SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read if ye havena read An Echo in the Bone and Written in My Own Heart's Blood.
"The British certainly meant it to be a surprise. They marched in the middle of night and captured all civilians living along their path to prevent word of the attack from reaching the Continentals. The British commander, Maj. Gen. Charles Grey ordered his troops to be quiet under threat of the death penalty. He also ordered that all flints be removed from firearms to prevent accidental discharges, earning him the nickname of “No-Flint” Grey. However, American Gen. Anthony Wayne received a report about the possible attack through a farmer who was at the Paoli Inn. Another local told him that he had been "with the enemy" and had heard British soldiers say they would attack that night. Wayne put out additional pickets and prepared his soldiers to maneuver and possibly retreat from a potentially larger British force."An excerpt from ushistory.org's Battle of Paoli page.
Today marks the 238th anniversary of the surprise attack of British troops on the Colonial Army during the Battle of Paoli or "Paoli Massacre" during the Revolutionary War.
It is also the anniversary of the day that sparked my visit to the Paoli Battlefield (and subsequent various googling) which resulted in my blogging about The Battle of Paoli...which resulted in Diana Gabaldon seeing my amateur photos and info on the term "Remember Paoli." Diana later wrote a chapter entitled "Remember Paoli" in Written in My Own Heart's Blood...and mentioned My Outlander Purgatory in the acknowledgments, basically making my life, let alone my year, month or day.
Click here to see those photos and the info from my visit. And please...
MOPOutlander ChatTonight - MONDAY NIGHT - at 9PM Eastern! Tracey and I are iffy for this evening due to some schedule changes this week...but really want to be there to commiserate Droughtlander with y'all. So talk amongst yourselves (I'll give you a topic: Fergus Lamaze is neither Fergus - or Lamaze...discuss!) and at least one of us will be there just as soon as we can. :) *If you receive MOP email updates: This post will most likely show up on your email feed on Tuesday. I apologize for the delay. It seems whenever I post after 2PM, it shows up a day late!
Every once in a while I have to stop and promote the Lifescapes Scottish Moors CD from Jeff Victor. I read the ENTIRE Outlander series while listening to this CD. I set it to loop and read and read and the haunting sounds seeped through my body and made me feel as if I were there in Scotland with Jamie and Claire.
Trust me; you want this music. It's almost an out-of-body experience!
Sorry y'all! Tracey's on vacation (near the Ridge!) and I have Third Sister Jill visiting with her kids! We hope you're having a fantabulous week...and we'll "see you" next Monday! :)
Tonight at MOP Chat, we were discussing an upcoming film about Culloden and Bonnie Prince Charlie (rumored to be titled "The Great Getaway.") Someone mentioned that Kristen Stewart might play a rebel of some sort in the film.
This May 14th article in the Scotsman explains that while Kristen Stewart was considered for the role, the part of FLORA MACDONALD went to Mhairi Calvey. Calvey is the Scottish actress who - as a child - played the young Murron MacClannough (the little girl whose character grew up to be William Wallace's love interest) in Braveheart.
Thanks to my dear friend Tonya for reminding me I wanted to DVR a new Masterpiece series last weekend. I saw her email two minutes before it started and made a mad dash to record Masterpiece: Poldark
on PBS. If you are not watching - and/or reading Ross Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787 by Winston Graham, you have no idea what intrigue/adventure/romance awaits you! And luckily for us, there are many more books where that came from. (I believe there are 12 in all but if I am incorrect, please let me know.)
The setting of the show reminds me of The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley, with its angry seaside bluffs and air of passionate angst that runs as an undercurrent through much of the story. I cannot speak to the book yet, as I'm only about a chapter or two in, but I will tell you this: as with most books (except Outlander, of course!) small details may be overlooked in the TV show and you'll have a lot of fun digging them up in the books.
Already reading/watching? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!!
“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time." ~John Lydgate
"In terms of popular culture and media and entertainment and so forth, everybody says “Who is the audience for this?” I didn’t really care who the audience was. The audience was me. And since that worked, I’ve always proceeded on that assumption: I don’t care what the audience thinks. Basically, it’s going to be the way I think it should be written. But the other thing is that there is no audience, there is no reader. If you’re going to have more than one person read your book, they’re going to have totally different opinions and responses. No person — no two people — read the same book. It’s always based on their perceptions, their background, their experiences, their expectations of the moment. You know, what side of the bed they got up on that day. I read some books and I thought, “This is better than sliced bread!” and a month later I couldn’t remember thinking about it. And I’ve read others that were kind of a slog and I’ve put them down and come back six months later thinking, “Wow, this is great.” So, you know, things change all the time."
