It's official: I am a Jeffrey Archer fan now!!

Well, if you know me, or read my blog, you know I have read exactly one book by Mr.Archer, a collection of short stories called A twist in the tale, which Charuta was kind enough to share with me. So why sudden change of heart? Well, for those who don't know, Mr.Archer was here in Pune yesterday (at Landmark, Mondelina Moledina road) to promote his new book Paths of Glory, and I was fortunate enough to attend. And by the time it ended, I had turned into a Jeffrey Archer fan.

It all began with a message. A message from Landmark, announcing the visit. I dutifully forwarded it to JA fans I knew, but could not immediately make up my mind about whether I wanted to go. As I said, I had read exactly one book, and had liked it, but did not consider myself a fan yet. Later a friend was coming to visit, and I pretty much shelved the plan. But that visit plan itself got postponed, and I found myself at Landmark at 6:19PM with Abhishek (my roomie). Bought a few books (8 new additions :), which included a couple of tantalizing finds.

Mr.Archer arrived by about 7:20PM, and there was this huge round of applause. Again, for those who don't know, Jeffrey is a delightful speaker. I mean, he talked for about one-one and a half hour, and we're standing this whole time, compressed by the crowd, and did not feel a bit. He began with an introduction to his new book (Paths of Glory), which is a historic fiction. He talked about his experiences as a writer (his first book Not a Penny more, Not a Penny less was turned down by fourteen publishers). He talked about his new projects (he has recrafted Kane and Abel, which will be released sometime soon (3rd oct IIRC)) [Trivia: Kane and Abel was originally called The Protagonists]. Plus he's writing a short story collection. He delights in calling himself a storyteller, not a writer, and he made it abundantly clear that people read Dickens, not some Nobel prize for Literature winner. He shared some invaluable advice for new writers, the most important bit was I guess to never give up, just keep going. He talked about India, and his favorite Indian author (R.K.Narayan). And he dispelled one prevalent myth, that there's a book inside every one of us. As per him, there might be a story inside every one of us, but the book thingy is rubbish [I am not sure I understand this fully]. Overall it went very well. Then came the book signing session. Jeffrey kindly agreed to stay until the last book was signed. Got my copy of Paths of Glory signed. It feels wonderful. Take a look

So Mr.Archer is busy working (that's my copy of the book he's signing) and I am just loitering around. You may safely conclude that everything is normal :).
[A tip o' the hat goes to the unknown fella who clicked this image for me].

Enjoy!!