petite anglaise

October 20, 2007

tongue-tied

Filed under: misc — petiteanglaiseparis @ 5:39 pm

It has been suggested in my comments box that my margin for manoeuvre, in terms of the subject matter I can post on petite anglaise, may have been seriously reduced since I was divested of my anonymity last year. I think it’s a question worth delving into, given that, while there may be some truth in this, my reasons for self-censoring (and ultimately writing less) are actually far more complex…

Having my name “out there” doesn’t make me feel any different. I’ve yet to be recognised by a complete stranger in the street (well, okay, I was once, but said person was too shy to approach me and I’m only aware of our near miss because he sent me a bashful email afterwards). In the past, I always said I cared only about what my friends and family thought of me, so does it really matter whether the host of faceless readers who visit this blog now know my name? Most are still just as unlikely to cross my path.

What has changed, however, is that there are a few people I encounter in my daily life who have read an article in a newspaper, or who saw me on the French TV news, and know of the blog, even if I doubt they continue to read it now. My bank manager, the estate agent who sold me my flat, a woman I once spoke to at the tax office and a few fellow parents at my daughter’s school, some of whom I’d quite like to befriend. When we mutter our sleepy ‘bonjour‘s in the morning, the uncomfortable thought crosses my mind from time to time that they may or may not know all sorts of things about me. And composing posts about Tadpole’s exploits, I have, on occasion, found myself changing her classmates’ names.

Then, of course, there is the effect my name being public can have on my family. I’m even more reluctant to allude to my sisters, as their friends will know exactly who I’m talking about. And when my mother pops into the village shop for a bottle of milk, there is every likelihood that she might run into someone who knows someone who knows someone who reads petite anglaise, given the Yorkshire Post ran several stories about me in the course of the last year. I strongly resent the idea of having to sanitise my content just because of “what the neighbours might think” but on the other hand, I don’t want to upset my family.

Some people have suggested it would be prudent for me to avoid what Mr Frog calls “crispy subjects” (the French phrase “sujets croustillants” can be used figuratively) because I have, or will have, a raised public profile come book publication. The thinking goes something like this: I’ve already committed the cardinal sin of being a happily unmarried mother, in the eyes of the Daily Mail, and look how the Sunday Times chose to take my “bad mummy” posts at face value, reading them as admissions of parental inadequacy. My ex-employer demonstrated at tribunal – albeit with limited success – how easy it is to pluck random quotes from my blog and make it look as though they mean precisely the opposite of what I originally intended. So, if I write about recovering from a rather vicious hangover once every six months, will I be portrayed as an alcoholic? If I allude to a runny nose, will someone infer that I have been snorting fat white lines off the Boy’s bottom?

Which leads me neatly on to the subject of the Boy, why I have deigned to share so little information about him with my readers. The answer is, I think, a combination of superstition (not wanting to jinx things when they are going so surprisingly well) and a genuine desire not to repeat past mistakes. I’m painfully aware that I’ve had a tendency to use my blog as an extra layer of communication with boyfriends in the past. Writing posts which were, in effect, open letters to one person in particular doesn’t seem like the healthiest way to behave. Using words as weapons to manipulate, to make someone feel guilty, to apologise for some wrongdoing and beg for forgiveness – these are all roads I have previously trodden. The fact that the Boy seems to have been blessed with emotional intelligence in spades and would immediately see through these kind of ploys makes this new resolution easier to keep.

Last, but not least, I hold some stories back because I want to use them in the writing which constitutes my day job; my bread and butter. Book Two is a fiction project, but I’d be a fool not to write about what I know and draw heavily from my own experiences. So, when something happens which is too good not to use in some way, I now have to evaluate whether I should hold it in reserve.

So, while I have no intention whatsoever of giving up on petite anglaise, the rules have changed, the goalposts shifted. And at the very least, I thought this was something I should acknowledge.

Anonymity is the personal blogger’s best friend. Lose it at your own peril.

