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Author Diana Gabaldon has said she’s surprised Scottish tourism has been boosted by Outlander’s success.
Fans of the time-travelling caper have flocked to the country since her novels were turned into a TV series.
Its global popularity has resulted in a boost in the number of people visiting sites featured in the show.
But Arizona-based Gabaldon, who had never set foot in Scotland when she began writing the novels, is thrilled it’s had a positive impact.
She said: “I love Scotland and I feel it’s given me a great deal so I’m very happy if I can give something back.
“But it was never my intent to raise Scottish tourism. It is part of what we call the Outlander effect, which is very strange and nothing I ever expected.
“It has this very odd effect. People who like the book want to extend their experience.”
Outlander’s heroine is a World War II nurse who visits Scotland on honeymoon, only to be transported back in time to 1743 and the series of events that would eventually lead to the Battle of Culloden.
Gabaldon researched books to find out about Scot land’s histor y, landscape and folklore.
The author has since visited the Cul loden battlefield where Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite army were massacred and she is convinced it’s haunted.
She added: “Without being metaphysical at all, I can feel the people there. I can’t talk about them or I’ll cry.
“You develop a sense of emotional attachment to the people and places you write about.”