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Diana Gabaldon

Diana J. Gabaldon is an American author and television writer. She is best known for the book series Outlander. Her books merge multiple genres, featuring elements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure and science fiction/fantasy. A television adaptation of the Outlander novels premiered on Starz in 2014.

Early life and education
Gabaldon was born on January 11, 1952, in Williams, Arizona, United States, the daughter of Jacqueline Sykes and Tony Gabaldon (1930–1998), an Arizona state senator from Flagstaff for sixteen years and later a supervisor of Coconino County. Her father was of Mexican ancestry, and her mother was of English descent. Gabaldon grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona. ==Career==
Career
Diana Gabaldon began her writing career at Gold Key Comics, initially sending a query that stated, "I've been reading your comics for the last 25 years, and they've been getting worse and worse. I'm not sure if I could do better myself, but I'd like to try." Editor Del Connell provided a script sample and bought her second submission. Gabaldon was the founding editor of Science Software Quarterly in 1984 while employed at the Center for Environmental Studies at Arizona State University. During the 1980s, Gabaldon wrote software reviews and technical articles for computer publications such as a review of Full Impact, as well as popular-science articles and Disney comics. Novels In 1988, Gabaldon decided to write a novel for "practice, just to learn how", and with no intention to show it to anyone. As a research professor, she decided that a historical novel would be easiest to research and write, One of the Doctor's companions was a Scot from around 1745, a young man about 17 years old named Jamie McCrimmon, who provided the initial inspiration for her main male character, James Fraser, and for her novel's mid-18th century Scotland setting. Knowlton represented her based on an unfinished first novel, tentatively titled Cross Stitch. Her first book deal was for a trilogy, the first novel plus two then-unwritten sequels. Her US publishers changed the first book's title to Outlander, but the title remained unchanged in the UK. According to Gabaldon, her British publishers liked the title Cross Stitch, a play on "a stitch in time"; however, the American publisher said it "sounded too much like embroidery" and wanted a more "adventurous" title. Gabaldon also published The Exile (An Outlander Graphic Novel) in 2010. The Lord John series are additional books in the Outlander series rather than a spin-off series, centering on a secondary character from the original series. Gabaldon announced in September 2021 that she is working on the tenth Outlander series book. In May 2025 she announced that she is still writing the book, that it will be the final novel in the main series, and that it be called A Blessing for a Warrior Going Out. ==Personal life==
Personal life
Gabaldon lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her husband Doug Watkins, with whom she has three adult children. ==Published works==
Published works
Outlander series The Outlander series focuses on 20th-century nurse Claire Randall, who time travels to 18th-century Scotland and finds adventure and romance with the dashing James Fraser. • Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (2021) Later collected in A Trail of Fire (2012), and Seven Stones to Stand or Fall (2017). • The Space Between (2013), a novella in the anthology ''The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination. Later collected in A Trail of Fire (2012), later collected in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall'' (2017). • "Past Prologue" (2017), a short story written with Steve Berry and published in the anthology MatchUp. The story acts as a crossover between the Outlander franchise and Berry's Cotton Malone series, featuring the characters Cotton Malone and Jamie Fraser. • A Fugitive Green (2017), a novella published in the Gabaldon collection Seven Stones to Stand or Fall. RelatedThe Outlandish Companion (1999), a guide to the Outlander series containing synopses, a character guide, and other notes and information; revised and updated as The Outlandish Companion (Volume One) (2015) • The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel (2010) • The Outlandish Companion (Volume Two) (2015) • "Vengeance Is Mine", Outlander season 2 episode (June 18, 2016) • "Journeycake", Outlander season 5 episode (May 3, 2020) • "Ye Dinna Get Used to It", Outlander season 7 episode (December 27, 2024) • "Braemar", Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode (September 26, 2025) • "Something Borrowed", Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1 episode (October 10, 2025; co-written with Matthew B. Roberts) Lord John series The Lord John series is a sequence of novels and shorter works that center on Lord John Grey, a recurring secondary character in Gabaldon's Outlander series. The spin-off series currently consists of five novellas and three novels, which all take place between 1756 and 1761, during the events of Gabaldon's Voyager. They can be generally categorized as historical mysteries, and the three novels are shorter and focus on fewer plot threads than the main Outlander books. • Lord John and the Private Matter (2003), novel • Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007), novel • The Scottish Prisoner (2011), novel NovellasLord John and the Hellfire Club (1998), novella first published in the anthology Past Poisons, edited by Maxim JakubowskiLord John and the Succubus (2003), novella first published in Legends II, edited by Robert SilverbergLord John and the Haunted Soldier (2007), novella published in Lord John and the Hand of DevilsLord John and the Hand of Devils (2007), collection of three novellas (Lord John and the Hellfire Club, Lord John and the Succubus and Lord John and the Haunted Soldier) • The Custom of the Army (2010), novella published in Warriors, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, and later collected in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall (2017). • Lord John and the Plague of Zombies (2011), novella published in Down These Strange Streets, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, and later collected in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall (2017). • Besieged (2017), novella published in the Gabaldon collection Seven Stones to Stand or Fall. Other worksNaked Came the Phoenix (2001), a collaboration with twelve other authors • "Humane Killer", short story co-written with Sam Sykes, published in The Dragon Book: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy (2009) • "Dirty Scottsdale", short crime story set in Phoenix, Arizona, published in Phoenix Noir (2009), an anthology with fifteen other authors Scientific works Professor Gabaldon's research works included: • :* Doctoral dissertation about the Pinyon jay • :* Cited in Pinyon jay • :* About Petrolisthes cabrilloi • :* Cited in Northern gannet • :* About the New Guinea mudskipper ==Adaptations==
Adaptations
The Outlander series has been released in unabridged (read by Davina Porter) and abridged (read by Geraldine James) audiobooks. Several of the Lord John books have been released in audiobook form, read by Jeff Woodman. A television adaptation of the Outlander series premiered on Starz in the US on August 9, 2014. Gabaldon is a paid consultant for the show, and wrote the screenplay for the 2016 season 2 episode "Vengeance Is Mine". The same year, a 14-song cycle based on Outlander was released under the title Outlander: The Musical. ==Reception and awards==
Reception and awards
Gabaldon's Outlander won the Romance Writers of America's RITA Award for Best Romance of 1991. A Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005) debuted at #1 on The New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best-Seller List and won the Quill Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror. In 2007, The Montreal Gazette noted that Gabaldon's books "are in demand in 24 countries in 19 languages", and that the author "continues to churn out one bestseller after another." rarely given to a non-Scot. Also, Gabaldon received the St. Andrew's Society of Los Angeles & Southern California "Robert Burns Lifetime Achievement Award." Gabaldon continues to be recognized and given accolades the world over. Lord John and the Private Matter reached No. 8 on The New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best-Seller List in 2003. In 2007, Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade debuted at #1, and the Hand of Devils collection reached No. 24 on The New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best-Seller List. The Scottish Prisoner debuted at #6 on The New York Times E-Book Fiction Best-Seller List in 2011, and the novella A Plague of Zombies was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America for the “Best Short Mystery Story” the same year. Reviewing the Lord John series, Publishers Weekly said that "Gabaldon's prose is crisply elegant" and that she "brings an effusive joy to her fiction that proves infectious even for readers unfamiliar with her work or the period." ==References==
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