Has anyone seen this site? It's kinda cool.

http://www.literature-map.com/diana+gabaldon.html

That is kind of interesting, Pauline. Not sure I would have put Jean Auel quite so close (though there is a second version of her name with a middle initial a little farther away that seemed about right). I see I've read several authors in the vicinity and others have been recommended to me (often multiple times), but I just haven't gotten to them yet. I wonder how they manage to create that.

That is interesting...it's given me more authors to check out. It makes sense for me that Jean M. Auel is close to DG. Her Earth's Children series was the first and only series I became addicted to before Outlander and agonized during the long years between books.

Aren't Sara Donati and Rosina Lippi the same person? Or is it that the series she wrote as Sara Donati more similar to Diana's Outlander series than what she published as Rosina Lippi?

I was thinking more about DG and Jean Auel while I was exercising and decided that it did make sense that they'd be close. Both series are about an earlier time in history (or prehistory), they are long series with much adventure, a strong romance (although Jondalar was not introduced until the second book rather than the first), they introduce a lot of characters from several different cultures and undoubtedly more. I guess they feel different to me because I find that the Outlander series moves a lot quicker and includes a lot of true historical figures, which Earth's Children couldn't do, kind of by definition, since it is prehistory.

I had no idea that Sara Donati was the same as Rosina Lippi. Haven't read her under either name.

Blue Bells of Scotland is definitely worth the effort. The second in that series should be along before long.

A definite thumbs up on Sara Donati's Wilderness series.

Oh yeah, for "Gone With the Wind" fans, be sure to read Donald McCaig's "Rhett Butler's People." It ties up all the loose ends wonderfully.

I know that we all enjoy dual time /time slip novels

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley is a dual time love story set in present day Cornwall, England and goes back and forth between the 18c, and the present. Covers some aspects of the first Jacobite rebellion in 1715, but it's primarily a love story between Eva in the present, and Daniel in the past....

Yes, Sara Donati and Rosina Lippi are the same person. The author writes historical fiction under Sara Donati and contemporary fiction under Rosina Lippi. Loved RL's TIED TO THE TRACKS; THE PAJAMA GIRLS OF LAMBERT SQUARE, not so much.

I haven't read the INTO THE WILDERNESS series, but a friend told me that Jamie and Claire "make an appearance" in the first book. Not sure how Sara Donati managed that. She must be a BFF of DG!

Currently reading LETTERS FROM HOME. The various story lines are engaging and I do think the author has done a fine job creating a sense of the 1940's. The opening, a USO dance in Chicago, was wonderfully done. I felt I was there. I'm looking forward to finding out what happens to Liz, Betty and Julie! That said, my only criticism is that the author's use of 1940's American lingo sometimes feels a bit much.

Thanks for letting me know what you think of the story - it got quite good reviews over here...

There is an excellent series by Shayne Parkinson. The series is called "Promises to Keep." The first book, "Sentence of Marriage," is free for Kindle from Amazon. There are three books in the original series and then a sequel. It is about farm families in New Zealand beginning in 1881 and explores their trials and tragedies and shows how resilient the human spirit can be. I highly recommend it!

I know it isn't summer now, but I just found out that the second book "The Minstrel Boy" was released for Kindle on Thursday. I thought those of you who read Blue Bells of Scotland would like to know if you didn't know already! I am off to go read it !!!!!

I just got completely wrapped up in the literature map, watching old friends drift close to each other and then skitter away...one after another, recognizing an author's name and seeing where that one took me lol For years my "search" method consisted of trolling the shelves of my library, but now that I live in the back of beyond and depend on my e-reader, recommendations from blogs and sites like this are much appreciated!