55 Comments

  1. Good for you. As long as you keep the blog going. I check your site out at least 3 times a week and its always a joy to see a new entry.

    Comment by CPickle — October 20, 2007 @ 5:48 pm

  2. I have to tell you that your name coming out, seeing your photograph, and knowing I could see you walking on the streets of Paris, has led me to be a bit more careful about what I divulge about myself and my family in my blog. I once saw someone from my hometown had been viewing my blog. Immediately, I went through each post and removed anything I thought might reveal exactly who I am. I was in quite a panic when I thought my anonymity might be lost. I am not quite sure how you deal with it so gracefully.

    Comment by Kaycie — October 20, 2007 @ 6:02 pm

  3. You’re right. My own blog is only just getting going, and I really regret telling friends and family about it because it has robbed me of so much subject material! You always manage to keep the personal flavour of your blog without divulging many details, though. It’s an inspiration to a new blogger like me! :)

    Comment by Hails — October 20, 2007 @ 6:02 pm

  4. Very smart! Chapeau Petite!

    Comment by Karma — October 20, 2007 @ 6:14 pm

  5. I can appreciate what you mean. Years on discussion boards have taught me the value of discretion with regard to identity and the sort of things one can say. After all, you might *think* you are completely anonymous and say something disgraceful, but then, say, a student (god forbid) has actually identified you from a previous post…

    As for blogging, my own blog still has a relatively small readership, so I haven’t been using decoy cars just yet, but I am sure never to say anything which I would not want, say, a potential employer to know. Just in case. But then that is a little restricting, isn’t it? Still maybe a blogger who holds a little bit back is more interesting than one who lays it all out on the table (or screen), UTI’s, and all! A little curiosity doesn’t do a reader any harm, I think…

    Sarah

    Comment by Sarah in Marrakech (but soon Paris!) — October 20, 2007 @ 6:40 pm

  6. When I win the lottery or become exceedingly rich, I am going to buy a country pile in Gods own county, and I’m going to call it Fuckem Hall. Why do I mention this? I mention this because it doesn’t really matter what other people think, it only matters if you think it matters, if you catch my drift.

    Now writing a ‘true story’ and having it published, plus, having a blog, hardly casts you as a shrinking violet, now does it. If you are in the public domain then you’re ‘in it’, right up to your neck. There’s no half-in half-out, it’s all in.

    When the book comes out you will be more in-it, the tabloids may dig up your past, people may crawl out from the woodwork, things you wish wern’t said, will be said. But you can console yourself by remebering that todays news is tomorrows fish and chip wrappers (that was before they banned it!).

    Just remember not to libel anyone, state only facts, unless it’s fiction, and you will be fine. Life, is the big grey bit, usually found between black and white. And remember, if you become rich and buy a country pile, you’ll have to call it something else, because Fuckem Hall is taken. ;-)

    Comment by Steve... — October 20, 2007 @ 6:42 pm

  7. I think every blogger at every level of anonymity has to face this question at some point. My blog is *fairly* anonymous, and I never report *any* personal details of my life beyond where I had dinner and what museum I’m thinking of visiting. Even so, my sisters persist in worriedly advising me to “be careful what I share with the world.” These lines of comfort are different for everyone.

    Comment by amy, la petite americaine — October 20, 2007 @ 6:49 pm

  8. Hi Petite. Clearly, I am calling you Petite out of politeness and habit since your name appears in the copyright notice below, and in the picture of the book. I think your relationship with the Boy, and with the rest of your family, is far more important than any pleasure we might get out of reading juicy bits. So, when something interesting happens, and the other people agree, then tell us about it. I am sure there are plenty of things you can write about without upsetting your relatives.
    I will continue to read whatever you write, whenever you write it, and enjoy it.

    Comment by Pierre L — October 20, 2007 @ 7:36 pm

  9. An interesting paradox, blogging. To willingly share one’s private thoughts and hence oneself with the World while at the same time wishing to retain the comforting blanket of anonymity and with it, privacy.

