• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 1938 0

cavity under a pile of brush. The Mohawk are being stealthily followed by a small band of Tuscarora Indians that they do recognize). Superintend massive homework while baking ten dozen sugar cookies “You know,” remarks my little one, who is (ha-ha) “helping” me bake cookies, “I feel kind of bad.” “Your teeth still hurt?” I ask. “No,” she says, “but I was just thinking, I’ll be in bed in a little while, and you’ll still be baking cookies. I feel kind of guilty about that.” While feeling gratified at this evidence of developing conscience, I assure her that that’s perfectly all right, I like baking (I do, but), and dash upstairs to find Sam a black marker with which to prepare visual aids for a presentation on current events).

Oldest daughter comes out to ask whether I can type her constitution for the nation she is designing in school, as she is a very slow typist and overwhelmed with work tonight. Assure her that I can, and take document up to park by computer, where I will not forget it.

Tuck people in bed. Take more anti-flu stuff while listening to husband tell me how exhausted he is. Tuck him in bed, eat a bowl of rice and leftover Chinese beef from dinner, drink more diet Coke, and go upstairs to work at midnight.

Answer a few messages, play one game of solitaire, discover I am falling asleep, lie down on floor, and nap for an hour. Wake up, but can’t stay awake—get a sentence or two down but discover it doesn’t make sense. Decide flesh and blood has limits, and stagger downstairs to lock up, check kids and animals, turn off lights, feed rabbits and hamsters, etc. Heading for bedroom when I realize I have not typed Laura’s constitution, which she urgently requires for class next morning.

Unlock office, go upstairs… came down again at 2:30, took more vitamin C, and passed out. Net result, writing-wise, being that I have maybe 300 words actually written, which would be discouraging (and is) in view of my 2,000-word goal, but I do know a heck of a lot more about what’s going on than I did in the morning, and in fact, I didn’t stop writing all day. And maybe tomorrow I’ll post the scene itself.

So I’ll get there, eventually. If I don’t die first.

—Diana

ANNOTATED

BIBLIOGRAPHY

This bibliography has two purposes. The main purpose, of course, is to allow people with an interest in some topic to find further information on it. The secondary purpose is to give the reader a glimpse of the research and resources behind some elements of the Outlander novels—if only to indicate just how tenuous the connection between inspiration and execution sometimes is!

I’ve done bibliographies before; many of them. I used to be a scientist, after all. However, this present bibliography is rather different from the scholarly version. First off, while I would have read every word (frequently more than once) of each reference in a scholarly bibliography, there are several books in this one that I haven’t read at all. There are many more that I’ve read only in part, others that I’ve skimmed—and a few that I never intend to read, but keep in case I need to look up some particular bit of information.

A scholarly bibliography would also be complete—or as complete as industrious research could assure. This one isn’t, by a long shot. Many books that I consulted in the early days of writing were returned to the library without being recorded anywhere (I didn’t realize at the time that I’d have to do this, or I’d have been more careful about it, I assure you). Many others have been consulted and then consigned to my storeroom—and if you think I’m going to go dig around in there…! I acquire books constantly, and in fact currently have some two or three hundred that will be used in the course of writing The Fiery Cross and King, Farewell—but they aren’t included here.

No, this bibliography essentially consists of the books that I used as background and reference while writing the first four books of the series—but isn’t a complete listing of those books; it’s what’s still on my office shelves. This is highly unscholarly, totally idiosyncratic