An Independent Scotland, Eh?

Interesting theories about what things will be like if the referendum for an independent Scotland is passed in 2014.

Pssst!  The Link has been updated...so try it again if you weren't able to see the article last time!

Joseph Morgan as Stephen Bonnet?

Does anyone else think that Joseph Morgan would make a fantastic Stephen Bonnet?  I mean...dinna get me wrong, lads and lassies; the man could play any number of characters and be tremendous.  Hell, I'd be willing to see him in a Lord John role.  But I'm used to seeing him be both charasmatic and vicious as Klaus on the Vampire Diaries...so Bonnet's not such a stretch.

A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows eBooks: $1.99!

Thanks to Julie in Jersey for this very cool info:

A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows: An Outlander Novella [Kindle Edition]

Diana Gabaldon (Author)

Kindle Price: $1.99 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet

Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.

This price was set by the publisher

Kindle edition is due out on 12/3/12. --Julie in Jersey 

And Thanks to JenniferTN for sending this about Barnes and Noble:

It is available at Barnes and Noble for $1.99 as well. That's for all those Nook users out there. 

Loaf 'N Jug...and Outlander!

I just received this email from Lara and it totally and completely made my day.  Guaranteed it's going to make yours, as well.  I love the Outlander universe!!!!

I have the most awesomest thing to tell you. So, I don't know if you know this, but I've said a couple times, to Clay anyway, that if I ever run into some money, I'm going to rent a castle in Scotland, charter a plane and take us all there on a mega GATHERING. Anyway, I just stopped at the "Loaf n' Jug", yes, that's it's real name... our local stop and rob, and bought $20 worth of Powerball tix...because the jackpot is like $550 mil and I never gamble or buy lottery tix...but I can't not when the jackpot is that high. Anyway, again, the cashier and I were chatting and she said she never buys tix either and she should because the only thing she wants is a trip to Scotland. My mouth fell open and I was like, "OMG, ME TOO! I'm going to take my whole book club friends with me!" Then she says, "What book?!?!?! DIANA GABALDON?" It was a full on middle of nowhere South Dakota Outlander moment. Then she says, "Well Jamie is mine so back off!" I about fell out right there in the middle of the store with a bunch of cowboys watching. We giggled and laughed and practically hugged. Made my day. So long story short, when I win Powerball and we all go to Scotland, I'm taking the cashier from the Loaf n' Jug in Box Elder, South Dakota with us.

Outlander Chat Tonight

Outlander Chat tonight.  9PM Eastern.

Kindle Fire - Cool "Cyber Monday" Deal

VERY cool deal for Cyber Monday - get a Kindle Fire for only $129!  Enter FIREDEAL at checkout!

Gabriel Aubry Scuffle: Please! Not the Face!

So a while ago, Diana Gabaldon posted on her blog that she thought Gabriel Aubry "did in fact have a strong resemblance to Mr. Fraser, in terms of facial physiognomy".

Apparently Mr. Aubry had a scuffle with Oliver Martinez the other day and has a pretty beaten up face.

Now...normally I pay little attention to this type of Page 6 celebudrama...but after coming across the photos, I couldn't help thinking that this is what Jamie Fraser would look like after a fight!

All roads lead to Outlander folks...all roads lead to Outlander.

T' Scotland!

Just got this from my friend Hugh from Paisley.  T' Scotland!  Enjoy!

Torn

Sometimes I just have to repost...and this is one of those times.  If you are a Twilight fan AND an Outlander fan...you will get a kick out of this.  If you are not, you still just might.  :)

Scotland the Brave Ringtone

I felt the need to mention that my hubby, Tom has recently set "Scotland the Brave" to be his new ringtone on his phone...and it is very, very cool.  I figured I can't do this because we'll both be running to the phone every time we hear it...but at least you guys can!

Random Outlander Question

SPOILER ALERT:  DO NOT read this unless you have read VOYAGER - the 3rd book in the Outlander series!!

