Launch day for THE EXILE!

It's here! We've been waiting three long years for THE EXILE, and today it will finally be published! Congratulations to Diana Gabaldon and artist Hoang Nguyen.

I'm expecting my copy to arrive sometime today. When it does, I'm going to take a few hours to read it SLOWLY, savoring both the story and the pictures.

This project has fascinated me from the moment that Diana first announced the idea on Compuserve back in 2007 (not long after I joined the forum), and it's been really interesting to watch it evolve, from the preliminary character descriptions, to the selection of the artist, to the tantalizing glimpses of pages in progress, to the very few finished pages we've seen so far. <g>

Doing something different like this is always risky, but Diana has gone out of her way to reassure us that it would be done with the highest quality possible, and my initial skepticism has long since been replaced with a feeling of excitement. I can't wait to see it for myself!

If you want to talk about your reactions to the book, you're welcome to join the discussions on Compuserve. Or you can post on the LOL Exile Board. (I'm sure there are many, many other fan-sites where THE EXILE is going to be discussed, analyzed, dissected, viewed under a magnifying glass, etc., but these are the two that I'm most familiar with.)

I wanted to pass along one important piece of information, for those of you who don't already know:

THE EXILE does not have page numbers!

I was rather dismayed to hear that. It's going to make it a lot harder for people to discuss the specifics of the story and the artwork, if we can't refer to pages by number. But there are, at least, chapter breaks (nine chapters in all), so we can come up with some sort of numbering system -- "Chapter 3, page 9, the third panel" -- to make it clear to everyone what we're referring to.

Several people on Compuserve have suggested the idea of using post-its to mark the pages, and I think that's a great idea. (Making a mental note to stock up on post-its today before my book arrives! <g>) The ones that are sold in narrow strips should be perfect for this purpose, and they won't deface the book.

Happy reading, everybody!

P.S. This note from Diana on Compuserve made my day:

Dear Karen--

THANK You! To all of you, but YOU, especially! I can travel with a peaceful mind, knowing you're shepherding the flock here. <g>

-- Diana