Jeffery Archer shoots an arrow into book lovers' hearts

Bengaluru: Storyteller as he christens himself, bestselling author, playwright and an avid fan of R.K. Narayan, Jeffery Archer met his fans in the city at the V.R. Bengaluru centre in Whitefield on Tuesday evening. “He takes the story of an ordinary man, from an insignificant village and tells you a story. He makes it so fascinating that you are forced to turn the page. Now that's a real storyteller,”  he remarked at the launch.

Dressed in a blue and white pin striped shirt, the author was pink in the face signing copies of his latest read This Was A Man, the last of the Clifford Chronicles series books for a staggering 3,000 fans. Packed into the ground floor of the venue that had fans screaming his name as he walked in, Archer had a casual meet and greet in a way that only he can. His signature wit, clever and comical remained constant throughout his interactions.

He reminisced the launch of his iconic work Kane and Abel, and spoke about his love for the Indian cricket team.  “I'd like to head the Indian cricket team someday”. He also added that he isn't a fan of the twenty 20 matches calling test matches as the real cricket. His second visit to the city, is like a full circle to his Clifton Chronicle series. He launched the first part of the series named Only Time Will Tell in the city in 2011.  He finds the city crowd calmer than most places, he remarked. “The crowd here is very polite, I feel. This afternoon at another event, there were folks lined up in three, one for a picture, one for a signature and one, here it comes, for a cuddle! I think there were two men in that line.” he laughed.

However, the infamous traffic never seizes to amaze him. “I was in the car and this woman walking on the pavement overtook my car eight times! Two more times and we would probably have been engaged!” he said. After working for five years on his longest fiction series, Archer is set to delight his fans with the next book. “As I was working on this series I came across a lot of interesting stories and I want to write about them. As soon as I am back in London I will start working on them.” His process of writing isn't as complicated as it is rumoured to be, he added. “I write a good line. I look up to the heavens and thank god seven times.” He also said that he had never experienced writer's block and was extremely grateful for it.

The author also expressed his views on Donald Trump being elected the new president of the United States “I was amazed that he won. After making remarks like he did, the statistics showed that 37 per cent of women voted for him!” he added that he had worked under Margaret Thatcher and feels that women have the potential to make great leaders. Commenting on Bollywood he said, “I spoke to a few youngsters and I told them not to be Bollywood stars. It is a complete waste of time. There is so much you can do with it!”