Meshing conflict, character . . . and science
“Conflict and character are theheart of good fiction, and good mystery has both of those in spades.” – DianaGabaldon
Born in Williams, AZ on this date in1952, Gabaldon is best known for her Outlander series -- both novels andtelevision shows set in 1700s’ (and a bit in the mid-1900s’). Her books merge multiple genres, featuringelements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure, sciencefiction/fantasy, and science.
A scientist first, Gabaldon is thefounding editor of Science Software Quarterly (in 1984 while employed atthe Center for Environmental Studies at Arizona State University). During the mid-1980s, Gabaldon wrote softwarereviews and technical articles for computer publications before turning topopular-science articles and comic books.
In 1988, she wrote Outlander and now has 9 books in the Outlander series. She also has served as a producerfor the popular TV series and is working on a 10th installment.
I met Gabaldon -- who told me her namerhymes with Bad to the Bone -- at a Historical Novel Society (HNS) meeting where we were both speaking about our writing.
She said her background in science has been a great assist to her fiction writing. “People assume that science is avery cold sort of profession, whereas writing novels is a warm and fuzzyintuitive thing. But in fact, they are not at all different.”
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