Dear Mr. Cornwell, I have been an avid reader of historical fiction for years, and I truly enjoy the Sharpe series the most. Thank you so much for the wonderful attention to detail that your books contain. While surfing on the web, I have recently made the discovery of several fan sites that contain quite a lot of ‘fan fiction’ concerning the Sharpe series. I have heard that several authors are rather offended by the idea of amateurs writing about their characters, while others seem flattered or simply don’t seem to care much about the whole fan fiction phenomenon; and I was curious what your opinion was on the general topic of fan fiction? Sincerely, Shelly Lloyd