In the end their appeal is not necessarily the history, but the quality of the story-telling, and a good story transcends national boundaries.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Agents will read unpublished work because they might make money, and that's their job. It isn't mine.
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.
Anyone who claims to have an entirely clear conscience is almost certainly a bore.
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.
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.
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.
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.