Bernard, Mr. Cornwell, whatever you prefer! You are without a doubt my favourite author. I recently signed up at the local library here, realising I was spending far too much money on books and I decided to check out your section, despite being fairly confident that I had read everything you had put out. Imagine my surprise when I saw “Wildtrack” on the shelf, written by your good self! I really enjoyed this one and was glad to be reading your work again. This book has also kind of fostered in me a great desire to experience sailing… So a few questions on the subject: How much do you suppose a boat like the Sycorax would cost now? Is this boat in any way based upon one you might have owned or sailed in? When did you first get into sailing? It’s something I would love to try my hand at but haven’t the first clue of how to go about doing it..

Oh and here’s a different one for you… I moved to SE Wisconsin from Chippenham (following an American woman, of course!) when I was 19 and am terribly ashamed to say that at 24, my accent is mostly gone and I sound fairly American, except for on certain words. How is your accent fairing after all of this time?? Rob Baker