Hi Bernard, just a few things I was thinking about I’d like to to comment on please? Is your general indecisiveness about committing to The English Civil war a result of being unable to, in a way, romanticise the conflict? Have you formulated a hero for the tale? I have read and own all of your historical fictions and I find that your best work involves effectively combining engaging characters in partially romanticised settings. My caveat to this is Stonehenge I find my issues with this tome stem from the lack of Historical fact, and in a similar way Excalibur, excellent as it was, sank slightly with the seeming ratification of the magical (the red spot malady as an example) where the conceit of having the reader decide upon the nature of magic in the story was slightly undermined. In saying this, the usual “historical fact” backbone of your stories is perhaps not as essential to your best works as they are useful to the reader to evoke a sense of importance and direction. I hold up the Warlord Chronicles (as one narrative) as your masterpiece (which is not to say that you had peaked haha) The books have a perfect combination of engaging, intriguing Characters (some in their own way very much the typical “Cornwellian” archetypes), and Setting (the trilogy is set in an era far enough in the past to be fantastical without becoming fantasy – and there are just enough historical battles for you to structure your narrative in a flowing and logical way). This formula’s attractiveness has been proven again with the success of your Saxon Stories. Regarding the Sharpe and Starbuck novels, I would argue that their success and brilliance comes from Character(s) bolstered by the spectacle of pseudo-accurate battles. The factual nature is weighted more heavily than the sense of the fantastical yet there is still many aspects of myth-making. Only the Myths you are creating with Sharpe and Starbuck are more the characters themselves and less the romanticised versions of history found in Derfel’s and Uhtred’s stories. I guess a much quicker and easier way of summing up all of the above is by asking this – are you finding it hard to create your Mythical Civil War? Maybe it is because it is the English fighting the English? Speaking as a Northern Irishman, one might find it hard to root for either side! haha Sorry for not getting to my point earlier, but I’m not sure even I know what it was!

PS Any progress on picking a character to name after me? I’d asked a while ago and you’d said you’d give it some thought. Thank you for consistently helping me to escape. Allyn