Your Questions

Q

As a very avid reader of your great work, where to the point it has become an addiction if not expensive, which I don't mind. I was wondering if you have ever considered writing about the New Zealand Land Wars between the Crown and the Maori, the native population of my country?
Karl

Submitted March 5, 2014

A

Oh, I think it should be written by someone with a far greater knowledge of NZ and the Maoris! I have visited NZ twice, and like most people fell in love with the place, but two visits aren't enough to make me familiar with the background.

Q

I am curious to know why archers we're replace by incredibly slow loading guns susceptible to rain. Seems to me any 100 well trained archers would be superior to any 100 infantry using guns until say the early 1860's when repeating rifle made their day view .  Thank you
Colin Lockheart

Submitted March 5, 2014

A

Training . . . . you're right - the longbow had a greater range than the Napoleonic-era musket, was far more accurate, and had a hugely superior rate of fire. But - it took at least ten years to train a man to be an effective archer, partly because of the difficulty of aiming a bow drawn to the ear, and mostly because of the huge strength required to repeatedly draw a bowstring with a draw weight of 120 pounds plus. You could train a musketeer inside a week, but an archer? Wellington enquired (during the Peninsular War) about the possibility of raising a corps of longbowmen, but was told that the skill had died away - none were available.

Q

Sir, My name is Richard Zigler. In your book Copperhead was a reference to a confederate soldier that was "treed" by Yankees and captured. We have an oral history of that being one Andrew Jackson Sigler, my great great grandfather. The spelling of last name was due to his wife after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the slaves taking the last name of their most recent owner in order to help identify themselves to help locate relatives. She supposedly declared that she'd have no (expletives deleted) burr headed n.....s named after her. She and their children all have the "Z" spelling on grave markers and in censuses there after.
Anyway, I was wondering where you came to that story. I was told that it appeared in  Harpers Weekly, but I have no way to find out for sure. Could you possibly give me a clue as to where it could be found?
I have enjoyed the Saxon Tales, The Grail Quest series, the Nate Starbuck  and especially the Sharpe's series, all of which I have passed to my son for his reading pleasure.
Thank you for your  time and your genius as a writer.
Richard A. Zigler

Submitted March 5, 2014

A

I’m sorry, I don’t remember!  It might have come from my wife – her mother was a Ziegler and I’ve listened to the family’s stories, but alas, her oldest uncle, who was a fund of such tales, has long passed on. Sorry!

Q

Dear Bernard,

I'm writing my own novel - a historical fiction set in Whitechapel 1888 - and it's very slowly drawing to a close. I understand that all stories require different lengths (in terms of word count) however I've read too many well intentioned but ultimately bad articles on publishing and am hung up on word count. As of writing to you the novel is sitting at 73,000 and I'm aiming for 80,000. My biggest concern is that it'll be turned away for being too short and that what I add will read only as filler.

Do you have any advice on this issue?

Thank you,

Sebastian

Submitted March 5, 2014

A

80,000 feels a little short, so you should be concerned. However!  You’re probably underestimating the length. I suspect you clicked the ‘Word Count’ button on your computer and it dutifully and accurately told you that you have 73,672 words.  And that’s right, but.  If you were writing non-fiction, with no dialogue, 73,000 words would be roughly 4,600 lines of print on your word-processing software. But some of your lines are just one word, ‘yes.’ Or ‘no’. Or two words, ‘please, no.’ So you are entitled to count those lines as a full line. My word-processor averages 16 words a line, but I count a single-word line as 16, not 1, because in the finished book that one word will take up as much space as sixteen. Get it? So now find the average number of words in a line of your work, multiply the number of lines in a chapter by that average, and instead of only having 6,000 words you’ll have 7,980, or whatever. And it is not cheating! Because dialogue takes up a lot of white space on the page, and you’re not factoring that space in! Good luck!

