Firstly I wanted to thank you for coming to Vancouver, Canada…it was a pleasure to meet you at last. I also wanted to comment that I find one major difference between your Richard Sharpe and Horatio Hornblower (whom I’ve also read and thoroughly enjoyed) and that is that Sharpe has grown and matured as a person throughout the books. He started off unsure of himself, ill at ease in command with his men, but he has grown up and become self confident and ‘a man’ and I find that much more appealing and realistic than someone who seems to stop maturing at about age 20. He still has his moments of self doubt, of course, but he hides them well, and doesn’t wallow in self analysis…and I thank you for that. I think that’s why I like him so much. There is hope for us all if he can make it. Sterling Mair