Jeffrey Archer, one of India’s most popular British authors, has praised fans of his writing in the country, saying Indians are fascinated by the process of writing.
“They (Indians) are very much more serious...They are fascinated by the process of writing,” said Lord Archer, who was recently greeted by crowds of thousands in India on a tour to promote his latest book, Best Kept Secret, the third instalment of The Clifton Chronicles series.
“They go bonkers. Why are 14-year-old girls screaming as if you’re a pop star? When it first happened, I burst into tears. Very strange reaction. I’ve never been able to explain that. It doesn’t happen now,” he told the Independent, which described his Indian tour as “Archer-mania”.
The author’s books are instant best-sellers in India and on his most recent tour, which covered Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi, he wowed readers with confessions about his love of Bollywood films and the batting prowess of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. “I don’t do erotica. I don’t do sex, really. I am not going to change my style. I tell stories,” said the author, who is considered the most successful foreign novelist in the country and now prefers to launch his books in India before anywhere else in the world.
“The Indian race is an aspiring race, and my books so often are about someone coming from nowhere and achieving something, which is what every Indian believes will happen to them and that's a wonderful thing,” he has said in the past in an attempt to explain his superstar status in the country. It is nearly 10 years since the author was released from prison in Britain, having been found guilty of perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
“It has been very much more relaxed, not that I can ever relax,” he said.
Apart from writing, he has business interests in art and theatre, and extensive charity work.
The former Conservative party deputy chairman’s political links also remain fairly strong, with regular meetings with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who he says “doesn’t know who I am” now due to her illness. But the author stresses that politics was probably not for him.
“I was a failure. I never got anywhere. I never achieved. I am very proud of the election results we had with Margaret Thatcher and John Major,” he said.