This is exactly how I feel. We're are never all going to agree...and why would we want to? What a boring place the world would be.
This is also what I love about Diana Gabaldon; she gives interviewers and audiences insight into her writing, and what goes on inside her head about this situation or that. When I've seen her speak at various events, I've loved hearing her talk about Outlander, but the info she shares about her writing experiences is what has had me on the edge of my seat. If you've never seen Herself speak live, I highly recommend you do so at the next available opportunity.
How cool is this new book from KC Dyer?? Even Diana Gabaldon, HERSELF has great things to say about it:
"Jamie Fraser would be Deeply Gratified at having inspired such a charmingly funny, poignant story--and so am I." --Diana Gabaldon, author of the New York Times Bestselling OUTLANDER series
OK Y'all...so get this. Tracey and I were lucky enough to be interviewed by the VERRA cool Mary and Blake over at Outlander Cast last week! WHAT a blast. They are such a great couple and so much fun to dish Outlander with!
I have gotten a bunch of requests for PattzR's famous chocolate icing that is almost as good as the first five minutes of Episode 10.
Your wish is my command!
You guys - this is the easiest recipe EVAH. Tracey and I have been having this icing since we were wee bairns. When my mother makes it, she will save some in tupperware, freeze it, and present it to us when she brings the cake on our birthday.
There is nothing better on this planet.
(Except for the first five minutes of the 10th episode of Season 1 of the Outlander series on Starz, entitled "By the Pricking of My Thumbs.")
A wee bit of "OMG!!!"
4 squares BAKER'S Unsweetened Baking Chocolate 1 pkg. (16 oz) Powdered Sugar (about 4 cups) 1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter or Margarine, softened 2 tsp Vanilla 1/3 cup Milk
Tracey's birthday was just a couple weeks ago. Bet she didn't get anything as good as Episode 10 as a gift. :)
MELT chocolate in a double boiler (or silver bowl placed over a pot of steaming water) stirring every 30 seconds until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 minutes or to room temperature.
ADD sugar, butter and vanilla. Gradually add milk, beating with electric mixer on low speed until well blended. If frosting becomes too thick, beat in addition milk by teaspoonfuls until frosting is of spreading consistency. (You can use coffee if you don't have more milk.)
That's it! VERY simple...no fancy ingredients (although I'm sure you could get fancy and see what happens.) Just amazingly flavorful, chocolatey goodness (that still isn't quite as good as the first five minutes of Ep 10.) :)
MOPOutlander ChatTonight - MONDAY NIGHT - at 9PM Eastern! WHAT A WEEK!!! There is much to discuss! Bring your thoughts on Episode 9...and your Tartan Affair stories! :) It's Tracey's birthday (happy birthdayyyyy toooo youuuuu!) so she will most likely only make it in for a few minutes toward the end. I am on vacation in Florida...but I should be able to get there with no issues (crossing fingers!) If you get there and neither of us is there, just GET THE PARTY STARTED and we'll be along shortly!
As I'm sure many of you know, many heavy hitters from the cast of Starz' Outlander series were at the Zeigfeld theatre in NYC on Wednesday night for the show's mid season premiere. And as you may *not* know, Tracey and I were lucky enough to be on the red carpet! (Thank you, Starz!)
My amazing, Outlander-loving
friends who put up with my
MOP rambling on a daily basis
The event started out with my Outlander friends and I meeting up with Tracey, her Outlander mentor, Emily, and Third Sister Jill at Randolph's in the Warwick Hotel. We were lucky enough to snag a table near the window, so we could frontload have some refreshments, watch the festivities out the window, and giggle like 7th graders.
Tracey, Third Sister Jill, Carol & PJ
After some much needed libations, Tracey and I headed over to the press tent, where we were treated like rock stars by the staff over at Starz. We had never done a press event like this before and felt really welcomed by everyone we dealt with.
We then spent the next 2.5 hours in our little spot in the press area, waiting for the stars of Outlander and kabitzing with our fellow bloggers/journalists. (We have to send a shout out to Beth from That's Normal for being fabulous and giving us some pointers on what to expect on the red carpet.)
First, we were treated to a conversation with the seriously stunning Lotte Verbeek (TALK about cat eyes!) about the psycho-licious Geillis Duncan. And as cookoo as Geillis is on the written page and on your tv set, that's how absolutely lovely Lotte is in person. Not only was she gracious and answered our questions, but she actually asked to have her picture taken with Pocket Jamie. You have no idea how that made our day. Can't say enough about this fantastic actress. (I only wish I'd told her how amazing she was in The Fault in Our Stars):
Was I right? Lotte Verbeek is a doll. And an old Hollywood-style star. I absolutely adore her.