    Comment by bonkers — October 20, 2007 @ 7:46 pm

  10. Yes, a blog is that weird state of public anonymity, but don’t we all, as readers, subscribe to the idea of free-wheeling rambling? Has the PC bullshit pervaded blogs as well? How sad. You do what you feel you must, ms petite, your true friends are behind you.

    Comment by cak — October 20, 2007 @ 9:37 pm

  11. hmm, this is a goodbye for me, i find you too immature. “the boy” the drinking etc. good luck on your book!

    Comment by jon — October 20, 2007 @ 9:58 pm

  12. Keep as much to yourself as you wish. This may be the information age but too much info is definitely NOT a good thing IMO. Writing judiciously is the way to go and that is what you seem to excel at. We, your readers, do not need to know everything about your life. What you’ve given and will give to us is excellent writing and that is what is truly important. Yes you’ll be in the public eye more and more but you have so far seemed to bear up under the glare quite well. What is truly private in your life should stay private. Period. As for your fiction book of course you’ll be using your own experiences in writing it; any writer worth her/his salt has done that from the get-go. Look at Hemingway: he spent a life writing about his own experiences in every book he wrote. I am really looking forward to reading it, P’tite. as Pierre stated above: “I will continue to read whatever you write, whenever you write it, and enjoy it.” We all will, luv. Trust us, we know what you’re capable of in your writing. I’ve said it here before: you are a natural.
    Cheers and admiration from Seattle
    Beau

    Comment by Beau — October 20, 2007 @ 10:12 pm

  13. Ne bloguant pas anonymement, je suis très souvent obligée de me censurer et parfois de raconter des histoires bizarres pour parler de certaines choses sans trop en dire.
    Et mon pauvre blog prend un air difforme.

    Comment by marie-hélène — October 20, 2007 @ 10:29 pm

  14. I’ve always hosted my primary blog on my own website so I never had any pretense of anonymity and that does put limits on some of the things I’m willing to post. I’ve started an anonymous blog a couple times, but I prefer to write my really private stuff with pen and paper.

    Comment by ~Tim — October 20, 2007 @ 10:31 pm

  15. I started to read your blog way back for the posts about the pleasures and irritations of day-to-day life in Paris. I leave it for a while, then come back for a while, hoping to find some more of that kind of material.

    Comment by Passante — October 20, 2007 @ 10:35 pm

  16. Thanks for clarifying, but for my part, there was really no need. It’s totally understandable and an issue which anyone who blogs would understand.
    So glad to hear that you are going to be moving into fiction. Sounds perfect for you.
    And as for boring blog entries, don’t think you need to worry because you can make something as boring as running the bath water sound witty and urbane.

    Comment by Allison — October 20, 2007 @ 11:44 pm

  17. Sometimes it works the other way round. I never concealed who I was on my blog because I wished friends and family to read it, but now that something really deparately personal and terrible has happened in my life I can’t mention it because most of them who know me don’t know about it and hence I can’t “benefit” from the anonymous release and, potentially, the kindness of strangers.

    Comment by Lisa — October 21, 2007 @ 1:36 am

  18. Quite interesting subject, this anonymity mess. I’ve had this discussion once again with friend something like two days ago.

    I’ve been wandering online for something around +10 years or something, and I lost the hidden status of my nickname not so long after that. Paradox is, I’m being respected for some of my work/things/whatever under my nickname, and I found myself another hidden identity to protect my ” desire to talk without being discovered “.

    And the interesting thing is when, since i’ve been reading your stories for something like one year, I get ” out ” on an privacy topic. It could sounds like I’m talking a lot about myself, but I thing that the internet is really a huge ” journal intime ” that you can tweak and manipulate just the way you want it to sound (for what you create or affect at least, as I don’t really think that common non-geek people would wonder really that much about passive action, as browsing etc).

    That’s a really good debate to take somewhere in depth.

