Your Questions

Q

Hello Sir, how are you, good I hope. Can't wait for Azincourt to be release. Do you know of a release date for Canada? Two further questions for you; First do you ever think on writing on the Wars of the Roses and second where do you stand on Richard III. ,Edward

A

Canada generally follows the UK schedule, so look for Azincourt in October of this year.

I've rarely contemplated it! It's crossed my mind . . . but I have no plans for the Roses . . . and I'm a Shakespearean on Richard III, but other than Josephine Tey's book have never read the other side's arguments.


Q

Bernard - I have just finished all of the Saxon stories and really enjoyed them all, when will the next be published - can't wait. Andrew Stockton

hi, have really enjoyed the books so far and was wondering when the next installment of the saxon stories will be released. thanks very much Doug. brilliant books once again!!

dear Bernard let me just start by saying I'm 21 and only ever read a hand full of books in my life but I have in a month read the Last Kingdom, the Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, and today I have finished Sword Song. The story of Uhtred has entertained me more than I thought books ever could and so I thank you. But I have two questions; when will the next one be out and what will it be called and if the saxon books entertained me so much can you suggest any of your other books that might pull me in like they have? Thank you very much best regards mark c

A

I have not started the next book of the Saxon stories, but I believe it will be the next book I write. If so, look for it to be published in the UK in 2009. Of course, I won't have a title for it until it's been written!

For reading suggestions, please be sure to take a look at the Reading Club pages of this website.


Q

Bernard, I loved your Grail Quest Searies. Is your new book about a English archer or a French Crossbowmen? Thanks, Zach

A

English archer . . . . . . .


Q

Hi Bernard, I have been an avid fan of the Sharpe stories and the screenplays for well over a decade. Imagine my surprise when researching my family tree I discovered that my great-great-great-grandfather William Brackley was a sergeant in the Royal Bucks King's Own Militia from 1793-1816 and probably fought in Ireland 1797-1799, then the Peninsular war from 1799 and finally in France from 1814, he was also at one stage stationed in Chelmsford. His Regt. colonel was the Marquis of Buckingham. According to his discharge papers he was discharged with a good service record but suffered from - excuse my translation of the handwriting - dibility, old age and Rheumatism. Nevertheless he still managed to father several more children and died finally around 1850. To my mind this is a remarkable comparison to the early Sharpe when he was a sergeant, William's company would also have been skirmishers. Did you have a role model for Sharpe and do you have any advice as to where I can find more definite information on his company's involvement in the Napoleonic wars. Regards Chris

A

I didn't have a role model for Sharpe . . . . at this distance I can only suggest you look for whatever is the successor regiment to the Royal Bucks and see if they hold the archive? They probably do, but who they are? I fear I don't know! You might enquire at the National Army Museum?


Q

Mr Cornwell, Let me start by saying that you are hands down my favorite author. I look forward constantly to your each new release. I have told many people of your books. I don't know which I series I love the most. They are all so wonderful. They make me feel like I am in the middle of the action weather that be feeling the surge of a shield wall or smelling black powder smoke on a Spanish battlefield, or shooting arrows at the French. I am addicted. I know that you are very busy but have you ever thought about writing about the Crusades. I have read some very good books about that period but no one could bring it to life as you could. Thanks for your time. As always if you keep writing I will keep reading.
Shane Scroggins

A

I do not have plans to write about the Crusades.


Q

Dear Mr Cornwell, I am a final year journalism student and am writing a small portfolio of short articles as coursework for my degree, one of which, I hope, will be about you. I was considering being cheeky and seeing if you wouldn't mind doing a short telephone interview with me but realised how many similar requests you must get so have decided to E-mail a few questions instead. I know that you must be tremendously busy and appreciate any time that you dedicate to this. I have been interested in military history since my Dad told me as a youngster that my Granddad was involved in the Second World War and was one of the few who held Pegasus Bridge from the Germans on the morning of June 6th 1944. My recreational reading tends to be based around fact-based things and have only read a handful of fiction titles in my entire life but decided to give the Sharpe (I was proud to learn that you had borrowed the lead characters name from a Cornish rugby great!) books a go after watching you present Sharpes War on the history channel. Wow! Im completely absorbed. Having followed Sharpe through India, the battle of Trafalgar, Copenhagen, Spain and Portugal Im finding myself, halfway through Sharpes Havoc, consciously reading slowly so I dont arrive at the end of the books so quickly! Maybe if I read at a really slow rate, and you keep on writing, Ill be in Sharpe heaven for years to come?! Anyway, to the point; the questions that Id like to ask you are:

