'THIS is supposed to be my so-called relaxing period, but I'm working like hell," laughs Wilbur Smith, after he's given me details of his hectic promotional tour which covers half the globe. After speaking at the literary lunch at York's Dean Court Hotel and signing copies of his new book, Warlock, he was heading to Newcastle, then Glasgow, Ireland, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

"I do love travelling," says Smith, who with his closely-cropped hair, open-neck shirt and black Levi 501s, looks a good ten years younger than his 68 years.

He admits, though, that he's not getting younger, and has recently changed his writing regime.

"I used to write a book a year for four years, then have a year off, but now I write a book every two years. It's a way of pacing myself, because I hope to still be writing when I'm the Queen Mother's age!"

When he's writing he keeps to a set routine, working businessman's hours of 9am to 3pm. "It's the only way to get it done," he admits.

This strict regime has certainly paid off. His 27 adventure books (not including his latest which has just topped the UK bestseller charts) have sold more than 100 million copies, making him one of the world's most popular, and best known, authors.

But it wasn't always the case.

When he wrote his first book, When The Lion Feeds, in 1964, Smith was working as a tax accountant in his native Northern Rhodesia, an occupation he was 'directed towards' by his English parents. Smith, who grew up with storytellers such as Rider Haggard and Kipling, wrote by night, staving off sleep during the day. He sent the finished manuscript to publishers Heinemann, who quickly saw his talent as a natural storyteller. And the rest is history.

Smith has subsequently set all his following novels in his beloved Africa.

"When I'm in Australia, I'm always asked when am I going to set a story there. But the thing is Africa has such a treasure chest of stories to be told that there is no need to set them anywhere else."

Although Smith's stories are fictional, his real-life tales are equally as entertaining.

After the publication of When The Lion Feeds he flew to London expecting his visit to be headline news. When it wasn't, he stayed around for a week or so, before deciding to head home.

"I was at Heathrow Airport ready to fly home when I saw a woman actually reading my book. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I watched her for a while as she turned the pages, then I couldn't hold back any longer. I went up to her and said quite proudly 'excuse me, but that's my book'.

She handed it to me and said 'Oh I'm sorry, I just found it lying around.'"

On another occasion, on a flight from Alaska, he was reading through a copy of his latest book when a passenger, not realising who he was, asked whether he was a fan of Wilbur Smith.

"I told him: 'I read all his books.'

'"How do you rate him?,' he asked. 'On a par with Steinbeck and Hemingway,' I replied.

"'I'm actually a good friend of Wilbur Smith's' said the passenger. 'Oh, really,' I replied. 'In fact, he based his character Sean Courtney on me. Give me your name and address and I'll get him to send a signed copy of one of his books to you.'"

"I gave him my business card, which he put in his pocket without reading it. Strangely enough I never heard from him again!"

Smith is a man who likes to keep busy. He works hard, but he plays hard too. After finishing a book, there's nothing he likes better than to indulge in his favourite pastimes - shooting, fishing, scuba diving and skiing.

"I've been shooting here in Yorkshire many times at Malton, Ganton and Helmsley. It's a beautiful part of the world."

Smith is in Britain with his fourth wife Mokhiniso, who is 38 years his junior. His third wife, Danielle, to whom he was married for 30 years, died in December 1999 from a malignant brain tumour. "I will never forget her and I will always treasure the good times we spent together but now that door has closed. I have moved on to a new relationship and a new life."

Mokhiniso, which means Moon Fish, comes from the troubled state of Tjikistan, just north of Afghanistan.

"I met her in a bookstore in London. She was going to buy a John Grisham book, of all things," joked Smith. They have been married for "332 days as of this morning."

He is now seeing life through much younger eyes and loving every minute of it.

Warlock by Wilbur Smith (Macmillan, £18.99)