I have been a fan of the Sharpe books for a few years now. Since mid-2000 I have been participating in re-enactments of the War of 1812. Many of us love the Sharpe series as it is the same time period. I picked up Sharpe’s Triumph while I was at Fort George (Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario) and quickly ordered in the rest. I then saw the BBC series aired on The History Channel and Sean Bean fit quite well as Sharpe. The main point of this submission is for a piece of advice. I am an aspiring writer of Historical Fiction and have come across one major hurdle in the process. How do you work in real historical figures? Yes, we know Sir Arthur Wellesley led the British at Waterloo, but how do you write him as a person? My biggest fear in trying to accomplish this is to have a cold blooded killer come off as a hero or, worse yet, to have a hero come off as a drunken slob who cares for no one but himself. I understand with someone like Wellington there is enough known about him that an actual character can be created, but what about someone who I am lucky to find sources that mention him by name (e.g. Lt Frederic Rolette of the Provincial Marines led the capture of the USS Cuyahoga Packet)? Having mentioned I am an aspiring writer I hope my grammar is up to par. Thanks for your time, Ryan McNeilly