BBAW Interview with Dangerous Romance blogger Laurianne Blanchard

One of my favourite things about the BBAW is being buddied up with a fellow blogger and given the task of completing an interview. I was buddied up with Laurianne Blanchard from Dangerous Romance. She is just so darn interesting. My life seems so boring compared to her. LOL Please enjoy the interview. 

I see from your blog http://dangerousromance.com/ how much you love Urban Fantasy and Paranormal. What elements are necessary in those genres of books to be highly successful?

Michelle, I don’t know about successful, I can only answer about what works for me. If it is an Urban Fantasy, I want to see really well thought out world building, snappy dialogue, a protagonist that is smart and doesn’t make stupid choices. I like to see a great plot where I can’t guess who the bad guy is by chapter 3. This is just a personal thing, but I like to see a romantic possibility for the protagonist, my favourite type is when they don’t really hit it off at first or there is a lot of tension, I’d use as an example The Kate Daniels series. Brilliant world building, she is a bad ass but she is smart, the magic was consistent and you could cut the sexual tension between Kate and Curran with a knife through almost five books. Just incredibly well done.

If it is an Paranormal Romance, I want to see a lot of the same things, but obviously it needs to wrap up in one book, so the romance is much more prominent, less frightening (UF can get pretty twisted), I love a good chase, and two people that are surprised to find they can’t live without each other. I would use Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison as an example of my favourite type of Paranormal Romance. I’ve re-read that book 4 times.

When I read your “About” page on your http://dangerousromance.com/ blog I was stunned and in awe of all the generous charity work that you have done. What can you tell us about your work in the Nepal orphanage and what life experience you took away from that?

Two of the little girls at the orphanage that kinda adopted me

Those things keep me sane when my life gets to complicated. Nothing can stop you from feeling sorry for yourself like doing something that puts the emphasis on someone else. Being somewhere like Nepal, where the people have so little and yet are so generous. I am really eager to go back, it is just hard to get that much time off work. One week isn’t enough to go there, it takes you about 35 hours of traveling each way, and the jet lag lasts a day or two so you have to take at least 2 weeks, 3 is about right. 

Back in the 80's me with my Nepali family that I lived with for a year

I miss the kids and my friend who runs the orphanage, and my family that I used to live with in Nepal. They are all in my heart though. Nepal is in my heart. It is the most amazing place on the planet, I understand why so many people think it is uber spiritual, it breaks your heart and then mends it.

I used to work at the American Red Cross and that was an amazing experience as well. Being a Disaster Volunteer even more so. Someday I want to write a book about my experiences as a volunteer in New Orleans after Katrina and during and past Hurricane Rita. Again, it comes down to being selfish in a way, it makes you feel so good to actually be on the front lines and helping.

A group of kids who adopted me in Ukraine, I filmed them getting screened for cancer for a documentary, and then they just took me around to their homes, I was invited to the local disco, and they asked me to sing at their end of school party the night before graduation.

I love that you spend time with your guy in an old time country/Americana band. How often does your band get together and sing these great country songs?

We have band practice every Tuesday, usually on our back porch but in the winter, we move the furniture and play in front of the fire place. We gig most weekends. My husband says our optimal crowd is above 4 thousand feet. I don’t know why, but despite the fact that they call us flatlanders for living in the Big Valley, we go over a lot better in the mountain saloons, hotels etc. We’re playing the Placerville Octoberfest next weekend for four hours. Part of the contract however was we have to play the chicken dance every half hour. I may slit my wrists before the show is done!  That song is more pernicious then “It’s a Small World After All”, in trying to get it out of your head.

Mike is an amazing musician so I’m honoured to sing with him. We met when I used to open for his Americana Rock band the Tattooed Love Dogs, at a café a friend of ours owned back in the 90’s called “Café Montreal.” Cake used to play there, lots of great bands from the area. I was getting ready to move to Nashville when we started dating, but I came back home 2 years later and we were married within 4 months. Eloped, kept it a secret and had a big family wedding 9 months later in my brother’s beautiful gardens. He said we could have 80 people. Mike kept inviting friends and we ended up with 220 people in the backyard. My brother was not happy but you know, only one flower got crushed.Mike’s band played for the reception at a local bar, it was so much fun. 

We’ve been together 17 years, raised 3 handsome boys (my stepsons are 21,22,27), and one of them is following in our musical footsteps, which given how hard the lifestyle is, I’m not sure whether to be proud of or sorry, but he’s good and he’s as obsessed with it as we are so I doubt I can talk him out of it.

We have a live music TV style show we are doing called the Rabbit’s Foot Ramble, which is a lot of fun as well.

Do you aspirations of being an author yourself?

Yes, I’m working on a project, but I had to put it aside to help my parents finish their biographies. They are 88 soI think it’s better to get them their books in their hands before I focus on mine. I miss writing my little fantasy though!

