Hi, I have just decided to drop you a line to say thankyou. Thankyou for producing some fantastic books which, now especially, are of great help as when I get stresses due to exams I will just sit for half an hour and read a Sharpe book. I started about February this year and read Sharpe's Tiger, the plan being to read them all in chronological order. I have just finished Sharpe's Trafalgar and am now on Sharpe's Prey. So far I have not read a single bad book by you. You are indeed a talented writer. I remember as a child sitting with my Dad, who has now been dead for five years, and watching the series. He'd always have one of the books at his bedside as well. Reading these books now I can understand why. It gives me a connection in some way. I also wanted to say thankyou for giving me a character I can relate to. I happen to be working through a private college in Cambridge through a bursary. There are a lot of, shall we say, priveleged kids here who tend to look down on those less 'priveleged'. Seeing Sharpe work his way up the ranks and work with these people it gives me relief to know that he too has had moments of wanting to give in, such as Sharpe's Prey. Just a few questions. 1. In Sharpe's Prey did you mean to lead readers on into thinking Grace had left him before revealing she had actually died. 2. Where in history is your next Sharpe book going to be set, if indeed you are writing one? 3. Did you not think it ironic that in Sharpe's Trafalgar Lord William compared Sharpe to Ulysses and Sean Bean played that very same character in Troy recently? By the way, praise goes to your handling of Nelson's death. Not going into long detail and just writing those two words 'Nelson died' was very effective. Sorry to ramble on. I just had a lot to say. If I were ever to meet you I'm sure that we would have lots to talk about. So, until Mister Sharpe stops marching, I'll keep reading. Yours, a faithful fan, Patrick Oldham