Diana Gabaldon. Adventure Gothic - the key to success

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Diana Gabaldon is an American writer who has written more than a dozen successful novels over the past twenty years. A distinctive feature of her work is the mixture of genres and the predominance of gothic themes.

Indefatigable passion for learning new knowledge

Diana Gabaldon was born in 1952 in a small town called Flagstaff (Arizona). Many different bloodlines were mixed in the family, among which English and Mexican prevailed. The last writer owes her temperamental disposition.

Diana grew up in an intelligent and highly educated family, which predetermined her further development. She first entered the Department of Zoology at Northern Arizona University, from which she successfully graduated in 1973. In California, she continued her studies and received a master's degree in marine biology. The third step was to receive a doctorate in ecology from her home university of Arizona.

Diana Gabaldon has always been drawn to new knowledge. It was difficult for her to be content with even three formations, the breadth of consciousness and craving forlearning went much further. So, Diana began to explore new areas for herself.

Unexpected change of field of activity

The big surprise for relatives, friends and colleagues was her desire to develop in the direction of information technology. Diana began to write monographs and manuals on the topic of computer systems and even founded a professional IT publication. But already at this stage, Gabaldon's craving for creativity was noticeable: being engaged in scientific and teaching activities, she unexpectedly wrote several plots for Disney comics.

An attempt to realize myself in fiction. First success

Even more surprising was Diana's intention to write a novel. She could not explain the reasons for such a desire, she said that she simply wanted to write a book. At first, she did not even imagine the theme of her future work. But gradually the picture came together: Diana decided to write a mystical novel, the action of which takes place in Scotland. The choice of such topics was due to her erudition in this direction - she had previously read a huge number of dark fairy tales. And Scotland simply attracted with beautiful views and original color of the people. This is how the story of the world famous novel "Outlander" began.

Diana sketched a couple of chapters of her future brainchild and posted it on one of the literary forums. One could hardly expect such a surge of positive reviews! Fans demanded a sequel. And one of the readers found a publishing agent who suggested Gabaldoncooperation. As a result, after some time, the first novel was written and published. This happened in 1991. Since then, seven more books have been published, each part of one big Outlander saga.

Literary connoisseurs and critics still cannot determine the style in which the writer writes. In her novels there is romance, adventure, mysticism, and history. An amazing cocktail of genres, while her books are so easily perceived that it is difficult to stop reading, according to many fans of her work.

The saga began in 1991 with Outlander. It was from that time that Diana Gabaldon became known to the world. Dragonfly in Amber (published in 1992), Traveler (1993), Drums of Autumn (1996), Fire Cross (2000), Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005), Echo past" (2009), "Written with the blood of one's own heart" (2013) made up a complete series of works of the saga. However, whether it ended, Diana has not yet decided. Despite the fact that several books have seen a decline in reader interest, fans are impatiently watching the release of new novels by the talented writer, whom Diana Gabaldon has universally recognized. "A Breath of Snow and Ashes" is considered by many to stand out in particular in the Outlander book series.

In the early 2000s, Diana Gabaldon, whose books consistently found recognition in literary circles, began work on a new saga called Lord John. Adventure Gothic again found a response in the soulsloyal readers.

Diana's works are often among the bestsellers in the most authoritative ratings. The popularity is growing every year, the books are successfully translated into different languages and published abroad.

A screen adaptation of the Outlander saga

Interest in Outlander was so great that in 2014 two seasons of the series of the same name were filmed. The writer herself took part in writing the script. Starring Katrina Balfe, Sam Heughan and Tobias Menzies. The semi-mystical time-traveling adventure attracted even audiences unfamiliar with Diana Gabaldon's novels.

Despite many years of stable popularity in literary circles, Diana Gabaldon, whose books continue to be successfully published, leads a very calm, family lifestyle, spending all her evenings in the company of her husband Doug Watkins.