Diana Gabaldon's Outlander Casting in Ireland. So?

Methinks it's time to have a little discussion about some of the Outlander casting fears that are floating around the interwebs...namely the one about the Irish location of the casting company.

As John Cusack once brilliantly said in Say Anything:  YOU MUST CHILL!!!!

Below is a scene from 2011's Camelot on Starz.  (Yes, Starz.)
It was cast by Gillian Reynolds Casting.  In Ireland.  Who was cast?  Let's review:

Jamie Campbell Bower - English.

James Purefoy - More English tremendousness.

Eva Green - French...schooled in London.  And gives me chills. 

Joseph Fiennes - English.

Claire Awesomesauce Forlani - English.

Philip Winchester - American, schooled in England, his mother's native country.  

OK so let's review.  Starz series...cast by Gillian Reynolds...in Ireland.

Hmmm.  Let's take a looksee:

And you know what?  SO WHAT if some of the actors end up being Irish??  They're ACTORS.  That's what they do.  Would you rather they hit up Hollywood and get Emma Stone and Tatum Channing?  Lorddddd no!  (NOT that I don't love both of them...but I'm making a point.)

And you know what else?  I'M IRISH!  So knock it off!  ;)

OUTLANDER Casting Info

Check out this blog post from Maggie, an intern at Gillian Reynolds casting in Dublin, about the OUTLANDER CASTING that is going on RIGHT NOW!!!

ONE Day Only - FREE SHIPPING at the MOP Shop!

This just in...

TOMORROW - June 21st - is International T-Shirt Day and you can get FREE SHIPPING with no minimum order at the MOP shop!  Enter Code: TDAY2013

Here's your chance to get some witty Outlander merchandise before Starz says we canna sell it to you anymore!

Video: Outlander on Starz and Written in My Own Heart's Blood Release Date

Note: Season 3 of Game of Thrones is mentioned verra briefly in this video; be warned.

Hubby Tom's Voyager Update

Tom is reading chapter 50, "I Meet a Priest".  Here are his thoughts (and my own.) 

Doin' a little dishes...
Talkin' a little Voyager.

Claire is hangin' out with the reverend…she got picked up in the mango swamps. (LOL Mangos? Mangroves!)  She was walking thru muck and mud and talking with birds and bees….very Alice in Wonderlandesque - like Willy Wonka.

Then she meets Dr. something or other (Sterne, obvs)...he was obviously an Entomologist.  He brought her back to the hut…and there was the crazy reverend guy and mamasita…but the reverend guy got all stoned on gange and fell asleep…

Mamasita said her dress would never fit a cow like her…thinking Claire didn't know what she was talking about…but obviously Claire speaks Spanish because she speaks every language known to man - including Swahili - because she is Claire Beauchamp in the Year of our Lord, 19xx…  And she's always saying "Hold on, Beuachamp!" 

Remus is the name...
Bugs are NOT my game!

Mamasita keeps speaking spanish and calling Claire  a cow…which makes her one of my favorite characters so far. 

Sterne reminds me of the zippity doo da guy Br'er Rabbit talks to.  (ROFLMAO at this sooooo hard.  How he's picturing a Jewish fellow named Sterne as Uncle Remus is beyond me.)

Even when Claire's ALONE, she's arrogant.  (ROFLMAO)

We are now debating about where Jamie met Sterne.

This has been a very entertaining update for me.  I hope you've enjoyed it!

OFFICIAL American Release Date for Diana Gabaldon's 8th Book in the Outlander Series: Written in My Own Heart's Blood

From Diana Gabaldon's Facebook page:

"Written in My Own Heart's Blood has an official North American release date—March 25, 2014!"

You can preorder on Amazon now!

Scotsman.com: Outlander is Scotland's Game of Thrones

Check out this awesome article from Scotsman.com about Outlander on Starz next year.  They're calling it "Scotland's 'Game of Thrones'."  And they seem to be as stoked as we are that it's filming in Scotland.