    (sorry for my ” quite bad ” english, and not reading others comments)

    Regards.

    Comment by PorCus — October 21, 2007 @ 3:15 am

  19. This is exactly why I no longer let significant others know of my blog…I’ve been tempted to communicate my personal feelings to them through blog posts and it makes me feel ridiculous.

    When other bloggers do it, it’s so painfully obvious, that I feel embarrassed at the mere idea of my doing it too.

    Dating guys that barely speak English, apparently does have its advantages…

    Comment by Eclat in Paris — October 21, 2007 @ 3:57 am

  20. and still I can only once again (cfr Belle de Jour) regret the fact that a perfectly nice and funny blog about everyday life and filled with funny anecdotes will lose just exactly what made it big, for the sake of a bookdeal.
    I can only hope that my other favorite blogs will not ever be presented with such an evil thing ;-)

    Comment by Calypso — October 21, 2007 @ 11:31 am

  21. Salut Petite,

    Je suis bien d’accord avec toi.Ton post tombe a pic car d’autres bloggeurs viennent de me proposer de nous rencontrer et j’hésitais à y aller….. à la lecture de ton post je pense qu’il est plus sage de rester bien protégé par l’anonimat d’Internet. Je crois que c’est la seule chose qui nous permet d’écrire ce que l’on veut dans nos blogs…. c’est d’ailleurs la raison pour laquelle j’écris en anglais… cela garantit (malgé les fautes d’orthographe et de grammaire) une certaine tranquilité.

    Longue route à toi,

    Parisian Cowboy

    Comment by Parisian Cowboy — October 21, 2007 @ 12:21 pm

  22. There is no way I would reveal myself in public, particularly on a cold day.

    Comment by Prince Charles — October 21, 2007 @ 1:06 pm

  23. > Anonymity is the personal blogger’s best friend. Lose it at your own peril.

    I’d sooner lose my stripes.

    Comment by Eats Wombat — October 21, 2007 @ 3:29 pm

  24. A real quandary. The loss of your anonymity was the precursor to your books as it raised your profile to a very public one when you were dooced, and allowed you to have a completely different lifestyle so it wasn’t all bad in that way. Having to censor your blog now is a the bad part in that you just can’t let the thoughts flow as you used to. But that’s life, I suppose. Can’t have everything.

    Comment by AussieGil — October 21, 2007 @ 3:46 pm

  25. Bet you’re glad you got that off your chest and now we know. It probably wasn’t easy but you’ve made your choice.
    But come on, don’t you think you’re taking yourself a little too seriously? Look around, there’s BHL’s new book, Cécilia and the rugby to take your mind off it.

    Comment by parkin pig — October 21, 2007 @ 4:28 pm

  26. Taking myself too seriously? Always. You should know me by now!

    Comment by petite — October 21, 2007 @ 5:23 pm

  27. Brilliant, it took you THIS long to recognize the most deleterious aspect of your chosen public displays???

    Your repeated inferences to such sujets croustillants would make it seem you’re more interested in provocating rather than in recounting. And you accuse others of a mauvais proces d’intention?

    Comment by SW France — October 21, 2007 @ 5:56 pm

  28. This view is perfectly understandable. Not sure I am allowed to mention another blogger on your blog (Feel free to delete this response if that is the case) but “Abby Lee” said something similar in her blog fairly recently. Since she was ‘outed’ and with the publication of her book it has quite understandably changed her blog content. However the question remains to which extent will it change your blog. Because the appeal of your blog (for me) was the frankness with which you spoke about your life and the people in it. When the book does come out and you are more known the change will be even bigger.

    Comment by sugar007 — October 21, 2007 @ 7:12 pm

  29. So, you’re out of the closet. There is no going back in. In writing (blogging), I was told from the beginning that I wasn’t going to be writing about anybody in my family without their consent, namely my youngest son. At 14 he is humiliated by just about everything I do. I also can’t write about the relationship I have with my husband. It’s pretty good anyway, but when we have disagreements, it is not fair to make his unreasonable behaviour subject to public scrutiny. :-) He could so easily retaliate with a blog of his own. So, I blog light. I keep the language free of words that will offend and keep the subject matter inoffensive. I just blog to keep my family and friends who like yours, live in another country to me, up to date with my life in Scotland. Sadly it blands me out.