NEXT we were treated to the dynamic duo of Graham McTavish and Gary Lewis. These two were quite a hilarious tag team...and a ton of fun to meet. We discussed sibling rivalry...among other things!
TELL me you wouldn't want to hang out with these two? Forget the castle, they are seriously down to earth fellows...and EXUDE Scottishness from their pores. We were in awe.
NEXT - after I saw him coming and had to regain my composure - we spoke with Tobias Menzies about how much time he spends with Sam off screen during filming, as well as the possibility of plans to bring The Fever to New York.
I had to bite my tongue to stop from fangirling when Blake from OutlanderCast asked about Tobias' role as Brutus in Rome. My sincere apologies go out to Blake because I know I jumped his train when I spit out, "he was conflicted!" as he was telling Tobias how much he loathed Brutus. LOL I can't stand when people steal others' celeb moments, but Tobias Menzies brings out the feisty in me.
NEXT we all gasped when Caitriona Balfe came along. As beautiful as she is on the show, you canna imagine how pretty she is in person. And I think it has to do with her friendly personality. She's so easy going and fun to talk to - like hanging with your BFF at the mall - and quite hilarious. We had a lot of laughs while discussing the three P's: Her version of Purgatory, Pranks on set (or lack thereof!), and who else? Pocket Jamie!
What did I tell you? The woman is positively adorable. I have never felt more comfortable around an actor. She is seriously the real deal.
LAST but as far from least as one could possibly get, we spoke with Sam Heughan. Sam was so gracious and answered all our questions about his own version of Pocket Jamie, Purgatory, and how Jamie Fraser would feel about the modern day world (those of you who come to chat know how I obsess over that concept; I had to know how he felt about it, too!)
Squee, right? I mean, seriously. How do you follow that up? What in the world do you say after having a conversation with this man? He's beyond description. "Nice" is just not going to cut it, although that's what he is. A very sweet person who doesn't put on airs or give off any feelings of pretense. Oh and an amazing actor. So yeah...he's got that going for him, too. :)
Soooo....after the red carpet, Tracey and I were seated in the theater while the show was already well in progress. I'll give you a hint as to where it was; "You're tearing my GUTS out, Claire!" I was in stare-at-the-screen mode instantly. The episode was fantastic, as all are...and our feelings were thoroughly discussed in our recap video which you can watch here.
The cast of Outlander at the Ziegfeld Theater on April 1, 2015
The Q/A with the cast was quick...but fun, as they had another showing and were running very
behind schedule (undoubtedly because the actors were so sweet about not rushing us and answering all of our questions!)
I would be lying if I said I wasn't already dreaming about the Episode 1 premiere of season 2...and if we'll get an invite to that premiere, as well. Whistle, whistle...looks at the sky...
Hope you've enjoyed our red carpet recap! And stay tuned for more interesting conversations with some other Outlander folks who gave us some pretty important info about what's to come!
Headed into the city in a little while...and wanted to let you all know that Tracey and I will be broadcasting LIVE via Periscope (a Twitter-owned app) tonight! Apparently Outlander Starz is, too...so if you don't have a Twitter account, you may want to register for one, even if it's just for the evening!
We tried out Periscope over the weekend and had a blast (although had no clue what we were doing!) Check out the video!
Looking forward to reporting back to you guys tonight! We hope to see some of you there...and spend a few minutes with the cast!
Got questions for the cast? Ask 'em in the comments!
MOPOutlander ChatTonight - MONDAY NIGHT - at 9PM Eastern! We'll be discussing what we should ask the Outlander cast members on the red carpet on Wednesday night! So COME PREPARED! :)
CD from Jeff Victor. I read the ENTIRE Outlander series while listening to this CD. I set it to loop and read and read and the haunting sounds seeped through my body and made me feel as if I were there in Scotland with Jamie and Claire. 
on PBS. If you are not watching - and/or reading 
by Winston Graham, you have no idea what intrigue/adventure/romance awaits you! And luckily for us, there are many more books where that came from. (I believe there are 12 in all but if I am incorrect, please let me know.)
by Susanna Kearsley, with its angry seaside bluffs and air of passionate angst that runs as an undercurrent through much of the story. I cannot speak to the book yet, as I'm only about a chapter or two in, but I will tell you this: as with most books (except Outlander, of course!) small details may be overlooked in the TV show and you'll have a lot of fun digging them up in the books.
How cool is 
