At 76, you are again on the bestseller list with the final edition of the Clifton Chronicles. Most authors work on a trilogy or tire out by book five, yet you churned out seven books with alarming rapidity. How did you keep the momentum goingIJ 

I was originally meant to do five in a series and not three as reported in many places. However, the problem was that when I came to the end of the fifth book, my protagonist Harry was 42, Giles Barrington was 42, and Emma was only 40. That seemed too early to call it a day considering their eventful lives. It would seem abrupt as they could easily go on for 20 to 30 more years. Therefore, I decided to reason out with my publisher and said I could comfortably stretch it to seven. So from there on, it all worked out perfectly.

You could say the decision to bring out the last two books in one year was a big one. I remember finishing the sixth book and immediately writing chapter one of the seventh book, so that I could tie all the loose ends and questions in the preceding book in a continuum and give it a finish. And I got so excited in the process that I just went on writing. So there is very little gap between Cometh the Hour and This Was a Man.

The thing that kept me going was it had to be an appropriate climax because for anyone who has read the Clifton Chronicles consistently and lived with Harry, Emma, and Giles knows there’s going to be tragedy somewhere. And there’s got to be a twist in the tale.

Did you at any point feel the pressure of churning out sequel after sequelIJ

There was no pressure at all. I was way too excited to take the plot forward.

Does that have anything to do with the fact that the series is largely autobiographical and Harry Clifton has strong similarities with your own lifeIJ

Well, I think there is certainly a lot of Harry in me with bits of Giles thrown in. I have seen my wife clearly in Emma and my mother in Maisie. So, yes you are absolutely correct that it has autobiographical elements. I think all writers draw on their own experiences, particularly real people they have met along their journey, so that they can relate to their readers better. It is easier writing about characters you know so that you can develop them richer, working on a basic understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, rather than creating somebody altogether new from scratch.

At the same time, people ask me who is lady Virginia and I cannot give a reference point. She is the summation of many influences I guess. I was born in 1940. So I have lived through an interesting transitional phase of the world, from the time I was a child, my university days, my first job, my life in politics, even my life as a writer because Harry is a writer. I have been absorptive of life around me before I started out writing at 32. 

Having said that, what was challenging was with all the characters in their 40s, in their mid-life so to speak, I wondered which way would they go next. That’s when most people change or reinvent themselves and take a hard look. That’s a territory I had to imagine for each, given their differing traits. It was not something I had done before, starting in the middle.

In a post Cold-War world, where bestsellers work mostly with the prevailing political context, which is nowadays global terrorism and economy, you still go back to history. Not only that, you continue to dwell in the realm of families and dynasties, intrigue and betrayal. How then do you keep your head above the restIJ

You’re quite right. Many writers are deeply affected by the immediacy of their surroundings. But I write stories that start from “Once upon a time” or family sagas. For I want people to read my novels tomorrow, next year or even the years after that. I want them to be timeless and focus on the intricacies and possibilities of human behaviour born out of observation.

Kane and Abel sold about 34 million copies, and I have heard Google listed it as the 11th most successful novel in history. And it was about these two people who meet and their lives change. Critics now tell me that the Clifton Chronicles are better than Kane and Abel. That was my challenge. Sit at age 70 and write seven books for seven years, spin a story that would sustain and create characters who evolve and become one with you.

In the end, it all boils down to a good story and the art of telling it. If you have written a good story, your reader will be happy to turn to the next page and will stay with you loyally. It doesn’t really matter as JK Rowling has proved by writing about magic or ghosts or goblins. As long as you are doing your thing properly, people will respond. I am good at crafting stories. I believe you’re born with the art of story-telling. You can better your language with better reading, write better, but spinning a yarn, it cannot flag, it has to spool out effortlessly. Cannot be tutored. Maybe I am lucky.

Think Dickens, who in my book is the greatest storyteller that ever lived, Alexander Dumas or Hans Christian Anderson, who wrote in French and Danish and whom we know through translations. They knew how to tell a story and hold you in thrall. That will never change. The physicality and context of time period is, therefore, not important.

You have now visited India many times, courtesy your book tours, and this continues to be your loyal market. How has the country changedIJ  

India has progressed in many ways and I must say that development has been rapid. In the good old days, it would take me a much longer time to reach the hotel from the airport. Now it is smoother. Young people in this country are very exciting indeed, bubbling with ideas. I was amazed by their questioning during my campus sessions here.  And they have read most of my works, so I do not feel dated at all, having been able to reach out to this demographic.

Also, I’m absolutely convinced that the next generation of women in this country is going to be very, very powerful. I can see how ambitious they are and willing to take on any topic with complete strength.

This is a welcome change because some 20-30 years ago, women here were treated very badly, but now I can see that they are proving to be as good as men, and in some cases, even better.

In my own country, we have Theresa May, first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, and the first minister of northern Ireland Arlene Foster. This is a historic first in the UK too. I notice most of my readers here have been women. They are sure going to rule this country.

What is your opinion of Indian English writersIJ 

RK Narayan continues to be my favourite. That man could tell a story about nothing and you felt like turning page after page. He was an absolutely amazing story-teller and should have won the Nobel prize. I absolutely love Malgudi Days. I have not been exposed much to the fresher brigade, but would love to read them.

Would you keep writing novels or will you return to short stories, considering there are ready readers for the latter as a genreIJ

I have written 12 short stories, which I have been gathering for the past 12 years. I couldn’t write them because I was completing the Clifton Chronicles. They will be coming out in March.

Very few people here know that apart from being a writer, you are a charity auctioneer and also a patron of the arts, theatre in particular. Given the wide bouquet of performance options on the digital  and multi-media space, how do you see the future of theatreIJ 

Theatre can never die. In England today, theatre is more popular than it has ever been. The figures are two per cent up than last year. And more people are going to the theatre than ever before. That’s why the london theatre is the best in the world.

How would you like to be rememberedIJ Would it be like Harry, who is also known as a humanitarianIJ

In the end, I am going to do what Harry Clifton is doing. Harry is remembered for both his profiles. As for me, people in Britain know I am a successful charity auctioneer. I have raised over 15,000 million pounds for different charities over the last 20 years. But I think people in the end would remember me for my books. And I may give up many things, but can go on only with my writing.

Finally, what is your writing regimeIJ

I still write every word in long hand. I get up at 6 in the morning and start writing with my pen. I continue till eight. Two-hour break. Ten until 12, two-hour break. Two until four, two-hour break, then six until eight. Bed around 9.30-10, up again same time the next day. I ’m stuck with the pen.