Hi Bernard,
My name is Braeden. A few days ago I ended up buying “Sharpe’s Tiger.” I’ve nearly finished the book and I just wanted to write you an email to tell you how much I’m enjoying it!
The battle scenes in the book are just awesome. It feels like I am actually there watching it all unfold. And I really like your writing style, it’s just so smooth and direct. The characters are great as well. I can imagine them easily and they’re all compelling in their own ways. Then there is the historical stuff that you are basing the story on, which is a huge plus for me because I enjoy learning about history.
Overall, what I like most about the novel is the balance. There are all these different parts of the story that you could easily overemphasis or underemphasis. It’d be easy, for example, to overemphasis the logistics of the siege while forgetting about the characters. Somehow you bring all the aspects of the story together and make it work.
For a long time, I’ve struggled to find contemporary writers that I like. Instead, I’ve been sticking mainly to the classics recently, but the trouble with the classics is that sometimes they can be really hard to get into.
I heard about you from George R.R. Martin, who said that you write the best battle scenes, and my mother, who enjoyed the Sharpe TV series, which I haven’t seen.
I’m grateful to have found your work. What’s great is that you’ve written so much! I’ve got a lot to look forward too it seems.
I write fiction myself and I’d love to be a full-time novelist eventually. I’m hoping I can emulate some of your style. Reading the post you had on writing was a great inspiration to me.
Thank you!
– Braeden