I Have Finished The Fiery Cross

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read "The Fiery Cross".

So I was telling my husband the story of The Fiery Cross today; he is now completely up-to-date on the Outlander series - as far as I've read, that is.  And when I got to the point about Ian staying for good, I said "and THAT is why I had my head in my hands the other day in the car" and he rolled his eyes something FIERCE. As if to say "THESE PEOPLE AREN'T REAL!" exactly like my bro-in-law, Tracey's hub John says quite often. It was quite comical.

So the book has ended... and all-in-all I am more than happy with the ending. OK let's be honest - with Ian showing up at the end, how could I NOT be???

Loved the fact that Ian brought the book with him and they've all been pouring over it like it's The Outlandish Companion at one of my Outlander meetings. ;) Seriously though - I keep waiting for Bree to translate it or something. Or for Claire to ask "Bree - what do you think he meant by that?" Or for Ian to say "Bree, do you think I did the right thing in leaving?" OK I'm being a wiseguy. And it's not like I even have the slightest CLUE why Ian left. I canna WAIT to find out in A Breath of Snow and Ashes, which I started last night. Chapter 5, y'all. I'll definitely be blogging tomorrow.

LOVE LOVE LOVED the cutie pie scene with Jemmy's privates and how Jamie and Roger were going to take him outside to show him theirs so he knows what they are. That is now one of my favorite scenes in the series. Must go read it again. And when Roger asked him if he could roll his tongue? My god I held my breath! You KNOW that child is Roger's. You just KNOW he is. And who really cares, right? It's so obvious Roger loves him so much. I just love that little family. Even Bree.

The Outlander Tour - Scottish Life

You must read this article from Scottish Life Magazine about 4 friends who traveled to Scotland to take the Outlander tour...

A Guy's Take on the Outlander Series

Have to throw a big, ol' THANKS out there to Jo M. who sent me a link to a cool article entitled "My Outlander Thing" by Gavin McNett.

He wrote it in 1999 - and as such, had read up through Drums of Autumn at that point. He also mentions the Outlandish Companion. Haven't read the whole article - I'm going to do so now. I was just so excited about a MAN reading the series (my husband made it 1/2 way through Outlander due to what he considered a little too much dude-talk and not enough chick-talk) that I had to blog STAT!

PS - Beautiful Burns quote from the article caught my eye as it refers to heaven. That's twice tonight I've blogged about Diana and the heavens...

Misled by fancy's meteor ray,
By passion driven;
But yet the light that led astray,
Was light from heaven.

SEE ya!!!!

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read chapter 109 in The Fiery Cross. 

I wanted to name this post "The Return of the Prodigal Son" but that would be a spoiler nightmare for those who aren't this far in the series yet....

Oh. My. GOSH. (my kids yell at me when I say "oh my god") I dinna even know WHAT to say. I had texts this morning. Lots of texts. LORDDDD there were texts. And then Jenn M. CALLED. She NEVER calls. We email 47 thousand times a day, but rarely do we CALL. So I knew something was up. She and Shannon BOTH asked me if I had read Chapter 108 and they told me to text or call them the second I did. Tracey sent multiple "Where are you???" emails. So I was more than prepared when Ian showed up in all his Highlander-turned-Mohawk glory to save the day with his bow and arrow. What I was NOT prepared for was chapter 109 when Jamie said those beautiful words; "for good". After my eyes left the "d" in that statement, I put my face in my hands and sobbed quietly to myself (as I was in the car with my family.) My husband looked at me with fear in his eyes, as if to say "What is WRONG?!" but then he realized I was reading and lord knows what look he most likely shot my way. I didn't care. I just sat there with my head down - face covered by my hands - silently sobbing with my head bobbing up and down.

God bless Diana Gabaldon for bringing this wonderful story into all of our lives. She is truly from the heavens.

Feelin' HOT HOT HOT

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read until you have finished Chapter 107 in The Fiery Cross.

Dear Claire,  

Can't you get Bree to invent air conditioning and maybe some ice pops for you? I mean really. Has she nothing better to do than bake bread and change clouts? Doesn't she know it's dangerous for you to be hanging off window sills whilst fornicating, just to get a little air?!?

Love,

Carol 

PS - Can I borrow Jamie for a few hours? I've got a ceiling fan that needs fixing. :)

My New-and-Improved Outlander Playlists

Have I mentioned lately that I revamped my Outlander playlists? There is now a playlist for each book (up to Drums of Autum as of today) - and each playlist has a list of scene descriptions underneath. I'm always changing/adding to the lists... so they are by no means "finished"!

Starsky and Hutch Indeed

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read until you have finished Chapter 102 in The Fiery Cross. 

Alright Lassies - I am stuck inside with a major blizzard outside. How awesome is that?? I can blog!

So Jamie, Claire, Roger, Bree, Marsali and the wee ones went off to Wilmington while Fergus went off to file the deeds. And of course the plan was for Jamie and Roger to play Starsky and Hutch (Shannon's description; love it!) and head off to Wylie's Landing for a little pistol-fun with Stephen Bonnet.

Only things went spectacularly wrong - as usual. They got jumped by Lillywhite and Anstruther who were there instead of Bonnet. (Foiled again!)

I always remember Anstruther's name because that is the neatest little town in Scotland that I've been lucky enough to visit. We waited in line for what seemed like hours to get fish-n-chips - and were told they are the best in all of Scotland. If you can confirm or deny, please let me know!

OK so after some roof-hanging... shed-hiding... ocean-swimming... Russian family acquaintance-making... and  marsh-crawling,  Jamie and Roger found each other again. They found Wylie (who had mysteriously crawled out of the bushes) and told him what was happening. I cannot TELL you how much I loved it when Wylie offered them his hospitality and Jamie was about to decline when Roger said "we'd be delighted" and "grabbed Jamie by the arm, steering him toward the shell-road before he could protest. There were times and places to be on your high horse, he supposed, but this wasn't one of them."

I LOVE the relationship that has formed between Roger and Jamie. They are polar opposites and sortof fit together to make one hell of a singing-warrior duo. Love love love it. Roger has gained so much confidence and is getting more and more comfortable telling Jamie what's what. And you can tell Jamie is happy, too... because Roger is taking initiative. Jamie is starting to see Roger as his equal... at least where the Lairding is concerned. The sword-fighting, not so much. ;)

Starsky and Hutch, indeed.