Q

Thank you for Sharpe--I've read the books and seen it on TV----never get tired of it----I love the camaraderie between his men and Harper.On TV I like the relationship between him and Wellington  (I like Hugh Fraser  ) but what I can't forgive you for is when Sharpe took Lucille away from Sweet William---Captain Fredrickson is a lovely loyal man and I turn away when that bit comes on, sorry.
Is that the end of Sharpe? I wish you would write more.
My daughter gave me the Winter King for Christmas which I have just started.
thanks again for Sharpe---Sean Bean plays him well
David Haynes

Submitted March 5, 2014

A

I think we will see more of Sharpe...

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell,
I love reading your books as they bring history alive, especially the intrigue and battles.  I wondered if you had ever read or were inspired by any Nigel Tranter books as he was the first author I ever read (Macbeth the King), a prolific writer and as I live in Galloway, I get a real buzz from learning about my local heritage.  I recommend reading Lord of the Isles to anyone who sees this message.
thanks
Grant

Submitted March 5, 2014

A

I read him avidly, but that was a long time ago (a very long time), and all I can remember is thoroughly enjoying the books!

Q

I thought that I had read that you were working on a non-fiction work about the Battle of Waterloo, and that the book was expected to follow The Pagan Lord.  Now I note that you are working towards the release the next Saxon Story in the fall of this  year.   What ever happened to the book about Waterloo?  Not that I am complaining -- I am looking forward to seeing how Uhtred's near death experience and his age (he must be in his mid 50's, a good age for the time) affects his approach to his goals.  I was interest in reading your book about Waterloo to see how a storyteller deal with history as the focus of, rather than the backdrop for, his story.
John Moroun

Submitted March 5, 2014

A

I will publish two books this year.  My first non-fiction book, The Battle of Waterloo, will be published (in the UK) in May.  The 8th book of Uhtred's story, The Empty Throne, will be published in October.

Q

I thought that I had read that you were working on a non-fiction work about the Battle of Waterloo, and that the book was expected to follow The Pagan Lord.  Now I note that you are working towards the release the next Saxon Story in the fall of this  year.   What ever happened to the book about Waterloo?  Not that I am complaining -- I am looking forward to seeing how Uhtred's near death experience and his age (he must be in his mid 50's, a good age for the time) affects his approach to his goals.  I was interest in reading your book about Waterloo to see how a storyteller deal with history as the focus of, rather than the backdrop for, his story.
John Moroun

Submitted March 5, 2014

A

I will be publishing two books this year.  The Battle of Waterloo will be published (in the UK) in May and the 8th book of the Warrior Chronicles/Saxon Tales, The Empty Throne, will be published in October.

Q

Hi Mr. Cornwell.

I miss Sharpe!  It's been 7 years since we last heard of him, and surely that's enough?  I notice in your website that questions and comments about Uhtred outnumber questions and comments about Sharpe by at least 10 to 1.  I fear that he is becoming one of your forgotten "back of the shelf" series that you hope to get back to "some day" (like Starbuck).  I know you're eager to begin your new Elizabethan series, but couldn't you first add at least another chapter to Sharpe's story, preferably Albuera?  I just want to see you finish what you've started while you've still got time left to do it (although I hope you live past 100)!  But just in case, please write another Sharpe in 2015.

Alan Kempner

 

Hi Mr Cornwell
I was wondering if there are going to be more tv series of sharpe like trafalgar and others.
Mark Thomas

 

If you have beed asked this question recently, please forgive me.
Are you planning additional Sharpes books after Sharpes Devil?  If so, could you name its title and when it might be available?
Thanks you for taking time to answer me and for the Sharpes series in general.
Michael Ward

 

Submitted March 4, 2014

A

Sharpe is not forgotten!  But I don't think there will be a Sharpe book in 2015.

Q

Hi, Bernard Cornwell.
I'd like to ask if is possible that a writer really can live in the world of his own book, forgetting all the problems of the real life. (Sorry for my english, I try to learn all that I can about that.) Thank you!
Igor

Submitted February 28, 2014

A

I think it’s the only way to write a book! It’s very trying for your spouse, but so long as the book is being written you do live in that world, hear the characters speaking, think about them while I’m walking the dog . . . . .