Do you have a book boyfriend and who is he?

Oh….I have several! It started with Eric from Charlaine Harrison’s Southern Vampire Series, but since then I’ve had book dates with Curran from Ilona and Gordon Andrews series (Kate would kill me if I so much as touched him though so I had to just lust from across the table), Barron’s from Karen Moning’s Fae series is hot but he’s kinda a dick and sorta terrifying. I have a thing for Suzanne McLeod’s Malik. I’m totally obsessed with him. And I really loved Dragos from Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison. But I’m faithful to my Michael, because as hot as all those guys are, they don’t write love songs for me and then let me sing them, which is about the most romantic thing ever. Which makes up for the fact that my husband never remembers either of our Anniversaries. You’d think having gotten married twice and having two anniversaries’ he’d get one right. (sigh)

If you agreed to review a book for an author and you really didn’t like it, would you still read and review or write back the author and let them know you’ve decided not to review?

Michelle, I gotta tell you, this is a tough one. I really want to know your policy as well. I assume you are talking about Indie’s and self-published, because usually if an author is signed to one of the big 5 publishers, it is the Agent or Publicist I deal with. In that case if I write a review I notify the publicist (or try to) to let them know it is up, whether it is glowing or not. If I hate a book I’m not going to finish it ergo I’m not going to review it. If I review a book, I had to enjoy it for the most part, although I will point out things that bothered me.

Re: Self Pub’s.The way I handle it is this, first of all I read the letter. If it is witty and smartly written, and not on topics I don’t want in my head I’ll take a look at the book (for example, I probably won’t read a book about Demon’s. I’m pushing my comfort zone already on a lot of topics. There are a few authors who have written about them that I’ll read but usually I avoid it.) If the topic looks fun, there are no egregious typos in the letter or the first few pages, and the writing is good, I’ll read the first few chapters. I just received a letter from an indie author that was about a Lesbian Werewolf pack. Not my usual fare by any means, but the letter was witty and smart, the book was beautifully designed (fonts, layout) the cover was gorgeous and I couldn’t Wait to start reading.

It is amazing to me however, the poorly written and edited books people will think are done. I have ghost written for other people and believe me, after about my 5^th draft, I have had people beta read over and over and they caught typos and grammar issues, then I hired an editor after I was done editing it, and they STILL found typos, then we all read it again before sending it off to the printers and my client (and now friend) and I still found about 3 typos. However there are people out there who just write a first draft and think it is brilliant and send it out. I’ve gotten books in the mail that had easily 10 typos on the first page. I just stop at that point.

If I’m not going to review it due to topic, but thought the book looked well written etc, I’ll write them back and tell them and sometimes suggest other friends that are bloggers who it would be a good fit for them and they are usually very gracious and understanding. I’ve even made friends of a sort with people I’ve told no to, because they understood.

If it is awful however, I don’t write back, because if they sent out trash and thought it was a pearl, they are going to argue about it with me and I don’t  have the emotional energy to invest in that.

Michelle thanks so much for the great questions and the opportunity to talk about myself. It was very therapeutic! (:

Outlander the Musical - Interview with Kevin Walsh

Thank you for the wonderful response Another Look Book Reviews received for the interview I held with Allan Scott-Douglas, Jamie from Outlander the Musical. I was over-the-top pleased with the comments and traffic to my blog. 


Having said that, let me tell you how excited I was when I logged into my computer and found an email from Kevin Walsh, the composer of Outlander the Musical. Words cannot express how appreciative I was that Kevin had contacted me. I jumped at the opportunity and asked Kevin Walsh if I could interview him as well. He kindly accepted.
Today I am most delighted to bring to you an interview with one of the masterminds behind Outlander the Musical, Kevin Walsh.

Kevin, thank you so much for answering some questions for us today. Welcome!

In my introduction I indicated you are one of the masterminds behind Outlander the Musical. The other mastermind is Mike Gibb. Can you tell us what role you played and what role Mike played?

Thanks very much for having me today and for giving me the the opportunity to discuss Outlander the Musical with you and some of the fans. Since I’m in Scotland and Outlander the Musical is now sold all over the world, it’s nice to be able to touch base internationally. I have to admit that I’ve been overwhelmed at how supportive and positive people have been since the CD was released.

To answer your question,  having written two previous musical plays together our roles have now become fairly well defined. Mike provides the bulk of the lyrics for the songs and the libretto for the play while I compose, perform and record the musical score. I tend to lock myself away in my studio for months on end coming up with music which I hope conveys the feeling and emotions behind the situation each song refers to. I wouldn’t describe what Mike and I write as typical “musicals”. I prefer to think of them as plays with songs that underline and accentuate the story that’s being told in a subtle and hopefully sensitive way, rather than being opportunities for lots of showbiz razzmatazz.

