Jeffery Archer knows a good plot. As well as selling a staggering number of books – at last count more than 330 million – over a four-decade career, the 76-year-old British blockbuster novelist divides his time among his three homes. These include abodes in Cambridge and London, and a magnificent clifftop mansion in Majorca dubbed Writer’s Block. It is in the latter where the ever-prolific Archer spends most of his time when working on a new novel.
Speaking to us before the first of his two sold-out sessions on his seven-part The Clifton Chronicles series of novels at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in March, the Kane and Abel author explains how the drudgery of travel is always alleviated when meeting his global readership. “I do it for things like this. To go out and meet the fans. Every festival I attend, the room is full with hundreds and sometimes thousands of people. This is all such a privilege,” he says, adding: “The thing is, when you write a book, once it is out it becomes theirs. It belongs to the fans. I remember, I went to Australia and I met this woman who had read Kane and Abel 412 times. She knows it off by heart and knows it far better than I do. It was weird. I only spoke to her once and from the conversation, you would have thought she had written the book.”
Your novels are known for their pacey plot lines. Is that how you prefer travel? Are you always in a hurry?
I think if you read anybody’s book, you will see a lot of the author in it. So if the hero dashes out of a hotel, then jumps into a taxi and runs away, that would be me. If you read another author where the character lazes around in the bath and has a nice and long hot meal, then that’s him or her. Now when it comes to my latest books, The Clifton Chronicles, I would be surprised if the readers didn’t see me in it. I am [the main protagonist] Harry, my wife is Emma and my mother is Maisie.
How often do you go on holiday?
Not often, but funnily enough, Mary [his wife, British scientist Mary Archer] and I went on one recently. This was because the Viking Line have a new liner, and the owner of the company is a big fan of mine. He kindly invited us on a trip from Venice to Rome. It was on a liner that nobody had sailed on. It was very exciting, and I enjoyed it immensely. But I can’t pretend that I can relax even in that situation. My wife is actually worse. She worked at least half the time. I made a speech on-board among other things. So the whole thing was more a break than a holiday.
Do you plan your holiday destinations?
Not really. However, August is the month that I hate most because there is nothing much to do in Britain. So Mary and I will probably go from Moscow to St Petersburg on what is called a flatboat, because I have never really seen Russia properly.
Where do you call home?
I love all three of my homes. Cambridge is very restful and that is where my wife used to work; she was a chairperson of a hospital. Now she is the chairperson of a science museum, so we are living in London more. I also write in Writer’s Block. I can’t say that any one of them, in particular, is home.
What do you love about travelling?
I hate [the process of] travelling. It is a complete waste of space. I wish I could just press a button and be in the next place now. I hate going to airports, packing, airplanes, taxis and then unpacking.
You seem to enjoy travelling on boats, though. Why is that?
Well, the ship has one advantage, because once you are on it and in your cabin, and once you have unpacked, then it doesn’t matter how many cities you go to, because you just get on and off. The ship also docks, usually, right in the middle of the city it is visiting. That is a big advantage to me.
Do you travel light?
For trips such as these, for a literature festival, I go very light. It’s interesting you asked that because one of the people I am working with here in the festival said that I should get to the airport two hours early. Now, I get to the airport one hour early because I only carry one bag. This trip I packed four shirts, four pairs of pants and socks, and a small bag for toiletries. Why carry six jackets when you won’t wear them? You eventually get to the stage where you wonder: “Why did I bring all those? I am an idiot.” Also, if you are in a good hotel you can wash clothes, so no, there’s no need to carry too much.
What do you pack when you go to any one of your homes?
Well, in each of the three homes I don’t move anything. Each house has everything there, including my clothes, so I don’t have to pack anything, I just really go there and that’s it.
Do you prefer simplicity or luxury?
I prefer luxury. I want my pillows to be right; I grumble about the pillows every time. In this hotel that I am staying at, I had to grumble about the towels, and today I got some lovely towels. When I have a bath, I want warm water and a shower that works – not one where I need a physics degree and a friend to turn the damn thing on. I need soft pillows because I need to fall asleep quickly. I don’t like messing about. For me, a hotel is nothing more than sticking my head in a pillow and going to sleep. It has no other purpose.
What has been your favourite trip?
I am big lover of art. So for me, the greatest cities on Earth are the ones with beautiful art galleries. So I would say, in a way, that it is St Petersburg because the Hermitage Museum is remarkable. I also love New York because of the Metropolitan Museum, and Florence because it has three galleries. I am not a lie-on-the-beach person; in fact, I don’t think I have ever done that in my life.
What is your most romantic place?
I think it would be Stratford-upon-Avon. That is were I proposed to my wife. It is near Oxford, where we were both educated. It also has one of the greatest theatre companies in the world: the Royal Shakespeare Company, a beautiful place.
What’s your idea of the perfect weekend?
Friday night, it would be dinner in a nice restaurant. Saturday, it would be England playing rugby or cricket, and the theatre that evening. On Sunday, I would go for a run, relax, have a lovely lunch and then read. Now that would be a heavenly weekend.
sasaeed@thenational.ae