Your Questions

Q

Hello, Mr. Cornwell, I have an odd question. Probably the Engineer in me. I am starting to write my first book. My first chapter fit on one page. Realizing this would be a 10 page book, I went back to square one and expanded the first chapter to 30 pages. I was curious, on a average, how many words do you write a day? I have had to develop a scene in my mind, develop the dialog, and then write. I keep Sharpe's rifles by my computer. It helps to read a few pages to get me going. My wife likes my book so far but wonders if their would be an audience for it. I tell her, "Who thought their would be an audience for a British soldier in the 19th century." Anyway keep the books coming.

Scott Wendt

Submitted March 3, 2009

A

How many words a day? Depends on the day! I always write something, and I suppose the absolute minimum is 1500 and the maximum is somewhere in the 5000 area . . . I really don't know, because I don't count the words each day . . . I just add them up when a chapter is finished. But remember the old advice - a page a day and you've written a book in a year!

Q

First of all, let me start off by saying that I love your books. I pay the extra shipping costs to get the books from the UK instead of waiting for January. My question is about the Arthur series. Why did you decide to make Lancelot a bad guy/person/warrior/ruler? In all the other stories I have heard he appears to be the brave,noble hero. I think these choices like this make your books great. Thanks. I look forward to the fifth book in the Saxon series! James Mitchell

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Lancelot was a very late addition to the stories . . . and I never much liked him, so decided to make him a villain. The stories are endlessly changeable (and have changed hugely over the years), but making him a despicable coward was entirely a whim on my part!

Q

Dear Bernard, It has occurred to me that when considering the success of the T.V productions based on the Sharpe stories that the excellent but unfortunately as yet unfinished Starbuck Chronicles would make a superb mini series. I was therefore wondering if this idea has been put to you before as I'm sure it would be highly successful, particularly in the U.S. where I would have thought that studios would be falling over each other to produce such a thing as well as have the finances available to do it justice. Yours faithfully Graeme Collins

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Thanks! But no plans for it at the moment.

Q

When will the DVD Sharpe's Peril be available in The U.S. in R1 format?
Greg Wolfe

Sir; I'm hoping that you might have your ear to the ground regarding a U.S. showing of Sharpe's Peril. I keep an eye on BBC America, thinking that it would show up soon. Likely I am just impatient, hm? Had you heard of anything in this regard? --Thanks, Terry

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Sorry for the long delay in this response - but we still haven't been able to find out the answer to this question. We'll let you know as soon as we hear when 'Sharpe's Peril' might be available for viewing and/or purchase in the US.

Q

Sir, Hello. I am a huge fan. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the books I have read from your arsenal. My favorites have been the Saxon series. Looking forward to the fifth. Wondering, how much preparation goes into writing your historical fictions? Lots of research? I'll keep it short. Thanks for your work. -Nick P.S. Like the website.

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Research is a lifelong occupation, but obviously, for any specific book, you begin dedicated reading and research a few months before. So, I've spent a lifetime reading about mediaeval warfare, but the detailed research for Azincourt, my latest book, probably began about a year before I started writing.

Q

Your writing is an inspiration Bernard and I've thoroughly enjoyed all your books! I know you' probably have a lot of work in the pipeline but do you have any future plans on visiting Hastings circa 1066? It's an epic story just begging for your magic! Keep up the great work!

Alex Digby

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Hastings? It's not in the plans . . . but who knows?

Q

Mr Cornwell, I just finished Agincourt and greatly enjoyed it. Its a great story and you really made the battle come to life for me in ways I hadnt thought of before. Before reading your book I was somewhat familiar with the battle and its place in history, but had never thought about some of the details like how many arrows you would need for 5,000 archers, and how quickly that vast number could be exhausted. The question that nags at me now involves the use the squire particularly for the French in this battle. In the book you describe the French squires providing replacement weapons for their assigned knights. How were the squires armored in this time period? I can understand the French knight struggling forward in full plate armor and his visor down making it through (with great difficulty) the British long bow attack, but how did the squires accomplish this? Were they also equipped with plate armor? My assumption is that they wouldnt have been, but perhaps that is the source of my confusion. When I think of the squires without expensive plate armor its hard to imagine any of them making it to the British lines even if they werent the primary archer targets. When I think of them with plate Im still amazed that a 13 to 14 year old boy could cross the field in heavy plate carrying multiple weapons and other gear for their knight while enduring the arrow storm of the battle. Thanks again for a great story, and I look forward to exploring some of your other works. Doug Clinger

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

I am sure the squires had plate armour. A young boy (maybe your 13 year old) would be a page, and wouldn't be exposed to the fighting - a squire was a little older usually. He might wear cast-off armour - or spare armour - any lord would probably own at least one suit of plate. The armour was often made by local blacksmiths (lord knows what quality control there was), but there were specialist armourers whose products were very expensive (Milan had the reputation of making the best armour). I suspect that most men-at-arms were dressed in whatever armour they could scrape together - a breastplate from a discarded suit, greaves from another.

Q

Really enjoyed The Gallows Thief. Am reading Agincourt and I'm a bit mystified over knuckling the forehead. And was Cornweille truly an ancestor or just a literary device? You are truly A force of nature. Thank you for the many hours of pleasurable reading. Richard Diamond

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Knuckling the forehead is simply touching knuckles to the head as a sign of respect - it lingered on in Britain till the early 20th Century. Sir John Cornwell (sometimes spelled Cornewaille) existed and seems to have been very like the depiction in the novel - the name was a slight embarrassment to me, because I don't think I'm related.

Q

Mr. Cornwell, I recently finished and loved Azincourt (I hate that the anglicized title has been forced upon us in the U.S.). I was wondering, since it was never addressed in the novel, whether Nick was actually speaking with the Saints or whether he was just 'hearing voices' (as in mentally ill), or did you even consider this; just curious. I eagerly await volume 5 of the Saxon Chronicles. Best, Billy Stewart

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

I suspect he hears his own voice and ascribes it to the supernatural.

Q

I thoroughly enjoyed Azincourt, but am intrigued to know what sort of food the army ate while on the move? Did they have people in charge of cooking food, or did their wives do it, and did they mainly eat raw food, or hunt game?
Mrs. Joan Baxter

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

I don't suppose there was much game to be had - though certainly they hunted it (any self-respecting deer would flee a mile at the approach of several thousand horsemen). The basic supplies were bread (or flour that could be baked into flat-bread on stones), salted meat and salted fish. They were mostly countrymen, so I'm sure they knew how to scavenge for wild food in season - though too many ate unripe fruit which led to some unsanitary horrors.