Your Questions

Q

Dear Sir, For all that Sweet William enjoyed a battle etc. and reacted badly to Sharpe's betrayal. He was a man of taste (his love of drawings, buildings and history etc) and I know reason does not come into things concerning the heart + rejection, but surely after reflection time he would have realised Lucille would not have him regardless of her feelings for Sharpe. It was not really betrayal as such as Sharpe took her from no-one He was a man of common sense and reason and a very good friend. Is his and Sharpe's friendship really damaged beyond repair? Lee

Submitted September 15, 2005

A

I don't know. Haven't got there yet! But perhaps you're right.

Q

Are you by any chance related to William Oughtred, the 16th-17th century English mathematician who invented the sliderule? The name is unusual enough that I thought there might be a connection. Michael Newman

Submitted September 15, 2005

A

He's part of the family, though where his mathematical gene went, I have no idea. He died of joy on hearing of the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 - not a bad way to go.

Q

dear Mr.Cornwell, I loved your arthur books. I have one question though. why were the armies so small? a couple of thousands of soldiers to invade Britain (mynydd baddon).

Submitted September 15, 2005

A

The armies were small because society was much smaller, and because raising large armies takes an immense amount of logistical skill - large armies have to be fed, watered, organised, and that requires a professional bureaucracy and a strong central government. The Romans had that, and could field vast armies, but in Dark Age Britain there's nothing but small kingdoms and chaos.

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I live in Hong Kong and love your books, especially your Grail Quest. I have problems finding your books here in Hong Kong, yes they have a few but I am so impressed with your writing that I want to collect them all. I suppose my question is will you be writing another volume for the Grail Quest and if so any time frame ? Please keep up the good work and continue writing, please. Regards Richard Bowsie Hong Kong.

Submitted September 15, 2005

A

No, the quest for the grail is finished - but I am glad to know you enjoyed the books. And I hope you'll find more of my books in Hong Kong soon.

Q

Mr Cornwell, I have finished reading the Sharpe series in order and I must thank you for enlightening me to the savage and bloody battles fought in the peninsula. I could not stop reading about the battles and the army that fought in them. After finishing Sharpe's Devil, I went on to read Gallows Thief and I couldn't stop myself from finding the Sharpe references, especially when Sandman thinks back to Spain and remembers of how him and a party of his men were saved by a Greenjacket officer. Maybe in your next Sharpe novel Sharpe could rescue a captain of the 52nd (Sandman) from the French? Also are you writing anymore Sharpe novels in the future? Michael Barrett

Submitted September 13, 2005

A

Yes, I will be writing more Sharpe books - and anything is possible!

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I was writing to thank you for writing the Sharpe series - such entertaining books. I especially liked Sharpe's Regiment, which has so much humor in it. The novelty of two veterans joining undercover as recruits, an Irish Sergeant who hates Irishmen, and then there is the last section back in Spain - with the battalion adopting the dogs. This book is full of subtle hilarity. Thanks for using these books to teach others about the Peninsular War in a way that is so entertaining. Of course, I have a question. Why did you have Richard Sharpe marry Jane Gibbons? Thanks, Melanie Frew

Submitted September 13, 2005

A

Because he's an idiot. I like him, but he's an idiot - though probably not the only idiot to ever marry the wrong woman.

Q

I have just finished reading Stonehenge, and I loved it! I just picked up your books A Crowning Mercy and The Fallen Angels, and I noticed both books have a same character: Toby Lazender. My question is: Are these two books a series? Which order should I read them in? Or does it matter? Thanks, Jenna

My husband & I are both Sharpe devotees, but I have to say that A Crowning Mercy & Fallen Angels are my all-time favourite books. My copies are nearly falling apart and I re-read them yearly. On the front cover of Fallen Angels, it states that you were working on a 3rd novel in the series - did that ever eventuate? There is something so different and so haunting about those books; they are beautifully written. Thank-you, Leanne Montoneri.

Submitted September 13, 2005

A

The books are connected in that the characters of A Crowning Mercyare ancestors to the characters of Fallen Angels. Read A Crowning Mercy first. The third book written under the name Susannah Kells is A Coat of Arms (renamed The Aristocrats by the American publisher). There are no plans to re-release this title, but the book can be found in second-hand bookshops.

Q

hi Mr Cornwell, just a quick question for you, have you ever tried writing two books at the same time? cheers, Andy

Submitted September 13, 2005

A

Never! And I don't want to try.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell I'm writing to you again to ask two important things: 1) I think I could manage to come to England during your book tour, so I wanted to know if it was possible for me to meet you there. 2)Lately I've been thinking a lot of a project I thought of some months ago, which would be creating a fan site mainly focused on the Arthur Books and secondary to all the rest of your bibliography. Obviously it's just a project and I cannot ask you to make it the official Italian fan site (I'm a member of another big forum and I know how these things go...) but I would like to have your assent for this project before I begin working on it. Thank you in advance for your time Yours faithfully, Italo

Submitted September 13, 2005

A

I'd love to see your website! Good luck (Fortuna buona??). The difficulty about coming to England is that I'm going to be horribly busy - normally we do two or three signings a day and there really isn't much time in between - and what time there is will be spent travelling, so much as I'd like to meet you it's going to be hello-goodbye. For instance - I'm one and a half hours in Hatchards, London, and there will be at least three or four hundred books to sign, then it's straight off to Canterbury . . . so I'd hate you to come all that way for nothing.

Q

When you started writing Sharpe did you have any idea how big he was going to become? Also, how much of the series had you already planned? Please keep on writing- I love your books. Max

Submitted September 13, 2005

A

I did no forward planning at all, which, in retrospect, was a mistake, but I thought I'd be lucky to have the first book published, let alone twenty. I've been playing catch-up ever since.