How many instruments do you play and what instruments were used in Outlander the Musical?

I bet you think because I’m from Scotland you’re going to think bagpipes right ?  I play acoustic guitars (6 and 12 string), electric guitars, bass guitar,some mandolin and mandola, some penny whistle, bodhran, drums and various keyboards. Thanks to modern technology and a big powerful computer I can sound like I’m playing lots of other instruments up to a full orchestra and even a choir too. This may sound like I’m cheating a bit but I see it more as a way of allowing me to create the music I hear in my head and to try out various arrangements before deciding on the final version. I still need to play all of the various parts and “instruments” I just do it using electronic versions rather than the real thing. It’s also obviously much cheaper to do things this way, I dread to think how much it would cost to hire a full orchestra and they wouldn’t fit in my little studio anyway !

I’m not sure this is a definitive list, but the instruments featured on the CD include, 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars, bass guitar, bodhran, penny whistles, great highland Bagpipes, small Scottish pipes, Uillean pipes, Fiddles, Violins, violas, cellos, double basses, French horns, piano, choir,  flutes, oboes and various types of drums.

Wow that's a lot of instruments. Ok, let’s rewind to the beginning. What can you tell us about the conception of the musical? Who approached Diana Gabaldon?

It was Mike who originally suggested the idea to Diana. I think she was slightly taken aback at first but having learned that Mike and I did have some track record in producing musical plays on Scottish themes she asked if we could produce a sample of the sort of thing we had in mind. Mike then went off and wrote the lyrics for “I Am Ready” and passed them over to me. I fiddled about with various ideas before finally settling on the tune and arrangement on the CD. I then recorded a demo version which we let Diana hear and she loved the result. Based on that , and after various legal things were sorted out, she told us to go ahead and produce the CD.

What happened first – lyrics or music composition (or a combination of the two)?  Can you walk us through the process of producing Outlander the Musical?

The FIRST big thing that had to be done was to select which elements of the plot we could use to give us a coherent set of songs that accurately portayed the overall story. “Outlander” is of course a very large book and we realised that it would be impossible to cover everything in a single CD. So Mike took on the job of working out how that could be done. Before too long we had an initial set of songs that we felt picked out key moments and just set to work. There’s no simple rule about what comes first in terms of music or lyrics but there are probably three general things that can happen.

1 – Mike writes a lyric and asks me to come up with a completely new tune and arrangement. He’d usually have some thoughts about what kind of “feel” it should have but basically just lets me get on with it. “I Am Ready” is one of those.

2 – Mike writes a lyric and suggests another song or piece of music he thinks it could sound like. I then go away and come up with something completely different but which works just as well. “Such A Fool” would be one of those.

3 – I’ve written quite a lot of music over the years and Mike has obviously heard a lot of it. Now and again he’ll write a lyric to fit one of those pieces of music. I then go and adapt the music to turn it into a song rather than instrumental “Falling” was one that fits that category. It was originally a tune called “By The Shores of Loch Lee” and is actually on Youtube under that name.

There is usually a LOT of to’ing  and fro’ing with the lyrics. Mike will come up with an original version and I generally make  small changes to make the words fit the music a little better or suggest alterations that would make the lines easier to sing. (There’s a big difference between speaking a line and singing one, some words just don’t sound right when sung)  Eventually we come up with something we’re both happy with, though that can take a while sometimes.

Another part of this process is producing demo tracks of the songs as we go along. These are useful as they allow Mike (and in this case, Diana too) to hear what the song will sound like before we get to the stage of finally recording it. These demo tracks can be quite a challenge sometimes as I have to sing all of the parts myself ! I have to say that “Why Did I Marry A Fraser” was just about the most complicated one I’ve ever had to do from that perspective.  However, by the time the demo tracks are all done, the music for the song is pretty much there for the artists to come in and record with.  

The recording process was also quite a technical challenge since all of the singers had different schedules and different times that they could be available. The final recordings were all done over a 6 week period. Cait, Annie, Ross and Michelle recorded all of their parts in single sessions, Allan did his over three or four days, while Sue came to the studio quite a few times over a two week period as she had more parts to sing than anyone else. I added my vocal parts as we went along.

Finally with all of the music and vocal parts recorded, I then “mixed” all of the tracks and created the master CD ready for duplication.. the rest as they say is history. 

BONUS - Kevin has so kindly shared the original demo of "Is Tu Fuil'o Mo Chuislean" which has only really been heard by Mike Gibb and Diana Gabaldon before. The team decided to use Cait and Annie to provide some variety to the CD. Plus as Kevin says, "they have the voices of angels" 

Each song in Outlander the Musical has such a unique feel. For instance “Falling” is so mystical. “I Am Ready” has a proud if not patriotic feel. “Is Tu Fuil’o Mo Chuislean” is very moving and it transports me back in time. When I first heard “Safe” I cried. It starts out so soft then the horns begin and suddenly I’m moved to tears. The piano in “Say the Words” has a real melancholy sound. The pain is so profound in the music.  Do you read the lyrics and literally “feel” the mood?

