HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Carved by the AMAZING husband of JJ over at The Book Bosses! 

MOP OUTLANDER Chat TONIGHT!

MOP Outlander Chat Tonight  at 9PM Eastern.  Why not come CHAT OUTLANDER?!?

je suis prest!

Look what my friend Shannon found in St. John, New Brunswick!!!

MOBY ALERT: Old Tennent Church VIDEO!

SPOILER ALERT!!!  The following post and video make many references to situations in Written in My Own Heart's Blood.  MAJOR spoilers ahead if you have not read that far in the Outlander series yet!!!

Oh MAN do I have a treat for you!!!  My friend, Shannon recently gave me an article from the Asbury Park Press about the Old Tennent Church in Manalapan, NJ...site of some of my favorite scenes in the entire Outlander series.  (Shannon and I are paying our Halloween visit next week.)  Weird New Jersey (way cool magazine about...well...weird things in New Jersey!) did a piece on the church and cemetery...and little did I know, there is VIDEO!!!  Video of the church...video of the cemetery...close ups of Battle of Monmouth graves...and even possible blood stains from a pew where a dying soldier was allegedly lain.

THIS IS THE FIND OF THE CENTURY...at Halloween and Samhain, no less!!!

Click the photo watch the video...and ENJOY!!

Those Crazy MacGyver Mackenzies!

This new video from Kiltlander is my favorite new Outlander "thing" to come along in a long, LONG time. It's like the Love, American Style of Outlander! (MacGyver, actually...but work with me.) Absolutely brilliant!!!

MOP Outlander CHAT Tonight!

MOP Outlander Chat Tonight  at 9PM Eastern.  (Alas...I have finished MOBY (le sigh) and will have plenty to say.)  ;) 

MOP Chat TONIGHT

MOP Outlander Chat Tonight  at 9PM Eastern.  BE THERE!!!  :)

MOBY: Find Your Way Back

SPOILER ALERT:  I am *almost* finished Written in My Own Heart's Blood (and am verra sad about that fact.  The shakes are already starting to set in.  I went as slowly as I could...but it's been really hard to delay gratification over the last quarter or so of this book.)

Why am I so behind on blogging about MOBY?  Well, this little thing called STARZ got in the way , and although I've been reading, I haven't been keeping up with my commentary.  My spare time has gone to making videos and updating MOP Facebook and blogging about all things Outlander Book 1.  (Oh yeah, and raising two kids...but I digress.)

I just wanted to let you all know I will be catching up now that the show is on hiatus until 2019 (kidding...April 4, 2015 can't come fast enough!)  I am going to have to backtrack like a mofo (thank GOD for Kindle's highlight feature) and do some spot-rereading to remind myself of all the things I've been wanting to wax on about for months regarding this book.  (Freehold, much?  Old Tennent Church?  Claire getting SHOT?!?  Um, yeah.  Those things.  Along with "what the devil" Percy is up to...and multiple weddings...and Rollo and Henry Christian.  Lordddddddd the tears.  I can't even GO there right now.)

So...I ask that you please forgive me...and know that in the upcoming weeks I will try to give you some food for thought while you wait for Outlander to be back in the spring.  Maybe it's better that I did it this way!  (The only person who will disagree with that logic is MOP bud, Christie.  Come to MOP Chat on Mondays and watch her abuse me for taking my time about it, aye?)

And now...I leave you with this:

Could I be ANY FREAKIN' HAPPIER that Jamie and Claire are back on the Ridge?  No, no I could not.  As much as I enjoyed them traipsing around my back yard in Monmouth County...I feel like I can breathe - just like Claire - now that they're home.

Oh and Post Scriptum?

That willna stop me from posting things like this. :)

Sam Heughan Soars Up The IMDb Starmeter!

Ummm...holy crap.  Has anyone noticed that Sam Heughan is NUMBER 2 this week on the IMDb Starmeter?

WAY TO GO, MR. JAMMF!!!!

Why "Part 2 Jamie" Will Be Straight-Up Badass

I have had an epiphany.  It's about Jamie Fraser's character in Outlander on Starz, and the major game change that's taking place right in front of our very eyes.

Up until now, I haven't quite been able to explain how I feel about Jamie's character in the show.  I watch every week, unintentionally comparing the "show to the book" (and being beyond pleased while doing so)...and reveling in the story add-ons that have been such a refreshingly perfect fit thus far.  I have felt like "TV Jamie" (brilliantly portrayed by the talented and swoonrific Sam Heughan) is beautifully written...but has seemed slightly different than his character in the book series (by literary wonder, Diana Gabaldon.)  Perhaps he seems somewhat timid...while coming off like the clan's little brother, instead of the true Highland warrior I've had the pleasure of getting to know over the years.

Any slight bewilderment I had was made perfectly clear once I saw the trailer for the upcoming 2nd half of the season, slated to air in April of 2015.  I had this "a-ha" moment, realizing that we are witnessing the EVOLUTION of Jamie Fraser, and he will be channeling his inner badass in part 2.

Allow me to elaborate.

First, we saw Jamie as a wounded young man.  A fine specimen, mind...but a fellow much younger and less seasoned than his rough-and-tumble clansmen:

Shoulder pain?  What shoulder pain?

Next, we saw a cute and flirty Jamie, impressing Claire with his vast knowledge of horses...

She wants me.  I know she wants me.

And yes, we did catch a glimpse of a stronger, wiser Jamie during his brilliant, thinking-on-his-toes pledge during The Gathering.

Let's get this over with, aye?

But then he was right back to being vulnerable on the wedding night.

Awkward, party of 2?

Now pay attention, y'all.  This is where the tide started to turn...and my epiphany started to take shape.  Claire got attacked...and something changed inside of Jamie.  He felt like he didn't protect her...

Shite!  I dinna ken what to do! 

...and he got mad.  Really, really mad. 

I'll no be fooled again.

And he wasn't going to take it anymore, especially when Claire was attacked, yet again.

Go ahead.  Make...my...day. 

And NOW look at him in the new trailer!!  He's like a deranged animal...in a cage that's been left well unlocked.

Kill...kill...kill...

And THAT, lads and lassies, is a realization that has me giddy with Outlander Part Deux glee.  Jamie is a changed man!  Now that he's a husband (and needs no guidance in the bedroom), he's no pushover ...and he's not going to be anyone's sap anymore!  I never really saw the change taking place while reading the books (much like you don't notice your children growing on a daily basis)...but Ron Moore is so ridiculously insightful, I have no choice but to ponder it now.

I am now so torked up for the second half of the season, I dinna ken what tae DO w'myself!  (Whoa - slipped into a bi' of Pocket Jamie for a minute there.)  

In the words of Oscar Wilde, "the suspense is terrible..."

...but I'm no sure I want it to last!!  Come on, April 4th!!