Dear Mr Cornwell, I would like to say how much I have enjoyed reading The Grail Series. I was educated in the forties and fifties when medieval history was barely touched upon. My interest was awakened when my daughter gained a Masters degree in Medieval History at London University three years ago. As a budding writer I take an interest in the styles of published authors; not to copy their ideas but to teach me the requirements of various publishers and editors. I am a member of several internet writing groups where I am being advised about the subtle changes in writing styles supposedly being put forward by today’s editors. One being the overuse of passive verbs such as had and was. This is most disconcerting when I pick up a recently published book off a shelf and find this new style has been ignored to the point where the book has been shortlisted for some prize or other. Do I write the way I want and take these changes with a pinch of salt, or do I heed the bleatings of these apparently learned experts? I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter and whether you have come across this kind of hiccup in your past years of writing. Thanks a lot Dorothy