I’m really pleased to hear that the songs moved you. Judging from some of the lovely reviews and fan mail that we’ve had it seems that many others have also been touched by them. I always try to write music based on how it makes the listener “feel” more than any other thing. There are a lot of elements that help me focus on what that “feel” might be. The lyrics on their own are only part of that. The context of the situation, the emotions the characters might be feeling, even something like imagining the physical location of the characters all help me come up with arrangements that I hope reflect some of these things. As I mentioned Mike does also supply hints about how he might hear a song sounding. For example “I Am Ready” needed to  be Anthemic and “Safe” should be Hymnlike and uplifting so that gives me a starting point too.

In my interview with Allan Scott-Douglas (here) I asked him how long it took for him to record the songs. Obviously before Allan and the other artists could even enter your studio, the lyric writing, composition, and about a hundred other tasks needs to be completed. Tell us, Kevin, from start to finish, how long did it take for Outlander the Musical to be ready for purchase by the adoring fans?

The Demo version of “I Am Ready” was done in June 2009 and the Cd was available at the end of July 2010. So that’s just over a year.

BONUS -  NEVER BEFORE HEARD DEMO of "I Am Ready". This was the demo that only Diana Gabaldon herself had listened to. As just in the sample demo track above of "Is Tu Fuil'o Mo Chuislean", the music is all sung & played by Kevin Walsh himself. 

Have you read any of the Outlander books? 

Yes I have. I’ve read “Outlander” or “CrossStitch” as it is here,  several times now and also “Dragonfly in Amber” I’m currently more than halfway through “Voyager” and am determined to read all of the others as soon as I can find time.

Do you have a favourite song from Outlander the Musical or one that you are most proud of?

I don’t think I could pick just one. I am very proud of “I Am Ready” as it was the first one and allowed us to go ahead with the project. Overall my favourite is perhaps “Say The Words” I think it does convey the darkness, pain and malevolence of the situation but ultimately shows that despite all of that Jamie and Claire have a love that can never be crushed. I also have to say that Ross Croll’s performance as Jack Randall surpassed anything I had even imagined for the song (and I have a pretty good imagination ! )

Ok, let’s learn about Kevin Walsh!  So, who are Crescent Moon Music?

Crescent Moon Music is both my music production company and record label. I set it up to allow me to produce and release my music professionally. Since I set it up, as well as writing and performing the music for three musical plays with Mike, I’ve created music for radio and TV adverts, Historical Documentaries, Educational Cds and hypnotherapy and Yoga CD’s. I also released my first CD “Clarinda’s Reply” through Crescent Moon Music in 2005 and am currently working on my second solo album.

Can you tell us a little bit about your musical training?

I’d love to say that I was formally educated at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama but sadly that’s not the case. I’m completely self taught and have had no real musical training. However, I have ALWAYS been interested in creating and playing music. 


One of my earliest memories is being taken to my grandmother's house and being sat in front of her piano and being shown how to play “Chopsticks”. Much to everyone’s amusement and amazement I was playing it myself within about 15 minutes. I did have some piano lessons while I was at school but was “persuaded” that I would be much better off pursuing scientific subjects such as physics and chemistry rather than music. I did however teach myself to play guitar and played in various rock bands in my teens and while I was at university. 


I was distracted from music for a while with a career as a software project manager with a large multi-national company but eventually in 2003 we parted company and I decided to try to make a living by creating music. Ever since then I’ve done all I can to create the music that imagine in my head and I have to admit I’m getting a bit better at it now. There’s always room for improvement though !

Wow that is so inspirational to learn that you taught yourself music! What is a musical misconception that people have about the music of Scotland? Every song has a bagpipe solo, right?

Sadly we can’t ALL play the bagpipes but yes it’s true that most Scottish songs have a bagpipe solo. It’s just one of those things that you have to do.  Seriously though, the music of Scotland is incredibly rich and diverse. It would be impossible to pick one particular style or genre and say it represents Scottish music as a whole. If you hear unaccompanied Gaelic mouth music, massed pipes and drums, any selection from hundreds of years of beautiful fiddle tunes, the sound of the clarsach playing music that’s sometimes a thousand years old, Solo pipes wafting across the still of an evening, the beauty and passion of any of the songs of Robert Burns, to name but a few, you’ll instantly recognise it as “Scottish”. 


So I guess the misconception is to think that ONE type of music is Scottish ...we can do quite a few.  

What was your first album? 

