-HIS
BIO-
Bernard
Cornwell was born in London in 1944, an illegitimate ‘war
baby’ whose father was a Canadian airman and mother
in Britain’s Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. He
was adopted as an infant and raised in Essex by a family
belonging to a religious sect (now extinct) called The
Peculiar People. They forbade alcohol, cigarettes,
dancing, television and conventional medicine. After
an unhappy childhood, he escaped to London University,
worked briefly as a teacher after graduation, and then
joined BBC television. He started as a researcher
in the Nationwide programme and eventually worked his way
up to Head of Current Affairs for BBC in Northern Ireland,
and became editor of Thames TV’s News division. It
was while working in Belfast that he met his wife, Judy,
a visiting American, for whom he moved to the United States.
As
a teenager, Bernard loved the Hornblower novels by C. S.
Forester and had always dreamed of writing. When
he and Judy first met in 1980, Judy was unable to live
in England for family reasons so Bernard moved to America
where he was refused a Green Card. It was then he
decided to act upon his dream and do something which did
not need the government’s permission - to write a
novel. He and Judy are still married and Bernard
is now an American citizen.
Bernard
Cornwell has since published over 40 books, most of them
translated into more than a dozen languages. The
Sharpe series, of which there are now twenty, was made
into a TV series by Carlton Television, and shown in the
US on Masterpiece Theatre. The latest, Sharpe’s
Escape, is set at the beginning of the Peninsular
War and, like the rest, is firmly grounded in real history. He
is also the author of the acclaimed Arthur books, The Warlord
Chronicles; of the Starbuck Chronicles, set during the
American Civil War, and of the Grail Quest Series, tales
of the 14th Century. He has also written Stonehenge,
2000 BC; Gallows Thief, Redcoat,
which is about the American Revolution; and five contemporary
sailing thrillers. He lives and writes from his
home in Chatham.
- Interview
with Bernard Cornwell - May, 2005
Christopher Seufert: I was astounded
to find that you've sold over 12,000,000 copies world-wide
of the Sharpe Series, which is just a fraction of your catalog.
Furthermore, the Boston Globe recently stated that
you were perhaps 'the greatest writer of historical novels
today." Are you
a success by your own standard?
Bernard Cornwell: I'm a
success inasmuch that I enjoy my life, which is
an enormous blessing and that doesn't depend on
commercial success (though I wouldn't be such a
fool as to deny that it helps). What I mean by
that is that the point of life, as I see it, is
not to write books or scale mountains or sail oceans,
but to achieve happiness, and preferably an unselfish
happiness. It just so happens that I write books,
and I'm amazingly lucky that the books sell well
all across the world, but even the biggest financial
success will not compensate for an ill-lived life.
I'm fortunate that the books sell, but even more
fortunate to live in Chatham, to be very happily
married and to have, on the whole, a fairly clear
conscience. Anyone who claims to have an entirely
clear conscience is almost certainly a bore.
CS: The Boston Globe also pointed
to the irony that "There
are places where Bernard Cornwell is a household name. His
adopted home here on Cape Cod isn't one of them." I
get the sense that they're correct, that you do in fact walk
the streets of Chatham in general anonymity, as opposed to
similarly successful Chatham residents. Would you say this
is true?
BC: Absolutely true, and I wouldn't
change it for the world. Mind you, even in places where I'm
much better known, I walk in anonymity, mainly because folks
know authors' names, but not their faces. I did a TV series
for the British History Channel a few years ago and for
a few weeks afterwards I was accosted by folk in Britain
wanting to talk, which was flattering, but the memory faded
and blessed anonymity returned.
CS: Sharpe's Havoc, published in 2003,
was the first of your many novels to reach the New York Times
Best Seller list here in the U.S. Meanwhile in Britain,
you've already had many best sellers, including the Sharpe
series going to television. To what do you attribute this
discrepancy? Do you see your popularity in the United States
increasing with your increasing publication of stories based
on American history?
BC: The discrepancy is entirely based,
I think, on the fact that I write best when I'm writing about
what I know, and that is British history. And though I've
lived in the States for over 25 years and am now an American
citizen, I still hear British voices in my head. Writing
British dialogue is easy, writing American is harder, and
I feel much more confident writing about Brits. So the books
have a greater appeal to a British audience, but that hasn't
stopped them making best-seller lists in places like Brazil,
Japan and at least a dozen other countries. In the end their
appeal is not necessarily the history, but the quality of
the story-telling, and a good story transcends national boundaries.
I still have to crack the French market, though that isn't
entirely surprising considering that the Sharpe novels are
endless tales of French defeat.