Do you ever wake up in the morning and go about your day, when all of a sudden it hits you all over again like a ton of bricks:

"Holy shit!  Jamie married Laoghaire!!!"

Me too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Celtic Music

Thanks to Diane for this lovely find!

Outlander Chat Tonight

Outlander Chat tonight.  9PM Eastern.

Outlander Chat Tonight

Outlander Chat tonight.  9PM Eastern.

Half of all Scots have ‘ginger gene’ say experts - Scotsman.com

How awesome is THIS article about "gingers" in Scotland?!

Scotsman.com

Want to find out what's going on in Scotland today?  Check out Scotsman.com.  Tremendous website, chock full of Scottish goodness.

Site Maintenance

I am messing around with the site design tonight...so please forgive me if it's looking a bit wonky!

Kilted Men in the Streets

Outlander to Air on Starz

Tremendous announcement today that Outlander will be developed by Starz!  I am thrilled.  I watched both the "Pillars of the Earth" miniseries and the "Camelot" series on Starz and thought they were both done beautifully and extremely well cast.

And speaking of casting...I find it interesting that two people near the top of my short list for Jamie an Claire were on both of the aforementioned shows.  Hayley Atwell was in Pillars and Philip Winchester was in Camelot.  So at least I know Starz appreciates solid acting.

Holy CASTING, Batman.  Do you know what this means?? STARZ has already been named...it's only a matter of time before we find out about actors.  (insert nervous giggling here)

Here is a scene from the Starz series, "The Pillars of the Earth".  If Outlander is anything like this, I will be beside myself.  (And I will use any excuse to post this Eddie Redmaye clip.  I'm so shameless.)

Outlander Chat Tonight - Carol and Tracey Iffy

Here is the deal for tonight's chat:

- I am washing uniforms for members of the National Guard who are working in my area and have to make a pick-up tonight 9:30...which will cut into chat time.  (Geez - who do these disaster relief people think they ARE, messing with my Jamie Fraser time??) ;)   I will try to get there for a few minutes at 9:00.

- Tracey has been hostessing for those in her town without power this week and isn't sure how many people she'll have tonight - or how long they'll stay...so she's not sure if she'll be able to chat.

That said, chat should go on!  Please proceed with or without us and we will do our very best to get there!  :)

Someone to Watch Over Me: MOP Friend JC Bodden Answers Questions About Her First Novel

OK y'all - listen up.  One of our good Outlander buds at MOP wrote a book called "Someone to Watch Over Me".  This book got me through Hurricane Sandy at the Jersey shore!  I have to say - I really enjoyed it!  After I finished, I emailed (the author, someone we all know and love from MOP Chat) to ask her some questions about the book.  Below are my questions...followed by her answers.  And a hottie pattotie photo of her hubby.  HEY now.  My suggestion?  Bookmark this page...go read the book...then come back and check out what JC has to say!

SPOILER ALERT:  The following contains spoilers about

Someone to Watch Over Me by J C Bodden!!

- WHAT made you come up with the idea for this book? 

- ANYONE you see in your mind when you think of Joe or any of the main characters?  (You know how I love to "see" it in my mind!)  

- WHY did Wagner smell like cigarettes and alcohol when he walked by Joe after he stabbed Amy?  Was he out getting schnockered at the local gin mill just prior?  Or was it done to throw the reader?  This made me think the killer wasn't Wags.  Brills on your part!

- WHAT ever happened to Joe’s father?  I hope it was something bad.  (Does that shower me with bad karma if these are fictional characters?) 

- WHAT is the new book about?  Assuming another mystery that revolves around Jennie's dad??

- WILL we see more Joe?!?!  (Lordddddddd...need to see more Joe!)  