I released my first album “Clarinda’s Reply” in 2005 after spending around a year working on it. It’s a mixture of instrumentals and songs some of which are traditional and some of which are my own compositions. As with “Outlander” I played all of the instruments myself but this time I also wrote the lyrics too. 


There’s a bit of a story behind the title track “Clarinda’s Reply” that I should probably explain here. The Scottish poet Robert Burns and Edinburgh beauty, Agnes (Nancy) McLehose conducted a passionate love affair through a correspondence that lasted several years. Nancy was often referred to as “Clarinda” in their letters. On 6 December 1791, Burns met Nancy, in Edinburgh, for the last time. She had decided to join her now prosperous husband in Jamaica. After returning to Dumfries, Burns sent the immortal love song `Ae Fond Kiss' to Nancy, capturing the pangs of lost love in his words in a way that has echoed over the centuries. Burns and Clarinda never met again though she remembered the day of their parting forever. At the age of 72, in her journal, under the date 6th December 1831 - 40 years to the day after they last met - she wrote
"This day I never can forget. Parted with Burns, in the year 1791, never more to meet in this world, Oh may we meet in Heaven."


In writing "Clarinda's Reply" I hope to have captured what Nancy might have said in response to "Ae Fond Kiss", as she sailed to Jamaica. I’m very glad to say that the song and the album in general have been very well received by fans and aficionados of Robert Burns and there is now a copy held in the world famous Ross Roy Collection of Burns memorabilia at the University of South Carolina. The Cd is one of the very few modern artefacts to have been added to the collection and I’m proud to say it sits beside original handwritten copies of Burns’ poems  and some of the original “Clarinda” letters.


Besides the Burns related songs “Clarinda’s Reply” also contains two versions of my Scottish “Anthem” “The Lion and The Cross”. There’s both a bagpipe version and a sung version. Again I was very proud to discover that some people think it should be a contender for a new Scottish National Anthem. But I won’t hold my breath on that one.


Overall there are 15 tracks on the CD and I hope there’d be something that would appeal to lovers of Celtic and Scottish music the world over.

Oh, Clarinda’s Reply sounds interesting and because of the Outlander books, many people are  interested in finding our more about Scotland's history. Where can we find out more information about Clarinda's Reply and possibly hear some samples?

For information on Clarinda’s Reply I have a website at www.clarindasreply.co.uk  There is specific information and lyrics for each track.

I also have a website for “The Lion and The Cross” here. 

There are videos and samples on both sites.

I’m currently working on my second solo album and hope to have samples and videos available for that soon too.

  
ADDITION from Mike Gibb  Here is an added link to the Clarinda the Musical website. This is not the same as Kevin's own CD but quite similar to "Outlander" as it is a CD of the stage musical that I wrote with music by Kevin and one that is still being produced in different forms. It will be staged in the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in December. www.clarindathemusical.com 
            

Flash round Q & A

Most played song(s) on your iPod or MP3/electronic device?

“The Pan Within” by The Waterboys

When Kevin Walsh was a little boy he wanted to grow up and become a _______?

Songwriter  .. honestly J

Favourite singer or band? (any country)

I’ve always liked Pink Floyd, but Mike Oldfield is probably my favourite musician. He’s the person who inspired me to try to play lots of different instruments myself. His third album “Ommadawn” is a piece of music which never fails to leave me in awe.

Favourite instrument to play?

I’ll probably always go for one of my acoustic guitars first.

Favourite type of music? Jazz? Folk? Rock? Classical? …Hip hop?

I enjoy and listen to just about any kindof music but I’m not particulary keen on Jazz and Hip hop.

Favourite place to create music?

My Studio, which just happens to be overlooked by an iron age hillfort. So it’s a very nice place to be.

What’s one question that I didn’t ask you today that you hoped I had?

Hmmmm, let me see ….. how about  “If you didn’t live in Scotland where in the world would you like to live” ? The answer would probably be the Pacific West Coast of Canada. I visited Vancouver for just a few days around 8 years ago and was so busy working I didn’t get a chance to enjoy it. Luckily though, I had to travel by ferry to Vancouver Island and, other than the West Coast of Scotland, I’ve never seen such spectacular scenery.

Ok so the million dollar question I think most fans are hoping I ask is....Is there any chance that Outlander the Musical will be turned into a full out stage production? Would fans be able to see it in New York or Toronto? 
That's something we're actively working on now and would dearly love to happen. However, there are a lot of hurdles to be overcome first. If it's at all possible we'll do all we can to make sure it does. 

I’m just starting to get to grips with Twitter, but you can find me there as @Balnamoon1. I’m not on facebook at the moment.


CONTEST - GIVEAWAY - 

Update Aug 14/11- Thank you for the lovely comments. The winner selected by Random.org was *Christine*

Although the CD giveaway is closed, please feel free to continue to comment. I will make sure Kevin receives your kind words. 

