Early last year Mike Sabourin and I were in the pre-recording stages of discussing a new (at the time) movie that had come out for Slashercast Side Effect. Chatting away, waiting for everything to fall in line before the episode got underway, he and I swung around to the topic of Outlander. This was just prior to the knowledge that it was going to become a show that Starz (or Ronald Moore) was interested in producing for their network. We were talking about the series up to that point and our anticipation for Written in My Own Hearts Blood (book 8).
We sat there for a good fifteen minutes chatting away. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we started up a side cast to talk about the books we love?” was the resulting question that was raised just before we all settled in to discuss the movie we were all really there to discuss. But a Diana Gabaldon kinship started right there, that day. It was like suddenly bumping into a person you know at a gathering (whoops, did I get any of my diet Coke on you?) and realizing that you have more in common than the one thing you knew about them to start with. We both loved reading and Outlander was what sparked the idea that maybe we could get together once every month or so and chew the fat about what we’ve been reading lately.
We didn’t start our podcast adventure with it because- well, it’s a pretty big concept type book to cover for a first episode (we warmed up with a Stephen King book instead) and we also knew by episode one recording that it would be becoming a TV show this year so we might as well wait and see how the pilot went. Why not?
Time went by and as news began to surface about the casting of the show I tweeted and FB’d to people with whom I knew had read the book(s) and had a general excitement for what was being revealed. Mike and my podcast friend Iris can attest to my fan-girl-esque squeeing over the trickling news, because I think I beat them over the head with everything I saw (sometimes excitement just takes you away like a leaf on the wind).
Well, finally, it’s here. Mike and I sat down and recorded an episode about my favorite book series. I think I managed to dial back my gushy fat love and juicy joy for the series and look and the first book on its own merits, but I did pay homage and gave recognition that my love of all things Outlander really is because of the entire series as a whole and not based on just one piece of the Gabaldon pie – and I hope I’ve done that.
Books, like movies or any other type of entertainment – aren’t for everyone and there are certainly people who don’t like what they read and I felt like it was a good idea to make sure I tried to represent more than just the fans who love the books. I think it’s easy to gloss over a first time read of a story and forget that maybe you ever had a problem with it because you love the entire franchise. My co-host and friend Mike had many wonderful counter points to some of the topics I brought up, which makes for a fabulous dialogue that I hope you’ll enjoy listening to!
I know that Mike and I would have liked to have really delved into the TV show with a lot more depth, but the recording was getting pretty long and he, unlike me, had not yet seen episode 2 yet- so I felt like knowing what I knew of the episode might take away his discovery of what that new episode might feel like for him. Especially if you have heard his reveal about the Jamie Fraser/Sam Heughan character. So maybe we’ll save a much deeper look into the show to book for a later time, (or maybe I’ll blog how I feel about the episodes as the show goes along) but it is talked about – there’s no way we could sign off the recording without having done so. The show is absolutely huge, which makes my fan girl heart sing with sweet happiness (as I’m sure it does for many people).
** There IS one thing that I forgot to mention on the show that I meant to! **
Did you know that Stephen King’s new book, Revival, which is out in November, has a ‘Jamie and Claire’ duo in it? Luckily their last name isn’t Fraser- it’s Morton, and they are brother and sister in his story, but when I saw that my mind went “noooooooooooo”. As if any author hasn’t used that name combo before in their works in the last 23 years, right? I know. Couldn’t help it though.
You can listen to the show, and this episode, via streaming online at the link below – or you can find us by searching for Shelf Life Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or another podcast catcher application that you might use for your Smartphone (there are many out there. Downcast, Podcast Addict, etc).
http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/3018995
You can expect a non-spoiler section and there WILL be a SPOILER section clearly designated in each episode. In the end we just decided that for the people who had read the books, it’d be a nice place to chat about it all. Let it all hang out. And if you didn’t read them, that you had a place you could stop the show to check the book out and come back to us afterwards. We give you a Recommends segment at the end of most of our episodes as well as a ‘what have we been reading’ discussion at the start of each episode. Maybe it’ll help build your TBR (to be read) lists.
That’s where I’ll leave this blog post for now.
Be good to each other!
-DAC
Our Twitter :
Me = @DA_Chaney
Mike = @TheFlickist
The show = @TheShelfLifePod
If you want to hear more Outlander goodness from episode to episode with fans of the TV show – you should look up the following podcasts:
The Outlander Podcast – on iTunes, Audioboo, and Podcast Addict
The Scot and the Sassanach – on iTunes and Stitcher
The Outlander Cast with Mary and Blake – on iTunes and Stitcher
Stephen King’s book –
DA Chaney 
