Lord Jeffrey Archer’s Book Launch by Rishina Tyagi Gr 11

“He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction eighteen times, four times for short stories and even in non-fiction.” This was the impressive introduction we were given for the renowned writer Jeffrey Archer, whose book launch we attended this week at Sri Ram School, Aravali. We had all come prepared with our research, read up all about his life, his works and his accomplishments; we thought we were prepared for what was to come.

When he walked on stage, he was greeted by the thunderous applause of all the awed students in the audience, and much like them, I couldn’t wait to hear what he would say. Imagine our surprise when his first words were, “India is going to lose the match”. His easygoing nature and casual but passionate tone shattered the British stereotype of formal and lofty behaviour we expected, considering his title of ‘Lord’.

In his speech he talked about his life, how writing had helped him after his financial crisis and how the women in his life, “[his] mother, wife and the former Prime Minister of UK, Margaret Thatcher”, have impacted his life. When asked questions by the students in the audience he elaborated on his style, his relation and inspiration for some characters and other very important things, like who was his favourite character in all of his books!

In the end, he gave a word of caution to all the aspiring writers in the audience, “Only one in a million can become a Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid or Virat Kohli. For every thousand writers, only one book gets published. Hard work and dedication is the key, regardless of talent and age.”