Mr. Cornwell, I hope you & your family had a very Merry Christmas. I was delighted to hear that you are working on a new Sharpe novel as he is still my personal favorite. I know that the entire Sharpe concept was inspired by the Hornblower novels, but I was wondering where the inspiration for the character of Sharpe himself came from. Did you know somebody similar to him in personality, bad childhood, obstacles in the workplace, etc. I find his dual personality (stone killer vs. honorable soul) very intriguing. Thanks for everything. Darren Ivey