Winners of the Outlander the Musical CDs are.....

Thank you all for taking the time to comment on my interview with Allan Scott-Douglas. We received almost 50 replies of well wishes and complimentary notes. I loved that fans who already owned the CD took the time to comment as well. I want you all to know that Allan read your lovely comments and was very appreciative. 

By random selection, the old fashioned way of drawing names from a hat, I am pleased to share that

 Jennifer (comment 2) & Mercedes (comment 11) 

were the lucky winners. I will be contacting you shortly via email to get your mailing address so that I order your the Outlander the Musical CDs from Amazon. 

Interview with Allan Scott-Douglas & Outlander the Musical CD giveaway

Millions of fans worldwide know and love Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. The life journey of Jamie and Claire Fraser is captured in these beloved books which are highly ranked by readers everywhere. Youtube video after Youtube video, fans have flocked to create their own imagined version of the Outlander cast or ideal for a movie or stage production. But only one man has the full endorsement of Diana Gabaldon herself. That man is Scotland’s own ginger-haired multi-talented, Allan Scott-Douglas.

Fresh from his recent gig on the Beatles Musical Tour that played to standing ovations all across Italy, I am ecstatic to have him as a guest on my blog today.

Allan, I know that you are very busy so I thank you so much for making time to answer some questions and allowing us to get to know you better. 

First, let me congratulate on the huge success of “Outlander the Musical” CD. Back in September 2010, I received my fresh copy all the way from Scotland. I played it until I knew all the words and I immediately downloaded to my iPod. To this day, it is my most listened to playlist. I’ve seen “Outlander the Musical” on Amazon’s Top Seller list fluctuate as high as #4. How does it feel knowing your beautiful voice is being played all over the world? 

Thank you very much! To be honest, I still find the whole thing a bit surreal... The fan base that Diana’s books have is absolutely phenomenal so I sort of knew there was always a slight chance that the CD could really fly, but I honestly couldn’t ever have envisioned just how well it’s been doing, and how far it seems to have reached. To date, I’ve had messages of support and congratulations from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Australia, South Africa, Turkey, Germany, France, Russia, the U.K. and Ireland...and probably a few more besides, so apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone!

In terms of the CD’s place on the Amazon Best Seller’s list, I think the most amazingly humbling moment was when Les Miserables was having it’s huge worldwide 25^th Anniversary celebrations, which included a star-studded performance at the O2 Arena in London which was screened live to over 100 cinemas worldwide and a brand new 25^th Anniversary Edition CD – in their anniversary week, when their celebrations were in full flow and #LesMis25 was a worldwide Twitter trending topic...Outlander The Musical outsold Les Mis - comfortaby! (if memory serves, we were some 5 or 6 places above them for the entire week) Being a huge Les Mis fan myself, that was the moment that really made me go ‘wow, this thing could be absolutely huge!’ 

Can you tell us how you came about earning the lead role as Jamie for “Outlander the Musical” CD and how long did it take to record those beautiful songs?

Pure dumb luck really... A wonderful actress named ‘Anne Kane Howie’, with whom I had recently performed in a critically acclaimed new imagining of the legend of King Arthur, contacted me and said that a writer/director friend of hers (Mike Gibb) was looking for someone to record a few songs for a CD and that the character was tall and red-haired. When she mentioned me to Mike she basically said ‘I worked with Allan on ‘King Arthur’, he’s tall and ginger, but I’ve got no idea if he can sing or not...’. 

Fortunately Mike contacted me and asked me to have a look at one of the songs from the CD (‘I Am Ready’) and come up to Dundee to audition for him and his fellow writer Kevin Walsh – I was suffering with a very bad throat infection at the time so I feared the worst but, fortunately (depending on whether you believe in fate or not) my voice held up and they offered me the job there and then!

For my part, I think I was Kevin’s recording studio for about 4 days in total to get all of the songs the way we all wanted them...and I was delighted with the results when the CD was edited and ready to go!

Have you read any of the Outlander series?

I have! I’ve read ‘Outlander’ itself (‘Cross Stitch’ in the UK) twice now and absolutely love it! I’ve also read the wonderful graphic novel ‘The Exile’ too, which gave me a fantastic insight into Jamie’s side of the story... I have started reading book two, ‘Dragonfly in Amber’, (it’s actually sitting next to me as I’m writing this) but people keep giving me jobs and auditions that rather inconveniently pull my attention away from the plight of the Frasers, sporadically! But I’ll get there – I’m really taken by the whole Outlander world and desperately want to learn more...

At several book signings and conventions, Diana Gabaldon has passed around your picture announcing that you are her choice for Jamie. Other than the obvious height, hair, and (swoon-worthy) Scottish accent, how do you feel you measure up?

