Mr. Cornwell,Please tell me that Azincourt will have a U.S. release,and when will that U.S. release be? Thanks,
Andy Boatman
The book will be published in the US - most likely in January 2009.
will there be more Saxon Stories? I love them. Please write back. Jonathan Dexter
I've just started reading your books. I've read the Grail Quest trilogy, and the four Saxon stories. I'm rereading "Sword Song" because it was the first one I read, and now it has more background context. Thank you for the books - when is the next Saxon series book coming out? Rich Bradham
Hello Mr Cornwell, I am an avid reader of your work and I am particularly taken with the Saxon series... I was wondering when the next installment of Uhtred's memoirs is due out? I am desperate to find out what happens next!
Byron Hughes
Dear Mr Cornwell, I have never been a reader as I have never really found anything to capture my imagination, However whilst on holiday last year somebody left the "The Winter King" in the TV room so picked it up and I have been addicted to your work ever since. You have captured my imagination and have me addicted to the days before gunpowder was invented. I have read the Arthur Books, Stonehenge and the Saxon Stories but really would like to know if there will be a continuation of the Saxon Stories coming soon? I understand that you are a very busy man converting your fantastically imaginative mind to paper but please respond as I am in desperate need of another amazing read of your pre firearm dated novels. many thanks Kindest regards Matthew Foster
I've read a lot of your books (most of them many, many times) but the one I'm most interested in now is the next in the Saxon stories. Are you planning another soon as I don't think I can reread the collection many more times. Thanks for the brilliant works, Tom.
We thoroughly enjoy all of your books, particularly the Saxon books. Will you be writing a fifth book in this series, possibly giving Uhtred back his lost kingdom Bebbanburg. We certainly hope so!
Kevin Delaney
There will be a fifth book. I have not started it as I'm not yet finished with AZINCOURT, but another Saxon story will most likely be the next book I write.
Hi Bernard, I'm a tremendous fan of your work, and have read all your Sharpe series, and your stand-alone thrillers. I particularly like the thrillers and the way you handle first-person. I hope you will be willing to help clear up a point of confusion for me about an item on your website. In your 'tips for writing' section you mention the blueprint concept of basing a novel's structure on the structure of a book that is already successful. Absolutely brilliant idea! But I can't quite understand the detail of how your charts worked. I'm desperate to try the concept myself, but I'd like to do it right. Could you expand the explanation of what you did for me... please! eg Do I find a book (say a chase adventure) and reproduce each paragraph of the novel and then overlay my own story and simply re-write the selected paragraph? eg In the novel it's a chase through snow, so I write a similar scene as a chase through the jungle etc???I'm not sure where the colour-coding comes in etc etc. Bernard, it would be a tremendous aid to me if you could explain the concept in more detail. Oh, and does the idea work for first-person? eg an Alistair Maclean novel for example; the detective first-person kind of story, or is that type of book too complex and 'individual' to apply the blueprint method? Is it better for adventure novels etc. Shit, now I'm rambling! Sorry, mate. but I could do with a hand. Tony Moffitt, Australia
Noooo! I just made charts - linear charts - using colours to signify where there was action, where there was exposition, where there was romance, where there was flashback and so on. It helped me discover the way books are constructed, and maybe you don't need to do that! You certainly don't copy it! It's merely a device to discover just what a published author is doing. Remember there are no rules! But there is a structure to a book, however well disguised, and sometimes it helps to learn how other people make their structure. I confess now that I never think about it at all . . . .
What period of history do you think has been neglected by fiction writers? Chris McGlynn
None, I should think! I honestly can't think of one off the top of my head . . . I would have said the early 18th Century, but Iaian Gale has taken that on. Maybe the late 17th?
Thank you, so much. I can't even begin to tell you how many countless hours entertainment and relaxation you books have provided me. The first series of books I ever read was Patrick O'Brians Aubrey Maturin books and after that was unable to find anything that held my interest till I stumbled on Sharpe by accident. I work as an EMT in the city of Boston and your books have helped me kill the down time between calls and then de-stress me when I get home. Also I was wondering if you ever do any appearances for book signing in New England? And thank you once again. Adam Levine
No appearances are scheduled in New England right now, but check my Diary page every so often as all appearances do get posted there.
Dear Mr. Cornwell, first I want to say, that I love your books about Uhtred and the danish vikings in England. I study Scandinavian philology and it is great to see that not everybody thinks wrong about vikings. But I got a question: in your books you write that the city of Haithabu was in Denmark, but I think it was in Germany. It is straight on the border. Sorry to bore you with such questions, but where exactly was it now? Regards and all the best from Germany, Stephan Schwaerter
I think that in Viking times there was neither Germany nor, really, Denmark, but Haithabu was assuredly a Danish settlement back then!
Sir, a practical question: When do you name a new book? is it before, during or after writing it?and has it ever been hard to name any of your books? many thanks~ best regards, Jack Jiang PS love Azincourt's cover~ hope it'll be out soon! is it October? Jack Jiang
Sometimes it's impossible! Usually it gets named sometime during the writing, but it all depends . . . it varies . . .and my publishers love to contribute to the process. Some, like Azincourt, are easy; others are very difficult. I loved the name Sword Song, but had to fight tooth and nail to keep it!
October in the UK!
Bernard, my sister gave me the first 6 Sharpe books and haven't been able to put them down. I'm halfway through "Heretic", will we hear any more from Thomas? Thanks for the great reads. Rick
Glad you are enjoying the books. No plans for more Thomas of Hookton.
Stephen King said something to the effect of, That a good author writes four hours and reads four hours. I was wondering, what is your opinion on his statement? Im an aspiring author and an avid fan of your work. Ive got a story Ive nearly completed, but I find myself with little time to finish it. Im happily married with a 8 month old daughter, teach high-school (World History, Psychology, and Sociology) and coach. As you might imagine, I have little time to write or to read. Do you have suggestions that could help me finish my story? Thank you for your time and know it was you (and Derfel) that inspired me to write. Sincerely, Jason Berube
A page a day? I think Stephen King is right . . . . . maybe we can tweak the figures a little. Eight month old daughters are a real distraction to a writer. I won't suggest you put her up for adoption, of course I won't! That's a dreadful thought . . . . . .
Hi Mr. Cornwell, I have enjoyed many of your series. I hope to someday travel Portugal and Spain to visit some of the sites you write of. I particularly like your photos of sites that you taken. Seringapatam seems abandoned. Is there just fewer people living there now then in the past? Or is pretty much devoid of people? Mark Duntemann
It's a thriving small village where once it was a large town, so the walls surround what was the town and inside them are large stretches of abandoned empty land with the village in the centre.