The Echo Read Has Begun!

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read chapter 2 (yikes or is it 3?) in AN ECHO IN THE BONE (yessss babyyyyyy - I'm finally here!!!) 

OK! So I've read a little bit of Echo! Wheeee!!!  Isn't this fun? I think I am going to blog a lot with this last book. I'd rather savor it and read it slowly and do lots of surmising and pondering with you good people whilst doing so....than fly though it and feel my insides gripe over the wait for Book 8...

So Percy Wainwright. Meh. I have zero love for this guy. I putzed around in Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade last week... and Tracey filled me in a bit, too... so I know who he is and what he means (or doesna mean) to Lord John. I don't like him at all. He reminds me of one of those poofy dressers from the French portion of Dragonfly. He's more taken with his ruffles and his obnoxious sex romps than he is with most other things in this world. And poor John has to deal with him and his inquiries as to who and where is Jamie Fraser. Sigh. John suffers almost as much as Jamie. Almost. (If you haven't seen our latest videos, Tracey had a FANTASTIC ponderance that maybe Lord John will go through the stones, into the future. LORDDDD can't you just SEE him all giddy in NYC? Gettin' dates left and right in the Village? I wish this for him, I truly do. The man is way too bound up. He needs a) more parritch and b) a damn vacation!!!)

Died when I read Claire's FULL letter to Bree. I cried all over again. LOVED that the smaller, earlier portion was Jamie's directness... but then Claire took over and is just frolicking along verbally about losing her surgery.... hell, her house, for that matter.

OK so here's my question: Why are they all stuffed into Bree's cabin like sardines? Aren't there like 8 million empty cabins at this point? The Christie's.... the Bug's... hell...even Amy McCallum Higgins has a shitty little cabin built into the side of the mountain. (And WHEN did Amy marry Bobby? Did that happen in A Breath of Snow and Ashes? How in god's name do it forget that if so??) The whole Ridge must look like a shut down resort in the Adirondacks by now! NOBODY PUTS BABY IN THE CORNER!!!

OH - and speaking of Arch Bug... um... is he trying to scare them, what with leaving chunks of pig hide in a trail? Or merely to lure them away like Bobby Brady and his popcorn?

And didn't Arch take the gold? What does he need with Jamie? Vengeance? Mmmppphhhmmm! Vengeance is highly overrated when you can afford a big house of your own (and all the sausage Mrs. Bug can cook for a lifetime.)

Ohhhhh - dinna fash yourself with that last question. I am seeing now that Jamie thinks he's coming back for the gold. Hmmm...so it might be hidden on the Ridge??? Well now we're talking! It's like one of those challenges on Survivor where they let them loose in the massive jungle and say "OK! Find the bonus letter!" If they can find that gold, they can build themselves a new big house - right on the spot where Jamie showed Claire Book 6. OK - everyone say "Awwwwww". All together now!

Off to read... and oh, yeah... feed my family. Have to do that once in a while...

3 New Videos from My Outlander Purgatory!

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have finished A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES.

TMZ's Ravishing Redhead Contest

Hey check it out! It's like TMZ is doing a casting call for Bree!

New Video from My Outlander Purgatory

Got questions for us??

Want to know what Tracey thinks of the Lord John books??
Want to know what Carol thinks of Fergus' Lamaze techniques??
Just want to hear your name out loud on youtube??

Leave your questions in the comments section of this post and we'll answer them in today's video!
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We finished the videos - sorry I didn't give y'all much notice on the questions. Next time we do a video, I want to do a live chat at the same time. That would be so much fun!

Today's the Day!

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have finished A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES.

 I woke up today.. and it almost felt like Christmas. I thought "I'm going to start 'AN ECHO IN THE BONE!!' Finally!"

But then the worry set in.

Claire has no Penicillin.
Claire has no microscope with which to manufacture Penicillin.
Claire has no Bree to manufacture a microscope. 
Claire has no herbs.

The following are questions I DINNA want the answers to:

WHAT are they going to do? Are they going to Scotland? If so - how can they leave? What about Lizzie's Malaria? What about Fergus and Marsali?  The Frasers are still sortof responsible for some folks on the Ridge - and beyond.

And if they go to Scotland, let's face it, Jamie's no spring chicken. How is he going to handle that voyage with his seasickness?

OK - too many "what ifs". I just have to dive in and read. Wish me luck!

PS - New video coming from Tracey and me. We're making it today. Stay tuned!

We're Starting ECHO This Weekend!!

I'm so excited!  We may be doing a "Starting Echo" video, too. I'll keep you posted.

Another Great Outlander Chat!

Spoiler Alert: Dinna read unless you've read VOYAGER. 

Thanks to everyone who came to the chat last night. Once again - what a great discussion!  I love hearing everyone else's point of view... and also being educated about what Diana is saying on the Compuserve forum!

Here's my question for the day:  Do YOU think Frank cheated? Apparently Diana says he didna necessarily cheat and that it's just implied? Can anyone confirm or deny?

What do y'all think?? (I vote "HELL TO THE YES". But that's just me!)

