Mr. Cornwell.

I have read your books now for many years.  “The Sharpe Tales” have accompanied me on my travels and I have spent much time in a comfortable chair appreciating the rigors that Uhtred endures.  I have even spent many wonderful miles with Arthur and Derfel — in what I consider to be your masterpiece, “The Warlord Trilogy” — on my long training runs (audio books).  Thank you for the pleasure that you have given to me through your art.

I have read that you do not know what your novel will contain until you write it.  Despite this, have you maintained a general outline of the story that you have developed in “The Saxon Tales”?  That is, when you first conceived of the idea for the series, did you plot out the structure of the story into the future?  If so, did you run this outline through to the end?

Thank you.