Diana Gabaldon explains how 'Outlander' fans react to the show

Outlander author Diana Gabaldon knows she has some very invested fans. “Some of them have been reading the books for 25 years,” she said about her best-selling series during a visit to EW’s PopFest in October. The author noted that while there’s always been a devoted fan base, “the advent of the tv show kind of made them explode.”

Starz’ TV adaption of the series recently finished its second season based off the Outlander sequel Dragonfly in Amber. “Now we have lots more fans and very, very enthusiastic ones,” she said, explaining why the fas sometimes get defensive when the show does not live up to their expectations. “They have a very vivid mental picture of what the characters look like…but then you know when they actually see it [TV character] in costume and context and they perceive what it is an actor really does…well then they’re mostly okay with it.”

Gabaldon understands the limitations of adapting a book series to television and has a “good working relationship” with the show writers. “I am a consultant on the film…They invite my comments. Nine times out of ten if I say ‘eh’ about something they’ll do something about it and then the tenth time, they’ll explain why they can’t.”

For more on Gabaldon’s panel at EW’s PopFest, see a full recap here, and for more EW PopFest interviews, listen to EW Radio on SiriusXM (ch. 105) all week long.