Your Questions

Q

Mr.Cornwell, I thought that -- all -- the Sharpe books were the top of historical-fun storie!! This was before I started your Grail serie!! Simply superb!! Any plan for Agincourt ?? George Margaritis

Submitted November 17, 2004

A

Yes - the research is done - but I'm not sure when I'll get to it.

Q

Mr. Cornwell, I have read just about everything you have written, as has my father, brother, uncles, and cousins (the males anyway). Thanks for making family time an opportunity to discuss your characters and the times in which they lived instead of looking into each others glazed eyes while my aunts discuss and sample a new variation on their pumpkin pie recipe that defies all natural law and actually makes infinitely unpalatable, worse. I have just finished the Arthur series. It seems that you enjoyed writing this series above all others, as I have enjoyed reading it. The technical challenges with the numerous characters and locations seem to have been particularly daunting. Do you enjoy the freedom of writing of an era where you are not as constrained by history such as Arthurian Britain, or is it more enjoyable to write using specific and detailed historical events and weaving a character like Sharpe into history? Which do you find easier? How long in respect to your other books did the Warlord series take to write? Will you be returning to Halifax, Canada in the spring? Thanks for everything. Regards, Joe H Day

Submitted November 17, 2004

A

They wrote themselves fairly quickly! Probably because they were so enjoyable to write. Do I prefer 'mysterious' periods of history? It honestly depends what you're writing. Arthur was wonderful to write, so is Alfred, Stonehenge was blue murder, Sharpe is always fun. Not a useful answer, I fear, but true. Don't know when I might be in Canada next - keep on eye on the Diary page for the latest info!

Q

First of all, I'm a big fan etc. etc. Getting to the question faster - you mentioned that you will write more Sharpe books, given that, I am finding a hard time imagining a timeframe for the next on - it seems as if you've covered almost every period in his life in all the books, where will you get the material from ? Post Sharpe's Devil ? Maybe make him an old, fat general ? Secondly, is there a general time frame for the next book's release ? 2005, 2006 ? Evgueni Tikhonov

Bernard I have read all of your Sharpe and Nate Starbuck books and greatly enjoyed them all. My questions are - is there a new Sharpe book due out and are you going to finish off the Starbuck Chronicles as I found them excellent and and am always eyeing book stores for your latest addition. many thanks, Scott Last

Dear Sir I would like to know when your next Sharpe's book will be coming out and what will be the title of the book. thank you for your time T.D.Young I

Submitted November 15, 2004

A

There are plenty of gaps in the Peninsular - so that's what I'll be doing. The next Sharpe book most likely will be out in 2006 - won't know the title of it until it's written.

Q

Dear Bernard, is the translation that you use for the latin phrase odi at amo excrucior which you use in Excalibur to describe kArthur the correct one? Thank you - I can't wait for the next Sharpe book. Lee

Submitted November 15, 2004

A

You mean is it accurate? I don't think there's 'a correct one', but 'I hate and I love . . . . and it hurts' is accurate enough.

Q

Any chance of a series on a figure like Brian Boru or possibly even Finn MaCool? I just finished The Grail Quest, Stonehenge and The Arthur Books and I just can't get enough of these types of tales. Congratulations, and thank you. You're the best at what you do. Prior to reading your books, if someone told me you'd supplant Morgan Llywellyn and Mary Stewart as my favorite authors, I'd have called them crazy. Brett P. Morrical

Submitted November 15, 2004

A

Not really. I honestly think an Irish writer would do it better, so I'll leave it to them.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell, Firstly, I don't mean to offend you with this question, it really is meant sincerely! Do you think that writing so many books with a violent theme has affected your personality? Has it made you feel more violent (maybe on the inside) having to get into the mindset of Sharpe and so many other characters, good and bad, which you do so very well! May I ask, did you experince violence in the past, for example have you been in the army? As I noticed with myself, reading all your Sharpe books it has made me myself feel a more violent person than I was before, which scares me! Timothy

Submitted November 15, 2004

A

No! Writing murder stories hasn't turned P.D.James into a murderess (so far as I know), and I am universally celebrated for the sweetness of my disposition. I think if you feel too violent after reading Sharpe then a quick corrective course of reading Alexander McCall Smith's wondrous series about Precious Ramotse (The Kalahari Typing School for Men, etc etc) will put all to rights.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell, I am in the process of reading Redcoat -an excellent book! I particularly like Vane's transformation from nice guy to villian. I was wondering, what regiments were Vane, Sam et al in? Also, in Sharpe there are constant references to the "Horse Guards" that seem to run the army. Do you mean the Regiment The Royal Horse Guards, aka "The Blues" (where the modern blues and royals come from) were in control of the army? One Regiment in charge of others? Would that have led to bias? Also, why do your characters not hold the cavalry in very high esteem, did the cavalry feel the same about the infantry? Yours, with best wishes, Mickey O'Donohoe

Submitted November 15, 2004

A

I can't remember which regiment Sam was in, and I suspect that I never specified it so that I wouldn't be trapped by a real regiment's history. No doubt, if I'm wrong, someone will correct me. The Horse Guards is a building on Whitehall - it is part of the Ministry of Defence, but in Sharpe's time was the headquarters of the army - when you see the Trooping of the Colour in London it takes place on the Horse Guards Parade ground - and the phrase 'from the horse's mouth' means the orders have come from the very top - nothing to do with the Blues and Royals! Why do my characters not like cavalry? Because in the Peninsular War the cavalry were, as Wellington noted, fairly useless (except for his Germans) - and the poor bloody infantry, as usual, did the work.

Q

Hello Mr. Cornwell! I am a great fan of your Sharpe series. There is just one question on my mind. What happens to Mary Bickerstaff in "Sharpe's Tiger"? Frank

Submitted November 15, 2004

A

Whatever you want. I'm sure she lived happily ever after.

Q

Bernard, I have just finished The Last Kingdom, what a great book, I can't wait to read the rest. My question, you said that you were related to the people at Bamburgh, did you find research that far back difficult? My surname is unusual and is believed to be mentioned in a form in the Anglo Saxon chronicle, what are my real chances of getting back that far? Thank you again for your books they are great, Billy Hounsome

Submitted November 15, 2004

A

Probably depends how well your ancestors recorded their lineage! I'm lucky - someone in my family did all the work, so I didn't need do any myself.

Q

Just read the advance readers version of your latest book. Haven't read anything as good since "Below the Salt". Hope to see more soon . Have read many other historicals with shield Wall battle scenes but you put us there in the wall and the tactics of the wall are inspired and exhilarating. Stole my copy from a book store, how do I get on the advance readers list? Tim Gunning

Submitted November 15, 2004

A

You don't! The advance copies are sent to the trade, so my best advice is to go on stealing.