I actually came up for the idea for this book long ago when I was a Resident Advisor in college at Auburn University - although there were more of us (one RA per hall) then than just the 'Jennie' character. There was a 'urban myth' about our particular dorm that a maintenance man actually did have a little hidey-hole up in the attic and drilled holes through the ceiling so he could spy on the girls below. I lived on the top floor of the dorm, so it was like our own personal ghost story that we would tell just to scare the bejeebers out of each other.  One time some of the other girls on the hall drew a picture of a blood shot eyeball with the words 'He's watching you!' and taped it on the ceiling right above my top bunk pillow so I didn't notice it until I laid down that night to go to sleep! Some of the other stuff mentioned - the water heaters going out, the fire alarm set off in the middle of the night - really did happen. But no one was ever murdered or kidnapped while I was there. And I don't know for sure if there was ever a creepy attic guy. :) 

When I first started writing the story, in keeping with that original myth, the bad guy was Joe, the maintenance guy... but as I wrote his character more and more I couldn't help but first of all, feel sorry for the little kid and then, later, fall in love with the adult. So, of course, he couldn't be the bad guy! And then, when I went back and read what I had wrote, I realized that Joe Haliday was basically my own dear husband - Jay! Well, now, let me back up. Jay is not deaf. Nor did he have a neglected childhood living with an alcoholic mother and then an indifferent father. And his eyes are green, not shockingly blue. But otherwise, yeah... Joe = Jay. Hell, they even have the same initials! I'll send you a picture of Jay in college so you can see what I mean.

HOT, party of THIS guy!

Wagner is a combination of two people I actually know also - looks-wise and personality-wise. Looks - one of my son's baseball coaches and personality - one of my former boyfriends. And I'm not saying anything more on that! (Although, once again, no one was ever killed or kidnapped or whatever. Plus, no animals were harmed in the making of this movie...)

As to Wagner's state when he walked by Joe after stabbing Amy... yeah, he was out getting a little lit up just before the attack - probably as a way to bolster his courage, the little shit. And also, he was good at pulling the wool over everyone's eyes, wasn't he? We thought he was one way when, really, he was something else all together. As far as trying to throw the reader, yeah, that's certainly part of it. I tired to do that repeatedly. I mean, I wanted you to love Joe and yet also wonder. I will say this, when Jay was reading it at one point he came to me and said, "If the bad guy is Joe then just go ahead and tell me now because I'm not going to read the rest of it." To which I replied, "Come on, baby. You know me. Do you think I would write a book I wouldn't like to read?"

As to Joe's father... I think we might see him in a later story line, but I don't know. Either that or he lived out the rest of his miserable existence in a state-supported nursing home, drooling onto his bathrobe, waiting for someone to come and visit him. I haven't really decided yet. (And the only karma it showers you with is fictional karma. Plus it's Joe's dad's karma, not yours. So you're safe. Double. I promise.)

The new book centers around Jennie's dad but Jennie and Joe are in it as well... And yes, it's a mystery. 

Hurricane Sandy

If you live in the Northeastern US, I hope you and your family are safe and didn't sustain damage to your home in Monday's storm.

I live at the Jersey shore and my family was extremely lucky.  Our neighborhood is set pretty high in town so my street didn't flood.  We also had unbelievable wind gusts but didin't lose any trees, which is much more than I can say for many homes on my block.  At this point we have no power/heat/hot air...but we have a generator running here and there for some essentials and our sump pump is keeping our basement dry.  The electric company has given us an estimate of 10 - 15 days without power and we have been informed our kids will not be going back to school until that time.  But - again - we feel absolutely blessed to be alive and living under our own roof.

I cannot tell you how helpless we all feel here at the shore.   So many people are without homes and an indescribable number of our beloved landmarks have vanished.  The devastation is just impossible to truly comprehend.

Please say a prayer - or offer up a silent moment - for the people whose lives are forever changed because of this horrific storm.

*** The above drawbridge is in my town.  The boats you see were dry docked at a marina nearby and were picked up and carried away by raging floodwaters.   That marina is on the exact site where once stood the Union Salt Works.  The salt works were burned down in April 1778 by British loyalists who were trying to cripple this area by removing the only way to preserve meat and other foods.  Against all odds, after repairs, the salt works were once again operational...as will be the Jersey Shore in the coming months and years.