Dear Mr. Cornwell, Please allow me to give a brief background of myself and why I am writing before I ask a few questions. First, your books are the best I’ve ever read in this genre. I am from Massachusetts and have a degree in history and studied history for a period at Oxford University. I read some fiction, but mostly stick to pure history. Many years ago I discovered the pure joy of historical fiction when I read Sharon Kay Penman’s book on Richard III (my first was the Killer Angels in College) and then got hooked on Patrick O’Brien to the point I read the entire Aubrey series in a couple of months and read them again a year later. Your books surpass all of these authors and I’m particularly impressed because you cover so many periods of history. It’s obvious you do painstaking research before writing a book. I started with the Sharpe series solely based on the advise of a stranger in a book store who saw me looking at your books. Since then I have devoured everything you have ever written and my wife can’t believe how quickly I read your books. To stay with the analogy, I am famished. Your various book series are wonderful, but once I finished them, I decided to read your novels. Agincourt and Gallows Thief are my favorites. The only series I did not read was Starbuck. I guess because I’m a yankee and the plot theme did not appeal to me. Well, I just finished “The Bloody Ground” and I must admit that I loved all four books. They are very much like the Sharpe books, but your research on the different historical periods and subtle differences in character make them stand apart. So here are my questions: 1) Will there be another Starbuck book? I pray so. 2) Will there be another Saxon Stories book? This is actually my favorite of all your writing and I’m hoping that you will write one more book. I want Uhtred’s story to come to a fitting conclusion. Thank you for all the enjoyment you have given me, but now I am out of reading and going back to pure history seems rather boring to me. You are a literary drug. I hope one day to run into you as I visit Cape Cod somewhat frequently (my parents live in Plymouth), but please just keep on writing! Sincerely, Steven J. Ryan A Big Fan