English politician and novelist par excellence, Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare, was the guest at the fourth session of An Authors Afternoon, presented by Shree Cement, on 15 December, 2012, at the Taj Bengal Chambers.

Jeffery Archer, best selling English author, served as a member of the British Parliament (1964 – 1969) and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party (1985 – 1986). He confessed that he is a writer by mistake as he wanted to be the Prime Minister. At the age of 34 he had to leave the House of Commons having got himself into terrible debt and that is when he wrote Not A Penny Less. Among his books Kane and Abel is the most popular novel.

It was a scintillating session right from the word go. Jeffrey was at his vitriolic best when he ranted and cursed Indians, much to the audience’s delight, for being among the most innovative people on earth. He regaled the audience with anecdotes of how he saw spurious copies of his book selling like hot cakes on the footpaths of major Indian cities within days of its launch. He lamented the fact that he had one of the biggest fan base in India yet the royalties never reached him.

When Prashant Bangur asked him if he had a structure in mind when he started writing.