First off – I am beyond humbled that Dr. Gabaldon has taken such a positive view of me as an actor, and a person, to such an extent that she has willingly stated publically that I would be “her choice”. That in itself, regardless of what may or may not happen in the future, is a massive personal and professional highlight in my life thus far! Thanks again Dr. G!!!!

In terms of how I ‘measure up’...wow, I don’t honestly know how anyone could answer that. Jamie Fraser is a hero. A true romantic warrior if ever there was one. I’m just me – a jobbing actor from Edinburgh, trying to make a living doing what I love. But I guess if there are any traits in Jamie that I could see in myself it would be his sense of humour (Diana has always said that is one of the main reasons she “sees” Jamie in me) and his absolute devotion to his family and friends. My family and friends are the most important thing in my life and always will be – I think if I was ever to do anything truly ‘heroic’, it would be for them and they would give me the strength to do it.

In my introduction I said “millions of fans worldwide”. For me, if Diana Gabaldon, the genius behind these masterfully written books picks you, then you’re my Jamie. I trust her. How hard is it to deal with such passionate fans who disagree? It must be tough to read negative reviews.

The wonderful thing about the Outlander series is exactly what you mentioned; the ‘passionate fans’. Without those fans, the books wouldn’t have been the success they are and ‘Outlander the Musical’ and any future movie or television series would never exist. For that reason, I have huge respect for the opinions of the Outlander fan base – both good and bad. It would be absolutely impossible for any actor to be ‘Jamie’ (or Claire, or Black Jack, or Dougal etc etc) in the eyes of every single fan – or perhaps even in the eyes of the majority. Everyone who reads these amazing books, or listens to the wonderful audio versions, will have ‘their’ idea of these characters formed in their heads very firmly – especially afer 20 years!

I have always said from the very beginning of my involvement with ‘Outlander the Musical’ that I fully respect every fan’s right to voice their opinion whether it be glowingly positive (of which there have been a truly over-awing number) or deeply negative. All I can say is that everything I’ve done in relation to Outlander, and anything I may do in the future, comes from a place of true love, respect and passion for the story and characters as I have come to know them – I am honoured to be a part of this unique community and will always be deeply grateful for any support, advice and feedback that I receive. It just shows how much people genuinely care about this series, and that is THE most important thing...

Okay, so let’s learn a bit more about you! I understand you recently visited the USA. First you were in Vegas, and then New York. What can you tell us about your experiences in those two cities? Any plans for future visits?

I LOVE THE U.S.!! America was the first country, outwith the U.K., that I ever visited. When I was 18, I had the wonderful opportunity to work at a summer camp in Derby, Vermont. I had the time of my life that summer; teaching drama, music, sports and even archery and riflery believe it or not. (it was a 4-H camp...)

Being invited to perform in Las Vegas at the 6^th Annual Gerard Butler Fan Convention (in aid of ‘The Shade Tree’ abuse shelter) was an absolutely wonderful experience! I was made to feel like a king all weekend and met some of the loveliest (and craziest) people I’d ever encountered!  They made me feel so welcome and like a proper ‘celebrity’ despite me being totally bemused that any of them even know who on earth I was in the first place. They have been kind enough to ask me to return next year so, schedule permitting, I am hugely looking forward to another wonderful weekend with the GALS in Sin City!

New York was somewhere I had always wanted to see – especially coming from a musical theatre background – and I was fortunate enough to have a gap in my schedule which allowed me to spend a week in the city just being a proper tourist! In Madeira, Italy and Vegas (to a lesser extent) I had been working so hard that I didn’t get much of a chance to just see the place I was in so I made the most of my time in New York, to say the least! I saw FOUR Broadway shows, did the Empire State Building, a sunset cruise to the Statue of Liberty and had some of the most amazing food ever! (even giving Italy a run for it’s money) I even had the chance to create my very own ‘Muppet’ at the Whatnot Workshop in FAO Schwartz – his name is ‘Frank Monster’ and he’s an aspiring Vegas lounge singer...watch out Donny!!)

My time in New York also happened to coincide with ‘ThrillerFest 2011’ so I was ‘thrilled’ to be able to catch up with Diana and even had the honour of being interviewed with her for a very popular web-based literary television channel. That was a very exciting and unexpected bonus!

 

If you had to move to Canada or USA for a production of some kind, besides family, what would you miss most about Scotland? And what wouldn’t you miss?

I’ll answer the second part first because it’s much  easier – the weather!! I remember a conversation I had with one of the Italian technicians while I was in Italy – it was a particularly horrible rainy day in Florence and he said to me “we have a word for days like this in Italian” (I won’t repeat exactly what he said it as it is a little less than polite – but basically ‘a lot of excrement’), “really?” I replied, “we have a word for days like this in Scotland too. Tuesday!”  I’m not sure he got it exactly, what with the language barrier and all, but my point was that weather like that was so common in Scotland that is wasn’t even worthy of special mention any more...

