Dear Mr. Cornwell, some 15 years ago I discovered your sailboat-novels and immediately fell in love with your stories – so fascinating for me living in a country without access to the sea (Austria). And so very challenging for my english vocabulary – my most favourite sentences goes like: “She blew out the clew of the storm jib, the topping lift broke, and a pin came out of a sheave in the self steering-gear.” Huh? (Sealord) Little did I know then that these books only prepared me for “Sharpe’s Trafalgar”. And boy, by then I know almost as much about sailing as about warfare in various centuries. By now I could sail every boat and fire 5 shots a minute without problems – all in theory and in my head of course. I have read almost everything you ever published and find constant joy and enlightenment in your books. Maybe you could answer 2 of a million questions: a, Is Lord Johnny Rossendale, Earl of Stowey (Sealord) supposed to be a grand-grand-nephew of Lord John “yellow-bellied bastard” Rossendale (Sharpe)?

b, Will we ever get to read what I call “Sharpe’s Inbetween” – when he went to England recruiting after Talavera and met Jane in that country-church, and when he gave Harper the volley-gun? Again, thank you so much for your books!