About MOP

"You're tearing my guts out, Claire."

When I read an extraordinary book, I have a searing need to talk about it.  A lot.  I must immediately spit out whatever thoughts are racing through my brain, whether they be petty or poignant, silly or surreal.  I consider this feeling "literary purgatory."  Friends help, but after a while, they get tired of my constant need for discussion.  So what's an obsessed girl to do?

Start a blog.  An Outlander blog, to be exact.  

I'm Carol, and I created My Outlander Purgatory on November 1, 2009.  I found the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon through my sister, Tracey, who had just started reading Outlander a few weeks before.  Eventually I found myself immersed in a world of Scottish moors and fighting Jacobites...and giving in to the need to "get it all down" on paper (or in this case, my trusted Macbook Pro.)  

"If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me, threatening the life it belongs to."  ~ from the song, "Breathe (2 AM)" by Anna Nalick

Tracey and I at an Outlander Starz
event in NYC, October 2013

And do you know what happened next, after I started bantering and sharing my every thought with complete strangers on the internet?  People actually read what I wrote!  And what's more, they said they liked it!  I started getting email and comments from friendly strangers saying "I love the way you write!"  "You understand how I feel about these books!"  "Please keep blogging your thoughts!"  

And so I did. 

After that, Tracey took over MOP's Twitter account (MyOutlanderPurg), and the two of us started making Outlander discussion videos.  For some reason, people seem to find our sisterly giggling (and occasional bickering) a lot of fun.  They always say "I feel like I'm right there with you when I watch" or "I have no one to discuss the books with, so you guys make me feel so much better!"  And that, alone, is enough reason for us to keep being silly...or serious...and even sometimes emotional - on camera.

The ORIGINAL "Pocket Jamie"
created by My Outlander
Purgatory - circa 2010

I also created Pocket Jamie back in 2010; a fun, mobile, Jamie Fraser doll, created from my daughter's Ken Barbie™...and a beer cozy kilt.  (Keepin' it classy in the name of JAMMF, y'all.) He started traveling with us everywhere (ahem, where do you think Starz got the idea for their paper doll of the same name, silly?!) and has become quite a big part of the My Outlander Purgatory family over the years.  

Tracey and I, having fun on the
Manasquan river near my home
in Monmouth County, NJ (wink)

So, five years after starting the blog, I continue to write, and Tracey continues to Tweet.  We continue to make videos, run a Facebook page, and attend the occasional Diana Gabaldon speaking engagement when we're lucky enough to find her appearing in a city nearby.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

~ Carol  :)