It seems a fitting tribute to share this podcast which reflects on the last fifty years of Jeffrey's fabulous story telling. We recorded this on the 29th September and had such a joyful morning together.
Fifty years after fourteen publishers turned down Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, Jeffrey Archer joins Lady Carnarvon at Highclere to talk about Adam and Eve, the novel he says will be his last.
He explains why he still writes every word by hand on a thirty-two-line Oxford pad in Majorca, and gives a masterclass in what separates a sixteenth draft from a seventeenth, changing four words in a single sentence to show it. He describes the two real men behind Kane and Abel, the nine-day auction that cleared his debts, and why the boy selling pirated copies through a car window in Bombay has his blessing.
Along the way: why the Americans blocked his favourite title, what happened when his Indian publishers told him not to mention cricket, Maggie Smith's gift for throwing a line away, and the peers who mistook a title for an achievement.
And a revelation from the other chair. After seven works of non-fiction, Lady Carnarvon is planning her first novel, and Jeffrey Archer has firm views about the name on the cover.
02:10 First Novels & Book Titles
04:34 India & International Sales
12:14 The Writing Process
15:26 Adam and Eve
20:45 Maggie Smith & Downton Abbey
23:13 From Nonfiction to Fiction
You can hear more episodes of Lady Carnarvon's Official Podcasts at https://www.ladycarnarvon.com/podcast/
New episodes are published on the first day of every month.
