Outlander may be nearing the end of its 12-year television run, but for novelist Diana Gabaldon, the conclusion marks not an ending so much as a turning point. Years before Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) became icons of the hit series, they lived on the page, and Gabaldon, a former university professor (she holds a Ph.D. in quantitative behavioral ecology), is still very much guiding their journey forward.
The distinction between page and screen matters to her. “As I’ve been telling people for the last 11 years,” she says, “the show is the show, and the books are the books.” And, she hastens to add, “The books are not ending,” though the TV series is wrapping up and her upcoming 10th Jamie and Claire novel will be the last one centered on the couple. In other words, Gabaldon’s sprawling literary saga will live on.
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