His book “Kane and Abel” has been is circulation for over 30 years. His novels move briskly too. His “The Clifton Chronicles” series of novels with all the possible twists and turns to the plot, has caught the attention of book lovers as well. But Jeffrey Archer believes neither on sitting on his laurels nor on slowing down. Yes, he still loves his cricket, and retains strong opinion on matters related to it. But that is a nice little diversion from his focussed manner of writing. He still writes for around eight hours every day. He still churns out novels like a baker whips up delights. He prefers doing short stories. But truth be told, his fans love his long ones: his latest “Cometh the Hour” has evinced more than fleeting attention.
Little wonder he is busy touring, talking of the book and answering his millions of fans. And Indian readers retain a special place for him, and he reserves a special niche for them – his books come in six Indian languages, including Tamil, Malayalam, Gujarati, Bengali, Kannada and Marathi. Amidst all this he took a few questions.
Excerpts:
For somebody who has not yet picked up a copy of “Cometh the Hour”, could you please walk us down the thrills and twists of the latest page turner?
It is the penultimate volume in “The Clifton Chronicles” series. It opens with the reading of a suicide note which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and the wicked Lady Virginia; Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue the woman he loves from behind the Iron Curtain; Sebastian’s life is thrown into disarray when he falls in love with a beautiful Indian girl who is destined for an arranged marriage to a man she’s never met. And to Harry Clifton, who remains determined to get his fellow writer, Anatoly Babakov, released from a gulag in Siberia following the success of his acclaimed book, Uncle Joe. Meanwhile, Harry’s wife Emma convinces her new friend Margaret Thatcher to raise the subject of Babakov’s imprisonment with the Russian President when she visits Moscow. But then something unexpected happens that none of them could have anticipated.
You have a huge readership in India. It is estimated that every fourth visitor to your website is an Indian. When are we likely to see you here talking of “Cometh the Hour” and “This Was a Man”?
I hope to return to India in March 2017, and always look forward to my visits to your country. My Indian readers are so enthusiastic and passionate about reading, and they give me such a warm welcome. They also share my love of cricket!
You had said you prefer short stories; they get your critical acclaim. But you end up doing more and more novels!
I like writing both novels and short stories, but for the past six years I’ve been focusing on “The Clifton Chronicles” series. However, my next book will be a new set of short stories – but it’s too early for me to reveal anything about them yet!
You write only for a few hours every day. Yet your output is phenomenal. How do you step it up from say two hours to eight hours a day closer to your deadlines?
I have always written for eight hours a day, in four, two-hour blocks – 6-8am, 10-12, 2-4pm and 6-8pm, and I seem to have an internal clock that helps me keep track of how much time I have left to complete the book.
You are never too far from a controversy. Do your books derive some of the interest from the controversy surrounding you?
Everyone’s life is filled with experiences, both good and bad, and it’s how you deal with them and move forward that is important.
You once complained that the media is unkind to you.
Recently, the critics have been very generous.
