‘Money is irrelevant’

The desire to be number one keeps him going, says Jeffrey Archer, while in town to launch the fifth book in the Clifton Chronicles series, ‘Mightier than the Sword’

March 06, 2015 05:47 pm | Updated March 07, 2015 03:29 pm IST - HYDERABAD:

Author Jeffrey Archer Photo: Sangeetha Devi Dundoo

Author Jeffrey Archer Photo: Sangeetha Devi Dundoo

“When I got into the car on my way to this interview, I got a call saying the book is number 1 in South Africa, India, Australia and number 1 in Sunday Times in England; all this within the first week. Any author who isn’t excited by that is a nutcase,” smiles Jeffrey Archer, as he settles down for an interview before the launch of ‘Mightier than the Sword’, the fifth book in the Clifton Chronicles series.

He is on a five-city tour hosted by Crossword bookstores. While his books sell millions of copies, we ask him if a promo tour was necessary at all. “It’s only for India,” he says. “I draw mass crowds here. It’s a strain at my age (he will be 75 this April) but when I see the crowds, I am lifted by their energy, enthusiasm and tremendous affection. I don’t know if any other author in the world gets this reception.” An event organiser places a few copies of the new book on the table and Archer dismisses it with a wave of his hand, ‘get rid of it’. He doesn’t need to position his books for a photograph. His name will do.

The Clifton Chronicles (‘Only Time will Tell’, ‘The Sins of the Father’, ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’ and ‘Best Kept Secret’) he declares, is by far his most ambitious series, spanning a 100 years. “Originally, the series was meant to have five books. At the end of the fifth book, Harry is only 51, Emma 49, Charles 51 and Lady Virgina maybe 48 or 49. I couldn’t kill all of them at that age. I am luckily enjoying writing the sixth book and know for sure that the series will end with the seventh. I also wonder how much of that enjoyment is because the books are doing so well,” he says.

By the author’s own admission, there’s a bit of him in every book he writes but in this series, there’s a lot of him in Harry Clifton and his wife Mary Doreen Archer in Emma. “Harry is a best selling author and a cross country boy and Emma is a clever woman, the chairman of a public company; she gets married and later becomes the chairman of a science museum. It’s fun to go down the years and remember the historic moments in our lives, and recall them through Harry and Emma’s eyes.”

Eight chapters of the sixth book will be set in Mumbai. “I’ve always avoided writing an Indian book; was terrified of doing it. In this story, Sebastian falls in love with an Indian girl; she is trying to avoid it because she knows her parents are trying to decide who she should marry. She inevitably falls in love with him but is kidnapped and brought to India; he comes after her to Mumbai to get her back to London. I’ve used quite a bit of my experience of India and its people for these chapters. I was naturally worried because I don’t want to offend anyone but I also don’t want to be wrong. I have a lot of good Indian friends, particularly one who is an academic and will tell me if there are mistakes that I shouldn’t allow in the book,” says Archer.

‘Mightier than the Sword’ has gone through 14 drafts. Archer writes long hand, every single word, and doesn’t stop till he is happy with a book. “No one is privy to the first draft. Until the final draft, no one reads it, but for my secretary who types what I’ve written.” He has been tempted to shift to the keyboard but is “terrified.” “My wife has these amazing modern Apple machines that do amazing modern things. She was on emails much before the rest of the world. Scientists in Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard were emailing each other years before it became fashionable, but I will always write long hand.”

Despite the number of drafts that each of his books go through, Archer says there is an urge to go back and change something. “Sometimes, in the middle of the night I get an idea and think why didn’t I do it that way, but it’s too late because I am on to the next book. Dickens (Charles) wanted to go back to ‘Pickwick Papers’ again and again. So I guess it’s a common thing.”

Archer is in talks in Hollywood for a movie adaptation of the series. “The first script is written. We have a budget and four actors pencilled in,” he reveals. While in Mumbai, a few days ago, Archer met with producer Ronnie Screwvala but maintains it has nothing do with this adaptation. “Ronnie is intelligent, sophisticated and not your typical Bollywood person,” says Archer and corrects himself after a pause, “or what the world thinks of Bollywood.”

Archer has been prolific with this work and says he has never had to deal with a writer’s block. “I get idea after idea after idea. It should have gotten tougher, in theory, as the Clifton series progressed to keep the story unpredictable but in practice I do believe that storytelling is a God-given gift. I wake up each morning wondering if God would say, ‘you’ve had enough Jeffrey; you’ve done 23 books; I am not going to give you any more.’ But so far, he has let me go on and on and on and I’m grateful.”

At this stage of writing and life, he says, he is not driven by money. “I think the desire to be number one keeps me going; it’s certainly not money; that’s irrelevant. I could have retired soon after ‘Kane and Abel’ and never worked again in my life. But I am terrified of stopping (writing).”

He fashions his life around his writing schedule and while in London, attends theatre twice a week, hits the gym thrice a week and goes on long walks (5 miles) twice a week.

“I need to stay fit,” he smiles, “and write.”

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