Dear Mr. Cornwell,
At the end of August of this year, my wife and I had the great pleasure of visiting the UK (Lyme Regis) as guests of Jim and Rosie Bragg. Rosie is an elderly Anglican priest. During my stay she recommended I read Harlequin and Vagabond, two novels in the same cover!! I was so taken with them that I read them both in the 8 days we visited, staying up late and getting up early in order to consume the stories yet not neglect my wife and the in-laws by staying in during the day. The graphic violence, and the fact that your books were recommended by Rosie had my mind working enthusiastically multi-directional in present and past. I was so excited that when I returned to the USA, I bought both Heretic, and Agincourt and read those equally fast. My question. Do you have an anatomical poster before you as you describe the visciousness of the attack with arrows and edged weapons? If not, how do you describe the violence in such detail. For me it’s as if I’m passing a terrible auto accident, looking as I go by, hoping that everyone is alright and not wanting to look directly at the scene, but imagining all the while the last moments of the victims alive or dead, at the same time not being able to tear my eyes away till I’m safely past and out of my own sense of danger, pleased that it was not my own misfortune to be ogled by passing ghouls like myself. How do you do that? Was it difficult for you the first time? I’m no writer but am putting together a private memoir for my kids. It has attracted favorable attention from a local group of fellow teachers that think it may be suitable for middle school boys. The reason I tell you this is that every time I read something I like, I find myself studying the wordsmanship and wondering how the particular collection of words came to be. Thank you for any clues you can give. I want my stories to detail my antics when I was young, as entertainment and not be a chore to read, so vocabulary words are important to me. Currently It’s just trial and error read and re read. You seem to do this so very well I didn’t think it would hurt to ask. If you never have time to respond, I will continue to read your work and question how you do what you do. I’m anxious to read the Sharpe stories. I saw the episodes on TV and didn’t like some of them, but I had just finished reading Patrick O”Brien. I am a Viet Nam veteran of the American Navy and the history in your books pulls me into the story from the very first. I’ve gone on too long. Thank you for your web site.
Mike Evans Anderson, Indiana, USA