1) You have not written the Sharpe series in strict chronological order but they read almost seamlessly with characters referred to in books that you wrote in the early eighties popping up again several books later but in the same chronological vicinity. Do you have a massive Sharpe world written down somewhere that includes characters, relationships and events that you use for reference? If not how do you weave novels in around existing ones so skilfully?

2) You wrote that you couldnt bring yourself to read Sharpes Eagle because you would feel uncomfortable reading your first attempt at a novel. Why? And in what ways do you feel your writing has improved? What do you do now that you didnt in your first book and vice-versa?

3) Are you happy with how they were written and [you should be!] do you have a favourite one? Any plans for any more? Thank you very much for enabling me to feel as though Ive lived through some of the greatest British military victories of the last few centuries! Im already lining-up your new book Azincourt for those dark, post Sharpe days. Thank you very much for your time, Phil Mitcham

A

omg, I wish I did . . . I really wish I did. It was daft to write them out of order, but I thought I'd finished the series after Waterloo, then along came Sean Bean so it seemed sensible to write more . . and that meant going backwards. Actually they're full of mismatches, but you've been very kind and not noticed, and I rely almost wholly on my memory (not great) with an occasional glance at a previous book to check something . . . but the mistakes still creep in. Sometimes the mistakes are deliberate - in one book I said Sharpe was with Hakeswill in the breach at Gawilghur, but when I wrote that book it just didn't work, so I ignored what the previous book had said . . . no one seems to mind too much!

I don't re-read any of my novels! I write the things six or seven times, then read the galleys (UK and US) and that's enough! Maybe when I'm really old I'll re-read them? I have no idea if I have improved, maybe I haven't - it's just not something I think about - I think about what I'm writing at the time, and the rest is irrelevant, really!

My favourite Sharpe book? I really like Siege, but I also really like Tiger, and Regiment and Trafalgar and Company, and many others. But my favourite Sharpe book is always the next one...(and there will be more!).


Q

Hello Bernard, I have been wondering if you intend to write any more books for The Saxon Stories, If so when can we expect them to be published? Kind Regards Paul

A

I will write more - another Saxon stories will most likely be the next book I write. So there's a chance it could be ready for publication in October 2009.


Q

I love historical novels and have read almost all of the saxon chronicles and a few other, but Uhtreds adventures are by far my favorite. My question is: Will Uhtred ever become a christian? You don't have to anwser it but it seems he has gotten close sometimes and then went back to pagan mindset again. I'm a christian so I was interested. Any ways I enjoy your novels greater than any other writer in contemporary literature and I look foward to reading your works more. God has blessed you with a great talent.
Buddy Smith

A

I really don't know what the future holds for him until I write it . . . but I hope not?


Q

Mr. Cornwell, Just finished Stonehenge and am once again amazed at your ability to portray Ancient Britain so vividly. Do you have any other plans for novels on Pre-Roman Britain? Come to think of it, have you ever thought about writing about Scotland? David McColl

A

I don't have any such plans . . . and I really think that writing about Scotland is best left to the Scots! So I hate to sound so negative, but it's a no-no situation.


Q

Just a quick word to say how much I enjoyed the Grail Quest series. My dad put me on to Sir Nigel and The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and as your works are based on the same period and events, I was attracted to them. Has there been any interest in filming this series?

Also, why did you choose the modern French spelling of Azincourt, rather than the traditional spelling of Agincourt for your up-coming title? Regards Gary.

A

No film plans for the Grail Quest series at the moment.

Mainly because there are so many books already published called Agincourt and I thought that using the French spelling would help people when it came to ordering the book ('no, no, the one spelt with the Z'). And, I confess, I quite like the look of the French spelling! And it is their village, so maybe we should grudgingly allow that they know how to spell it.