Bernard Cornwell Quotes

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Anyone who claims to have an entirely clear conscience is almost certainly a bore."

"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."

"Book tours and research provide a lot of travel - too much, I sometimes think, but we do take vacations."

"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."

"Agents will read unpublished work because they might make money, and that's their job. It isn't mine."

"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 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."

"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."

"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."

"Of course some days are easier than others, but my worst day is better than being in most humdrum occupations."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"So far it's 43 books in 25 years."