Dang.  I'm thinking "Road Trip".  (With a little air travel mixed in.)  ;) 

Outlander Starz Series Update from Diana Gabaldon

This was posted on Diana's Facebook page in the wee hours of the AM.  It answers a ton of questions we discussed at MOP Chat last night.  She has nothing to do with the casting or writing of the Outlander series on Starz:

"OK, a slight correction: the production people tell me that the sixteen episodes are all for the _first_ season. (And if all goes well with that...they then might get a second season. This is kind of how television works, you know?)

Many thanks for your delight and enthusiasm! I'm sure with support from you, the show will do just fine.

As for the "oh, they'll RUIN it/oh,I can't stand to watch/oh, it'll be cheap and cheesy/oh, they're sure to mess up the characters/destroy the storyline, etc., etc., etc."...comments, you guys are of course welcome to your opinions, too--but feel free to curb your enthusiasm at any time.

I am NOT writing this show. I am not CASTING this show. I do not have CONTROL over this show. (I do have input, and the production people are very kind about asking my opinion on things. This does not mean they have a legal obligation to take it. )

You know why not? Because I don't want to. I'm a novelist, not a screen-writer. I'm a naturally solitary writer--I don't even have research assistants; my books are mine alone. Screen-writing, by contrast, is an intensely collaborative business.

Scripts go through dozens (literally) of iterations, being worked on by any number of people--then reworked by other people, over and over. A new director (for a show or an episode) can insist on a new direction or changes; an influential actor can ask for changes. Multiple writers means constant--and I do mean constant--collaboration.

I'm not a team player. (Ask anybody. ) AND I have books to write. Were I to be involved in a TV series beyond simple consulting, it would suck my soul, waste my life, prevent me ever writing another book, and be generally a Bad Idea. I'm not doing it.

I would also probably not be good at it, whereas I have a good deal of faith in the very experienced and talented people who _are_ doing it. I saw the pilot script and thought it was an amazingly good adaptation (by marked contrast to various film scripts I've seen over the years ).


So, you know....chill. Cross your fingers, hope for the best, and if you can't stand to watch, wait and read the reviews, and if it looks OK, you can get the DVD. "

I work with a film production company.  And as someone who has collaborated on script revisions, I can tell you that Diana is one thousand percent correct about what screenwriters do.  It's a never-ending process.  I helped my partner revise a script two years ago.  We went start to finish - word for painstaking word - multiple times...then went back over many scenes a zillion times.  And this was all before pre-production.  The script was then changed by producers during production.  Things were tweaked on set.  Now - long after we went into post-production - we are STILL changing scenes...deleting scenes...moving scenes around...adding scenes that had been cut.  Even changing music.  The film is "finished" (it's never really finished)...yet cutting just one word from one sentence can have a massive impact on the feel of a scene.

So basically...as I said last night...we all want to prepare ourselves for the fact that things are NOT going to be exactly as we read them.  

If you are happy this series is being adapted for TV...then sit back, strap in, hold on, and wait for the outcome.  If your expectations aren't unreachable, you might just be pleased.  

If you are NOT happy this series is being adapted for TV; don't watch.  It's that simple. 

But for the love of ALL that's holy in this world, let's not BITCH about it for the next year...and let's definitely not be rude/snotty/snarky to - or about - each other about it.  It is SO NOT WORTH IT.  The series is NOT going to be exactly like the book.  Hopefully close, as Diana said...but not exact. 

Outlander on Starz: The Ron Moore Writer's Room...Explained

What I'm finding interesting about this article is the mention of the Writers's Room and what these people have worked on in the past.  Take a look!

Diana Gabaldon: Author Breakfast Interview at BookExpo America

Neat interview with Diana Gabaldon at BookExpo America.  She talks about what writers have inspired her...and in what way.  That, alone, makes me giddy with glee.  I am always on the edge of my seat when she talks about writing.  What I wouldn't do to be able to take a class with DG as my instructor!