As for what I’d miss most, besides friends and family as you say, I think it would have to be the food – where else in the world would you take something as unhealthy as pizza and think “that’s not quite bad enough for me yet...I think I’ll deep fry it!”. We will deep fry absolutely anything! Mars Bars are particularly popular, though I’m more partial to a Curly-Wurly personally!

I am dying to travel to Scotland. I’ve read so many books where Scotland is the main setting. What is one misconception you think a traveller would have about Scotland? (Men really do walk around in kilts all day, right?!?!)

Yep, we all walk around in Kilts, chasing Haggis and tossing cabers until the cows come home...

I’m not sure it qualifies as a misconception but my favourite incorrect assumption about Scotland actually happened while I was in New York recently. We were taking a ride on a Rickshaw (which you really shouldn’t do if you have more than 100 yards to travel – unless you want to sign over your life savings) and the driver/cyclist was from Mexico. “Where you from?” he asked. “Scotland” I replied. “Wow,” he immediately retorted “your English is really good for someone from Scotland! They don’t speak English there do they?” “No,” I said, somewhat humouring him, “we speak Scottish!”

What’s on the horizon for you right now? Any more tours?

Right now, I’m frantically learning lines and songs for my next project, ‘Red Harlaw’. It was written by Mike Gibb (one half of the Outlander team) and is set during the Battle of Harlaw in the North East of Scotland in 1411. This was a particularly bloody battle involving an army from the Highlands & Islands who wanted to march south to destroy and claim as many Scottish towns as possible. I play a character who volunteers to fight to protect Aberdeen from this marauding horde despite knowing that the Aberdonian army would be massively outnumbered by the invaders from the north. The script is very cleverly written and genuinely touching and the songs add something very special at the right moments too. We will be performing in St. Nicholas’ Church in Aberdeen on ‘Tartan Day’ (July 30^th) – the very same place where we launched ‘Outlander the Musical’ exactly one year before...and what a year it has been! Diana Gabaldon is a guest of the Lord Provost of Aberdeen for the Tartan Day celebrations so will be in attendance for one of our performances of ‘Red Harlaw’ too.

Five interesting things about Allan Scott-Douglas you want us to know?

1.       I started out training to become a Primary (Elementary) School teacher.

2.       I once spent a week living in a Buddhist monastery.

3.       I love reptiles and would really like to have a Komodo Dragon as a pet.

4.       My favourite band are actually Canadian!! The Barenaked Ladies!

5.       I make the best paella anywhere outside of Spain!

Flash round Q&A

Favourite song to sing for auditions

Ballad – ‘Why God, Why?’ from Miss Saigon.

Upbeat – ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ by Queen (though sometimes the Michael Buble version...)

Favourite actor & actress (any country)

Actress –  Audrey Tautou, Kate Winslet

Actor – Kevin Spacy, Paul Giamatti, David Wynham

Favourite Scottish dish

Haggis, Neeps & Tatties.

Most played song on your iPod or MP3/electronic device

Right now, the entire cast recording of ‘The Book of Mormon’.

First thing you do when you get up in the morning

Shamefully, check my Twitter/Facebook/emails...

Favourite beverage

White Russian. (or Irn Bru for a soft drink)

Favourite season

I actually really like winter! I love the snow...

How many languages do you speak?

Fluently, just English.

I do speak Italian quite well now though and I’m ok with German and Spanish.

In your opinion, one place a tourist in Scotland must see and why?

Edinburgh, of course! We have one of the most colourful histories of any city and are home to THE largest arts festival in the world!

What’s one question that I didn’t ask you today that you hoped I had?

Where is the one place in the world that you haven’t visited yet, for work or pleasure, that you’d most like to see?

I’ve always been fascinated with Japanese culture so that’s top of my list – followed by Australia as I have family there I would really love to visit! (in case they’re reading this; Dougie, Jackie, Jordan & Shannon - I promise I’ll do my best to come and visit soon!)

Thank you so much for taking the time once again to answer some questions for a group of book lovers. I really do wish you all the best, and if I ever do get overseas and you’re in a production somewhere in Scotland, I’ll aim for front row seats!

You can follow Allan on Twitter (it’s like being a fly on the wall watching Allan and Diana chat) at:

@Actor_Allan

Or please join him on Facebook here:

Or his website here:

One lucky commenter will win a copy of “Outlander the Musical” from Amazon. If I happen to get 25 comments or more, I'll draw for a total of 2 CDs. (I love this CD and want you to as well) 

Update - Aug 14/11 Although the CD giveaway is over, please feel free to continue to post comments. I will ensure Allan receives them.