diana Gabaldon posted this list of what she'll be working on in 2024 on her Facebook page.

 Work on Book Ten. (NO, it’s not going to be finished this coming year (let us not be ridiculous...), but I think we’ll get a good deal further. It’s in a good place.)
 Finish writing first Prequel Novel. (These will be about the size of one of the Lord John novels; those, I can finish within 9-10 months, so we hope for the best.)
 Consult on Prequel show.
 Consult on Season Eight.
(Consulting basically means reading all the iterations (average 6-8) of each script, plus--when filming starts--watching the dailies.))  Write script for Prequel show.
 Write script for Season Eight.
(FYI – writing a script takes me roughly three weeks (not counting revisions, which tend to be quick). Writing one of the Big Books takes a minimum of three years.)
Do public appearances (VERY limited this year!).

I'm happy to see that second item in particular. It sounds like it's going to be a busy year for Diana, especially consulting on TWO TV series simultaneously! I'm glad she will be writing scripts for both shows. (For those of you who don't know, the "Prequel show" Diana is referring to is BLOOD OF MY BLOOD, which will tell the story of Jamie Fraser's parents. Look here for more information.)

For more information about Diana Gabaldon's current and future projects, look here.



Happy New Year, and best wishes to all of you in 2024!