‘Outlander’ Author Diana Gabaldon Vows That What Happened to ‘Game of Thrones’ Writer George R.R. Martin Will Never Happen to Her — ‘They’ll Never Catch Me’
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- Outlander author Diana Gabaldon took seven years to finish book nine in the series.
- Gabaldon saw what happened to Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin and vows it will not happen to her.
- She has known how Outlander will end for more than 20 years.
Outlander author Diana Gabaldon took seven years to write the latest book in her popular, time-travel fantasy series. Titled Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone, it’s the ninth book in the long-running Outlander saga that began in 1991. When it was released in late November, Go Tell The Bees ended the longest literary Droughtlander ever.
Gabaldon says that the story of Jamie and Claire Fraser’s romance will end with book 10. But it’s way too early to know exactly when that book will be published. The author did promise, however, that what happened to Game of Thrones writer George R. R. Martin will not happen to her.
The ‘Outlander’ author had multiple reasons for the long gap between books
The seven year gap between book eight — Written In My Own Heart’s Blood — and book nine was the longest gap in the three decades that Gabaldon has been writing the Outlander series. The author told Entertainment Weekly that there are “multiple reasons” why it took her so long to write Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone.
“In my own defense, I must note that I wrote four other books during this time period, which I don’t normally do,” Gabaldon explained. “The other thing was that the show started right when the eighth book was published. I’m a consultant on the show, which means that they show me everything and invite my comment on it.”
Diana Gabaldon reveals ‘Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone’ was more of a challenge to write
Gabaldon estimates that over the first five seasons of Outlander, she’s spent about 45 months “engaged in doing that as well as everything else” that she does. The 69-year-old added that during those seven years she had two grandchildren, which also “takes up a little bit of your time.”
The new book is a whopping 900 pages, and Gabaldon admits that it “was definitely more of a challenge to write.
“Mostly because of the chronology, which was very complicated,” she says.
The ‘Outlander’ author says what happened to George R. R. Martin won’t happen to her
The seven-year wait that Outlander fans had to endure between books is nothing compared to what fans of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series have had to endure. They’ve been waiting on book six — The Winds of Winter — for 10 years.
Game of Thrones caught up to Martin before he could finish the book, which caused the divisive final season. Gabaldon says she feels “very sorry” for “poor George” because of what took place when the HBO series caught up with him.
“He [Martin] then met with the showrunners and he told them what he was planning to do in that book, so that they could then write accordingly,” Gabaldon told The Guardian. “Only they didn’t write accordingly, they took his stuff, and distorted it and wrote their own ending, which wasn’t at all what he had in mind but used all the elements that he told them.”
Diana Gabaldon says the Starz series will ‘never catch me’
Gabaldon has started writing the final book in the Outlander series, and the Starz adaptation only has six seasons produced. With each season taking about a year to film, the author should have at least three years to write before they get close to catching up with her. But Gabaldon says that’s not going to happen.
“They’ll never catch me,” she says. “I will certainly finish the 10th book before they finish the show.”
The ‘Outlander’ author has known how the series will end for two decades
Gabaldon revealed that she had started writing book 10 just a few weeks before the release of her latest book. Plus, she already knows the ending that she is working toward. In fact, she’s known the ending to her Outlander series for 20 years.
“It was about 20 years ago that I saw the ending, and I got up in the middle of the night and wrote it down with tears rolling down my face,” she says. “And no: I’m not telling you what it is.”
Outlander season 6 premieres Sunday, March 6, 2022, on Starz. Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone is in stores now.
