Diana Gabaldon

Diana J. Gabaldon
Diana Gabaldon at a book signing in August, 2007.
Born	(1952-01-11) January 11, 1952 Arizona (U.S.)
Pen name	Diana Gabaldon
Occupation	novelist
Nationality	America
Period	1991 – present
Genres	Speculative fiction, historical fiction, mystery
Influences Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dorothy L. Sayers, John D. MacDonald, P.G. Wodehouse
Influenced Jeaniene Frost
www.dianagabaldon.com

Diana J. Gabaldon (b. January 11, 1952 in Arizona) is an American author of Mexican-American and English ancestry, best known for the Outlander Series. Her books contain elements of romantic fiction, historical fiction, mystery, adventure, and science fiction.

Early life, science career and family

Diana J. Gabaldon was born on January 11, 1952, in Arizona, (U.S.A.). Her father, Tony Gabaldon (1931–1998) was an Arizona state senator from Flagstaff.[1]. Her mother's family were originally from Yorkshire (England).

Gabaldon grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Northern Arizona University, 1970–1973, a Master of Science in Marine Biology from the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1973–1975, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from Northern Arizona University, 1975-1978. Gabaldon received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) degree from Northern Arizona University in 2007.

As a full-time assistant professor in the Center for Environmental Studies at Arizona State University in the 1980s, Gabaldon did research, was a scientific computing and database expert, and taught university classes in anatomy and other subjects. She was the founding editor of Science Software Quarterly. During the mid-1980s, Gabaldon wrote computer articles and software reviews for national computer publications such as Byte magazine, PC Magazine, and InfoWorld.

Gabaldon currently lives in the Phoenix, Arizona area with her husband, Doug Watkins; they have three adult children. After her first book deal was finalized, she resigned her faculty position at Arizona State University to become a full-time fiction author.

Novel writing

In March 1988, Gabaldon decided to "write a novel for practice, in order to learn how." At the time, she did not intend to share it with anyone, or to try to get it published. While "casting about for an appealing time and place" for the novel, she happened to see an old Doctor Who rerun on PBS, titled "War Games." One of the Doctor's companions was a Scot from around 1745, a young man about 17 years old named Jamie MacCrimmon, who provided the initial inspiration for her main male character, James Fraser, and for her novel's mid-18th century setting. Gabaldon decided to have "an Englishwoman to play off all these kilted Scotsmen," but her female character "took over the story and began telling it herself, making smart-ass modern remarks about everything." To explain the character's modern behavior and attitudes, Gabaldon chose to use time travel.

Later in 1988, Gabaldon posted a short excerpt of her novel on the CompuServe Literary Forum, where author John E. Stith introduced her to literary agent Perry Knowlton. Knowlton represented her based on an unfinished first novel, tentatively titled Cross Stitch. Her first book deal was for a trilogy, the first novel plus two then-unwritten sequels. Her U.S. publishers changed the first book's title to Outlander, but the title remained unchanged in the U.K. According to Gabaldon, her British publishers liked the title Cross Stitch, a play on "a stitch in time"; however, the American publisher said it "sounded too much like embroidery" and wanted a more "adventurous" title.

The Outlander series presently comprises seven published novels, with the eighth installment, Written In My Own Heart's Blood, scheduled to be published in 2013. Gabaldon has also published The Exile (An Outlander Graphic Novel) (2010). The novels center on Claire and James Fraser, and are set in Scotland, France, the West Indies, England, and America. The "Lord John" series is a spin-off from the Outlander books, centering on a secondary character from the original series.

Bibliography

Outlander series

• Outlander (1991) (published in the UK as Cross Stitch)
• Dragonfly in Amber (1992)
• Voyager (1994)
• Drums of Autumn (1997)
• The Outlandish Companion (1999), a guide to the Outlander series containing synopses, a character guide, and other notes and information
• The Fiery Cross (2001)
• A Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005)
• An Echo in the Bone (2009)
• The Exile – An Outlander Graphic Novel (2010)
• "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows" (2010), a short story in Songs of Love and Death, an anthology
• Written In My Own Heart's Blood (forthcoming)
• "The Space Between" (2012), a short story in The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, an anthology
• The Outlandish Companion, Vol. II (forthcoming)

Lord John series

Chronologically, this spin-off series takes place during the same time as (and should be read after) Voyager.

• Lord John and the Hellfire Club (1998, initially an audio-only release), novella
• Lord John and the Private Matter (2003)
• Lord John and the Succubus, novella published in Legends II, edited by Robert Silverberg
• Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007)
• Lord John and the Haunted Soldier (2007), novella
• Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007), collection of three novellas (Lord John and the Hellfire Club, Lord John and the Succubus, and Lord John and the Haunted Soldier)
• The Custom of the Army (2010), novella published in Warriors, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
• The Scottish Prisoner (2011)
• Lord John and the Plague of Zombies (2011), novella published in Down These Strange Streets, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (2011)

Other works

• Humane Killer, short story co-written with Samuel Sykes
• Phoenix Noir (2009),[2] a short story collection with fifteen other authors
• Naked Came the Phoenix (2001), a collaboration with twelve other authors
• A Trail of Fire, a collection of four stories (A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows, The Custom of the Army, Lord John and the Plague of Zombies, and The Space Between), published in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand in 2012.

Audiobooks

The Outlander series has been released in unabridged audiobooks (read by Davina Porter) and abridged audiobooks (read by Geraldine James). Several of the Lord John books have been released in audiobook form, read by Jeff Woodman.

Awards

• 1992: RITA Award given by the Romance Writers of America in the category Best Book of 1991 for the novel Outlander.
• 2006: Quill Book Award in 2006 in the category Science Fiction / Fantasy / Horror

External links

• Official website
• Diana Gabaldon at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Outlander Wiki
• Video of Diana Gabaldon speaking at 9th Annual International Scott Conference, Walter Scott: Sheriff and Outlaw - 2011