Dear Ken Follett,

I found the women in the story fascinating. Did you have any personal role models you used for the women in The Pillars of the Earth?

— Stephanie S

Dear Stephanie,

I write about the kind of women I like, who are nearly always strong-willed and sexy. I have a wife and an ex-wife, a daughter and two stepdaughters, plus two granddaughters—and they're all pretty feisty, so there's no shortage of models.

— Ken Follett