Yes, I Admit It. I’m an Outlander Fan-girl

By Kim

Most of my literary crushes are transitory, lasting only as long as it takes for me to finish a novel or until the hero does or says something that annoys me, whichever comes first. I don’t remember their names a month later.

Some, such as Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre, Claude Monet in Claude and Camille, and Tom Cole in The Day the Falls Stood Still, remain with me, luring me back to their pages later so I can experience that heady rush again. These infatuations feel more like lingering memories of full-blown love affairs. The daydream dissipates soon enough, though, because I've already lived those stories. I know what he’ll do, what he’ll say, and I know how it will all end.

Outlander series, book 8

I've only ever had one literary husband.

I met him back in 1992, when I was 17 and he was 21. We've shared eight epic adventures spanning 22 years and over 7500 pages, with the promise of more to come. We've aged together, though he has done so at an accelerated pace – he’s 58 at the end of the most recent book – and he continues to exhilarate, exasperate and surprise me.

I refer, as many of you have likely guessed, to Diana Gabaldon’s 18^th century Highlander, Jamie Fraser. I admit it, I pre-order each of the Outlander books the moment I can. When one arrives, I drop anything I might be reading or doing, and dive in. Yes, the books are “door-stoppers.” Yes, they meander. Yes, at times the object of my affection doesn't show himself for a frustratingly long time. When he does reappear, depending on the circumstances, I mentally embrace him or smack him over his stubborn Scottish head. Either way I ask, “What took you so long?”

I may leaf ahead to find out how long I must wait, but I always read every word in between.

And now, after years of wishing someone would do the obvious thing and make a TV series, it has happened. Even better, Diana Gabaldon herself has quite vocally approved of the casting choices of Sam Heughan for Jamie and Caitriona Balfe for Claire. The previews look amazing. The show officially premiers on Starz August 9^th but fans can watch the first episode online on the 2nd.

I've already cleared my calendar.

Have you read the Outlander books? What are your thoughts on the upcoming series? 

Literary Crushes

By Kim

As an avid reader from the age of three and a sucker for a good love story, I confess I’ve fallen in love with more fictional men than real ones in my lifetime. Most are transitory infatuations that last only as long as it takes for me to finish a novel or until they do or say something that annoys me, whichever comes first. I don’t remember their names a month later.

Some remain with me, luring me back to their pages so I can again experience that heady rush. I don’t always get it. At nineteen, I loved Emily Bronte’s Heathcliff. Twenty years later, I wonder why. My opinion about Diana Gabaldon’s Jamie Fraser has not changed since 1992, however. I’m sure I’ll feel much the same about Cathy Marie Buchanan’s Tom Cole and Stephanie Cowell’s imagined version of Claude Monet.

I met my first literary love at twelve, when my mother gave me my first copy of Jane Eyre. Ever since, Edward Rochester is like the bad boy ex-boyfriend I’d take back in a heartbeat, damn the consequences. I forgive him the moodiness, the mind games, and even the mad wife imprisoned in the attic. Each time a movie version comes out, I’m at the theater and praying that the actor in that role fits the image in my mind. He never does, though Toby Stephens was my favorite.

My eldest daughter is now almost twelve and she, too, has fallen in love for the first time. The object of her affection: Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games. As soon as she finished book three, she immediately picked up book one again, so she could have “her” Peeta back the way she wants to remember him.

How about you? Who are your literary crushes?