What have you enjoyed about growing alongside Claire and Jamie? One reason it takes me so long to write these books is that I need to age along with them. I’ll be 70 in January, and I’m a different person than I was at 32 when I started writing Outlander. Your perceptions and experiences change and deepen as you get older. And when you’re telling the story of a long-term marriage, this makes a difference. You’re writing the 10th and final book now. What’s after that? I’m also working on an official prequel dealing with Jamie Fraser’s parents and the previous Jacobite Rising of 1715. What can viewers expect when season six airs next year? The show did a wonderful job of sticking close to the material [the sixth Outlander book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes href=“https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FCKEF4?tag=paradedigital-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1”]. This is, I think, my most favorite season—except for season one, of course, which is special for me. What books do you recommend most to Outlander fans? I have “The Methadone List”, which is a list of books that I wholeheartedly recommend. It’s for people who write to me saying, “What am I supposed to read while I’m waiting for your next book?” It includes titles such as Plague by C.C. Humphreys, The City Stained Red by SamuelSykes and The Secrets of Painby PhilRickman. What’s your most anticipated book of 2022? The Starless Crown [Macmillan, January 4] by JamesRollins, about a young girl who foresees an apocalypse and an unlikely group of outcasts who join her to save their world. It’s his first fantasy novel, and having seen what he can do with a plot, I can’t wait to see what happens. What’s your favorite book series? Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series [nautical historical novels set during the Napoleonic Wars]. Or for a living author, maybe Kim Harrison’s Hollows series [a supernatural urban fantasy].”