CS: You've been a resident of Chatham
for some years now. When you moved here, as the story
goes, you didn't have a work permit and so, began writing
for a living. Were you surprised that it worked out as that
practical a solution? I'd imagine many who came to that solution
would end up back in England in 6 months.
BC: I was astonished! Actually I moved
to New Jersey in 1980 and didn't discover Chatham until 1990,
by which time the books were selling, but it was still a
daft decision, based solely on love. Judy couldn't move to
Britain for family reasons, so I had to come to the States,
and the U.S. government wouldn't give me a Green Card, so
I airily told her I'd write a book. Well, it worked, and
I'm still here, and so's she, and ain't we lucky? Looking
back, of course, it was irresponsible, mad, forlorn, idiotic,
but if you don't take chances then you'll never have a winning
hand, and I've no regrets. I sometimes wonder what would
have happened if the first book had not sold . . . doesn't
bear thinking about, but I suppose we'd have made it work
somehow.
CS: Prior to 1980 you were a television
producer with the BBC. Do you miss working in that medium?
Do you find there's a simplicity to writing that wasn't there
previously in your work as a television producer?
BC: I don't miss it at all. Television
is a young person's medium. I had ten great years in it,
had an enormous amount of fun, travelled all over the world,
and got out. And yes, there's a simplicity to writing books
because you're not a member of a team, so you make all the
decisions yourself instead of deferring to a committee. I
get asked to appear on television - at the moment I have
two invitations from Britain to present long military history
series, but I'm not sure whether I really want to do it -
I fear the seduction of vanity, but recognise that it would
help sell books - so I dunno what I shall do.
CS: Do you have a local writing community
or fellow writers that you look to for support and advice?
BC: Writing is a solitary occupation.
If you can't do it on your own then you probably can't do
it. So no, no local writing community. At risk of sounding
foully pompous I think that writers' groups are probably
very useful at the beginning of a writing career. Not that
I've ever been in such a group and the only time I was ever
invited to one I left in disgust because they were pushing
the idea of 'writing as therapy'.
CS: Did you have a writing mentor?
Do you mentor others here?
BC: I don't have a mentor. I have
a terrific, marvellous, unbelievably helpful editor in London
and she has the biggest influence, but even so we disagree
as much as we agree. I'll happily mentor anyone who wants
mentoring, and most of that goes on by internet rather than
face to face. The one thing I will not do is read other peoples'
unpublished work. The reason for that is that it doesn't
help. I'm not in a position to publish them or act as an
agent for them, so instead I put them in touch with an agent
whose job is to read unpublished work. I know that sounds
churlish, but right now, on my desk, there are four books
waiting to be read whose publishers want me to give them
a 'puff', two books I'm reviewing for newspapers in London,
one book I desperately need to read for research, and a couple
more for pleasure, so I simply don't have time to read more.
Agents will read unpublished work because they might make
money, and that's their job. It isn't mine.
CS: You've written an admirable and
ungodly number of books, about forty I read in my pre-interview
research, which makes almost two books a year. I'm suprised
that your publisher can handle that kind of output, frankly.
What is their overall strategy and are they able to put the
time and attention into it that each book deserves?
BC: So far it's 43 books in 25 years.
Publishers don't mind! Publishers like 'established' authors
because they can pretty much anticipate sales and therefore
cashflow in an otherwise uncertain industry. The strategy
differs from place to place - in London we produce a book
for the Christmas market (i.e. published in October), while
New York prefers to wait for the New Year when a book has
a greater chance of making the New York Times list. If there's
a second book then we put it out in April and these days
that's almost always a Sharpe novel. Paperback launches are
usually in early summer (to get the vacation market) and
have a lighter coloured jacket than the Christmas version
- and so it goes on. But publishers are in the business of
making profits, so they love getting two books a year. They'd
have three if they could.
CS: How do you approach the work of
writing?
BC: With unabandoned pleasure. It's
fun. I sit down every day and tell stories. Some folk would
kill to get that chance.
CS: What does a typical writing day
look like for you, from waking to turning in at night, and
how does it compare to a conventional 9 to 5 job?
BC: I start early - usually by 5 am,
and work through to 5 pm, with breaks for lunch, boring exercise,
etc etc. But it's usually a full day. It's better than 9
to 5 because I'm my own boss so I can take off when I want
to, and the dress code is non-existent and the commute is
terrific. I enjoy it, so there's no discipline involved,
and I'm not a subscriber to the idea of 'writer's block',
or rather I subscribe to the notion that on the day a nurse
can telephone a hospital and be excused work on the grounds
of 'nurse's block' is the day I'll start suffering from writer's
block. I volunteered for this life, wanted it and am not
going to bitch about it now that I've got it. Of course some
days are easier than others, but my worst day is better than
being in most humdrum occupations.
