This morning on the Patrick O’Brian Gunroom forum someone commented that Capt Joel Chase of the Pucelle in your Sharpe series is a dead ringer for Jack Aubrey. I remember being struck by the similarity, especially when he introduces Sharpe to another officer as “my particular friend”. Was Capt. Chase an homage to POB? By the way, your books, especially the Sharpe novels, are high on the list of favorites among the members of our Vietnam veterans Monday night group that meets here in Vista, California. We’re a bunch of old Marine and Army types and we enjoy your flair for writing about combat. David Clark