OH and PS - My friend Mercedes is reading the series and is well into Voyager right now. I am going to arrange a chat for her (where we only discuss up to parts of Voyager) because she is verra committed to the series and needs some discussion! I'll keep you posted!

Chat Tonight

9PM EST Outlander chat tonight. Tracey will not be there as it is her hubby's birthday - but she sends her regards.

The Patriot

Here's a little prezzy for y'all. It's OK if you cry. I did. (Damn, that's the second time this week a movie with Chris Cooper - a GOD of acting - made me cry. And don't even get me started on Heath Ledger.) 

No More Snow...BRING ON ECHO!!!!!!

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have FINISHED A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES.

Ya know, I find it a bit of a daunting task to write about the end of A Breath of Snow and Ashes because mother of god... SOOOO much went down in the last part - hell, in the BOOK - that I dinna know where to start.

I think they're headed back to Scotland with "Lallybroch or Bust" on their bags. Actually, scratch that,  because they have no bags that I know of after the fire. Donner's a douche - and I wasna sad to see him go. But I thought it was a bit of an about-face from him to just show up acting like a complete ass. I suppose he wanted to get back through the stones and was going to do anything necessary to get there.

The girls and I are in agreement that we all loved when Jamie gave Claire an out to leave and follow her family (something she's never had) and she threw the stone out the window. Might I just say that I'd have done the EXACT same thing. I loved that she did that. Although I was kindof scratching my head when Jamie made the offer in the first place. I was like "Really Jamie??? Really???" I mean, isna it a little late for that? C'mon dude... Claire's not going anywhere. And I think he knew that but wanted to be a good guy and put it out there. And I LOVED when he was asking Bree about the 20th century. I have always maintained that there isna enough of this type of talk from Jamie. I love him even considering the possibility of going forward even for a microsecond. That is something I would just love to see, even though I know I have a better chance of seeing Malva come back from the dead and actually sleep with Jamie (hey, he did say he kindoffff understands necrophiliacs, right?) 

Here's a burning question among my Outlander sassenach friends: Will Ian go to Scotland, too? All I can say is he BETTER. His mother deserves to see him - and we deserve to see a reunion.

OK so here's what I'm expecting to see in Echo: Willy will find out he's Jamie's son. Maybe Willie will take up where Bree left off as the offspring in Jamie's life. I truly thought Bree was going to tell Willy they were siblings. My god, can you imagine the anguish of poor Lord John? And speaking of LJG - I was verra sad to witness the coldness of John and Jamie's dealings at the inn. They care so much for each other and have too much honor between them to show it. Who CARES what side of the argument they're on? They're best friends! Hug it out! John - is your relationship with the King more important than your relationship with Jamie? I think not! Just my .02.

Let's see... what else? God there is so much.  Bonnet. Sighhhhh Bonnet. I was glad Bree did what she did for him although I dinna ken for the LIFE of me why I care. And I am dying to know what the papers were that she and Jamie got from him in the prison. His business dealings? His assets? What what WHAT? And WHY? Did he make them a deal to give them these things if they'd promise to kill him before he drowned? And wouldn't the horror of 9 hours tied to that stake to the point where only his head was showing pretty much be almost as much as he'd have to take? Hell one more hour and he'd be swimming with Big Pussy AND the fishes.

Jocasta: Good riddance. She was a pain in the ass from the word "go". I dinna understand why she and Duncan couldn't just take Phaedre and Ulysses with them. Phaedre is off knitting with Marsali, I suppose... and poor Ulysses is up in Virginia fighting for his freedom with Mel Gibson. Good for him. I always liked him and he had more class in his little pinky than Jocasta had in her entire body. Shame on her for keeping slaves. But what else can you expect from a MacKenzie (of Leoch, that is.)

Fergus - WHERE FOR ART THOU, FERGUS?!? Ugh - please please please tell me we're going to see Fergus again. He's doing a fantastic job with the printing press (OK so maybe Marsali isna knitting) but I just miss him, OK? I MISS HIM and his goddamn Fronch MURMURING. Hell if I were Marsali, I'd get preggers again just to have him woo baby #5 out at the end of the 9 months.

And last, but certainly not least, Roger and the bairns. I. Think. It. Is. AWESOME that Bree took the fam to Lallybroch and bought it. I really do. I have to wonder if Echo is a duel story of Jamie and Claire at Lallybroch in the 18th century and Bree and Roger there in the 20th. Wow - that would be cool. And might I tell you - the one thing that made cry in this book to the point where I hadn't cried that hard since Ian was STOLEN by the Mohawk:  the chest with Jemmy's name on it. Holy crap - is Jamie Fraser  not a god? Seriously. I wonder if Claire knew he did that. Probably, I'm sure. But wow. And it's kindof funny because didna that scene conjur up visions of Sandra Bullock (oh poor Sandra Bullock - who didn't know that fool was a loser from the day she married him?) and Keanu Reeves standing at the mailbox in The Lake House? I am verra into heirlooms, peeps.... so yeah, I cried my fat arse off at that box and the note inside it. How completely thoughtful of Jamie. I'm hoping they hid lots of little things for her to find around Lallybroch. Maybe she told them she'd buy it if she got back.

Guess we'll have to wait and see...