Seeking the line between popularity and fame.

Early one Saturday morning around ten years ago, I met Stephen Fry for a coffee in Norwich. He was to speak at a mental health event at The Forum, and I'd been asked to meet him before hand while others were busy preparing the venue. He was excellent company.

The city centre was quiet, and we sat outside a cafe chatting. I was surprised by how many passers by stared at him, or took a photo with their phone. One guy even asked if he could wait while he bought a copy of Stephen's book when the shops opened, then returned to have it signed. This I thought was the high price Stephen has to pay for fame.

I was reminded of this yesterday when at a brilliant Aurora Orchestra concert Britten Pears Arts Snape Maltings. In the interval someone came up to me and said how much they liked my writing, and how sorry they were not to have been able to attend an event I'd organised a couple of weeks ago.

We all like being flattered, but as my reputation as an author grows (I have a new book coming out in July). I wondered if I would ever reach the point where, like Stephen Fry, people stop me in the street to ask for an autograph? I hope not!

Writing non-fiction means that my books inevitably reveal much about my life, views and experiences. This gives my readers some context to the message the book they're reading is trying to get across, but it can be unnerving when I meet people I barely if at all know, who have read my work, and so have gained an insight into my life. I had a similar feeling on Friday when I was in a bookshop and saw someone flicking through a copy of my latest book.

So my conclusion, as I reflect this Sunday on my chosen life as a writer, is that while I strive to write books that change lives, and I love meeting my readers, I do not want to become so well known, as Stephen Fry has become, that I can no longer sit and enjoy a coffee outside a city centre cafe without being pestered!