The ups and downs of a celebrity lifestyle.

I really didn't think I would get this far, we all dream and very rarely do our dreams become reality. If I asked a class of children what they wanted to be 75% of them would probably just reply "famous". If you asked them famous for what?, it would boil down to being a singer or a footballer, although I did once have a very savvy child who replied she would be a WAG and find her fame that way.

When children find out about my book they say, "So, are you famous then?" and the answer is a very emphatic, "No!" and I surprise them by saying that wasn't the reason for writing. I write because I have a physical need to, it hurts not to, and it's such good fun. I can't lie, I have thoroughly enjoyed the radio interviews, seeing my name in local papers and having to swap a day at work because a particular show could only interview me on a Tuesday. Being there when Beyonce left the building at Radio 2 was an eye opener too, perhaps if the star struck 11 yr olds I know saw the entourage and paps she had to negotiate all the time they might cherish their invisibility a little more.

Giving a talk and sharing some food from my recipes at my local Waterstones was surreal(we sold out of books on the night!) and although I knew many people there it was yet another life experience ticked off.

The book (and me to some extent) got a good write up in The Independent although if you read it and thought I had moved without telling you I still live in Banstead they just got that fact wrong. It makes interesting reading. I have no wish to make any gains from such an unpleasant situation as the credit crunch but if it reminds us all of food we miss and want to recreate the all well and good.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/comfort-cuisine-seek-solace-in-some-stodgy-childhood-favourites-1036675.html

Thanks for the success of this book go to Tom Bromley the publisher of Portico books who recognised a good idea and kept telling me I was a writer and people would like the book.

I believe him now - I think. Lets hope the future gets better for us all and my next book can be about something frivolous and very expensive.

Gourmet meals for the celebrity lapdog anyone?