CS: How long does it take you to write
a typical novel, including research, writing and editing
time?
BC: Research is a lifelong occupation
so it's hard to factor it in, but I reckon most books take
5 months from start to finish.
CS: Does your wife get involved in
your writing and research trips or is she sick to death of
it by now?
BC: She likes the research trips .
. .who wouldn't? Spain, Portugal, India . . lots of the English
countryside. Other than that she doesn't get involved, but
I don't think I'd survive as a writer without her. She has
a busy time as a yoga teacher and hospice volunteer and doesn't
want to get involved with the writing which is, I have to
keep stressing this, a solitary vice.
CS: Your books are successful enough
now to give you the freedom to essentially do what you want.
Do you see yourself giving less time to writing in the future?
BC: I'd like to cut it down to three
books in two years instead of two a year - but whether that'll
happen I don't know. I took time off last year to sail the
Atlantic, and if I got more opportunities for blue-water
cruising I might take them. Not sure.
CS: In addition to the books you've
already published, I'd imagine you have many more that are
in various stages or other of completion. Is this true or
do you tackle one book at a time, research it, write it,
publish it, and move on?
BC: One book at a time . . though
I'm usually doing the research for others while I'm writing,
but that sort of research is fairly desultory and I like
to stick to the book being written - and writing a book concentrates
the mind so the research is more productive. Then you start
another book and suddenly the galley proofs of the last one
come in and you have to wrench your attention away from what
you're writing and try to remember what you were thinking
when you wrote the previous one.
CS: After the great success of your
Sharpe series on British television, do you have any more
novels that are being considered for television series or
films?
BC: I think they've all been optioned
- but whether any will actually be made? I doubt it, and
certainly don't lose sleep over it.
CS: Do you take vacations or do you
find that your book tours and historical research give you
enough travel?
BC: Book tours and research provide
a lot of travel - too much, I sometimes think, but we do
take vacations. Judy is inordinately fond of the Far East
so we try to go there every couple of years, and I make a
pilgrimage to England every rugby season. I'd like to make
a similar pilgrimage in the cricket season, but it coincides
with the sailing season on the Cape and sailing wins every
time.
CS: Do you ever get sick of working
in your office, grab your notebook and hit a coffeeshop?
BC: No, never. Not sure what I'd so
with a notebook other than swat flies. If I want a break
I'd rather go down to Stage Harbor and talk boats.
CS: Where's your favorite place in
Chatham to depressurize?
BC: Stage Harbor and adjacent waters.
We have a gaff-rigged topsail cutter, which sounds much grander
than she really is, but she's exquisitely beautiful and shamefully
slow and we spend a lot of time aboard when we can. But there's
no better place to relax.
CS: How do you celebrate a novel's
completion?
BC: Not sure I do any more, other
than a general feeling of relief modified by the thought
that another one will have to be started soon. I'll probably
have an Irish whiskey.
CS: I haven't seen much in your past
interviews about the production of your audio books, which
I shamefully happen to really like. Are you involved in the
production of those as well?
BC: Not in the slightest.
CS: Why didn't you narrate the audio
books yourself? I would think actor Sean Bean, who
played Richard Sharpe so dynamically on television would
also be in the running.
BC: Sean did narrate some of the earlier
ones, but I imagine his fee has become too steep for the
producers, or perhaps he doesn't enjoy doing it. I've never
been asked to do it, and am not sure I'd want to.
CS: I've read that there may be a
new productions of your Sharpe book series coming to television
and that you're one of the producers. Is that looking like
it will happen?
BC: It looks as though they'll be
filming in India this winter, but it isn't guaranteed. Say
95% certain?? I'm definitely NOT one of the producers, and
don't want to be. I know nothing about producing TV drama
and any involvement on my part is liable to prove an obstacle
to the producers, so I prefer to be a cheerleader and let
them get on with it.
CS: Do you like living in Chatham?
BC: I love living in Chatham. It's
a huge privilege and a constant pleasure, and I don't want
to live anywhere else, and probably won't.
CS: Any plans to have a book set right
here, somewhere in the rough-and-tumble maritime history
of Chatham? The Monomoy Lifesavers had some pretty charismatic
characters and of course, the British were in our harbors
in both wars.
BC: Probably not, but it's dangerous
to say never. There are some terrific books already about
Chatham - I especially love the stories by Rose Connors -
but I'm best known for military history fiction and it's
probably wise to stick to that and let Rose write Chatham's
portrait.
-Interview by Christopher
Seufert
