I was given a free promotional copy of Harlequin in Ottakers bookshop around ten years ago. As a marketing strategy it worked pretty well – I think I now have a copy of  all of your historical fiction. As a product of the educational system that believes history goes Romans… William I…  Henry VIII…  Victoria…  World War II, it has been fascinating to build up a more coherent narrative through your books!

I was just wondering where Uhtred came from? Did you know, when you began writing about  him as a child, what sort of a man he would become? Presumably Derfel was still lurking in the back of your mind (not that Derfel is a man who lurks), but were there other influences?

I can’t help noticing that “fair-haired gruff northerner” describes a certain actor rather well. I wonder if there is anything of Sean’s Boromir in Uhtred? Even if not, you occasionally hint that your books have something of a shared universe (Thomas of Hookton being mentioned in Azincourt and Patrick Lassan’s cameos in Starbuck), perhaps Sharpe has Uhtred somewhere in his distant ancestry?

Dan