Your Questions

Gonna have to be quite vague here, sorry. You did a review on a book, on the American War of Independence, and you weren't impressed. I believe you said that American preconceptions about the war had "slipped from the moorings of reality", in a similar manner to Scottish opinion on the '45 rebellion. I can't find however, any balanced books on the American war, and I was wondering if you had any favorite and reliable authors, that you would recommend. Also, love the Saxon stories, Ragnar is (was) hilarious. Thanks, Will Cameron

Bernard I have only recently discovered your books and I have to begin by thanking you - they are such a pleasure to read and they really bring the past to life. I have recently finished Redcoat and I wondered if I could ask three questions out of curiosity? 1. When you begin a book like Redcoat do you just begin with the basic idea of telling a story of for instance a British soldier occupying Philadelphia and then work out all the complexities of the plot as you go along or do you work out the plot in detail before writing?

2. At the end of Redcoat you mention one primary source that you referred to in writing the book. I guess there must have been a lot more, as the book is packed with historical facts. How many books do you normally consult to produce a novel like that one? 3. Finally a simple question are you likely to return to the character of Sam Gilpin in any future books? Best wishes and again thanks for the books! Richard Walters

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I have read your Saxon stories as well as the Arthur books and just wanted to say that you truly have a gift for creating characters that feel real and leave a person wanting more long after they have finished reading your book. Derfel and Uhtred are both characters that even now - after having finished the books, I still find myself missing them. How do you go about creating your characters and what advice would you give to an aspiring writer in regards to creating such memorable persons? Thanks, Jennifer

Dear Mr Cornwell, I was curious why you wrote on the page before the contents of Sword Song: Sword Song is voor aukje, mit liefde; er was eens...? mit has to be "met" in dutch, mit is german. I am not trying to correct you by the way, but maybe you did it on purpose? makes me feel good that my favorite author writes something in my own language. Still my very favorite is the Arthur series. Absolutely the best of the Arthur legends. I've read them now for the 4th time, I really hope that one day a very good director will make this to a movie. thanks for all these great stories. kind regards Mas Peters, Netherlands

You mention several times that you are related, distantly to Uhtred the protagonist of the Saxon stories. I am curious about how you came to discover this and about whether because of this you feel you can live through him in your books. Thanks again, Eliot

Hi Bernard. I wonder can you give me a bit of literary advice. I am beavering away at a historical novel and I am wondering about the choice of some words. I am steering clear of as many clichés as possible especially modern ones but I am wondering about the use of such words as "electrifying". The period of the novel is well before electricity was discovered so is it OK to use this and similar words which probably did not exist at the time the novel was set. How do you manage such words or is it a case that the reader will not notice?? Am I being too careful? Do you take the approach of trying not to use words which have entered the language recently?? Thanks Bernard, I really appreciate being able to ask you such questions. Regards Willie

Hi Bernard, Tis me self agin, Just got back from four days in Edinburgh for the Military Tattoo, thankfully I remember a good portion of the trip (hic!), they even had an ale called Skull Splitter which they would only serve in half pint measures. Two questions; have you ever been to the Tattoo (I would recommend it to every one) and more importantly have you ever visited the sword shop on the Royal Mile? The shop owner was more than happy to let me handle a lot of the swords (I was hard pressed not to jump into a long boat and go off invading someones country especially after a head full of your books. I reckon some of the real life characters back in those days must have been amazingly strong to wield those swords and battle axes in battle for long periods of time. Any way keep up the good work, Philip (SKULL SPLITTER) Newton

Hello Bernard, Any news yet on whether the Warlord Chronicles will be made into a film? This has got to be the best take on the Arthur legend so far! Tony

Hi Mr Cornwell, Your books are great, I am reading All Sharpe books for the 2nd time. Is there any chance that Sharpe or his son(?) could continue onto New Zealand to be in the middle of the New Zealand land wars (1840's to 1880's). It would be great if he could...Craig Emslie

Hello Mr. Cornwell, I Hope you are having a great summer- I wanted to ask (since the Historical Novel Society is sending out emails announcing their next American conference in Schaumburg, Illinois next June) whether you will be in attendance? i know its a bit premature since its an entire year away- but I regret not being able to hear you speak in Albany and would love to amend that. Feel free not to post this query on your site- I don't want to put you on the spot. Can't wait for Azincourt! Regards, R. Kulb