    Comment by Peggy — October 21, 2007 @ 7:40 pm

  30. Yup. I accidentally stumbled upon the blog of an acquaintance recently and both she and I were mortified. Funny that — as it’s out there in the public domain anyway, but I rather felt I’d barged into her flat uninvited and caught her in flagrante. She felt the same way.

    Comment by kitikat — October 21, 2007 @ 7:45 pm

  31. What a weird post from Jon. Seemed the opposite of what you were saying. Or was he taking the p!ss??

    Interesting, what you say about anonymity. A couple of ‘real life people’ know of my blog, but most have little or no interest in it. My husband never reads it.

    I’d like to use my real name, to trust that nothing was going to be abused, but I read an article about Davina McCall yesterday where she said that she talks about her sordid past to avoid people getting large sums of money to tell the tabloids about it. I hope to be a published writer, in time, and I only have one sordid secret. Should I tell all, or hope noone ever finds out? My family knows nothing about it and would be very upset; I don’t want to have to have that discussion. Should I trust that noone will have that much interest in me?

    You’ve given me lots of food for thought, and reinforced my gut instinct that I want to stay anon. Thanks for this post.

    Comment by B — October 21, 2007 @ 7:51 pm

  32. I can hear, as we say in French, le chant du cygne…the logical thing would be to close this baby down and start anew.

    A bit sad, really, but inevitable.

    Cheers petite

    Comment by Bridges — October 21, 2007 @ 7:54 pm

  33. Not sure how I feel about your last sentence. Lose it at your own peril? You think that you could have had a book deal and a successful career as an anonymous author?

    I suppose it’s all about priorities.

    Comment by londongal — October 21, 2007 @ 9:50 pm

  34. Being candid in your blog is dangerous indeed. I have been in trouble with HR at work several times over the past year – and my blog was involved every time.

    I am not officially not allowed to mention the company, colleagues, what I actually do, or anything about it.

    Bloody ridiculous.

    Comment by Jonathan — October 21, 2007 @ 11:59 pm

  35. As a long time reader I recall a bit of unease at reading some of your most personal posts. They sometimes sounded as calls for help intended for one person only, so what was I doing reading that ? Yet you had chosen to share it with the world at large.
    I think your decision not to go there anymore is very wise, but then, who are we readers to judge ?

    Anyway, I still enjoy your less frequent posts as much as I did when I started reading you, 2+ years ago. Book readers, not blog readers, are now paying your bills, so if you intend to keep the best anecdotes for books, that is perfectly reasonable. We can conclude that the books are going to be even better than the blog, and that is saying something!

    Comment by ontario frog — October 22, 2007 @ 12:52 am

  36. Hi Petite

    I’ve been reading your blog since the “bad mummy” link hit the web & have been loving it.

    I understand totally what you’re saying, I don’t think I could resist the temptation to use my blog as another level of communication but I must admit that I do miss the day-to-day reality of your old blog. I doesn’t quite have that old zing in it, but I think that’s just the evolution of blogs as they become more well known, Zoe from Myboyfriendisatwat no longer takes you into her children’s lives as she used to, probably at their request (fair enough).

    Reading blogs for me is an escapism, it’s real (we hope) but it takes me away from the rubbish in the office for 5 minutes and even validates my irrationalities that make me feel alone & stupid when I recognise the same ones in blogger’s scribblings.

    So I’ll just have to wait for the book to come out so I can read it all in one go! You’re doing a great job Petite, it might have changed, but we’re all still looking…..

    Comment by QldDeb — October 22, 2007 @ 12:55 am

  37. I do art and graphic design and I probably will be doing a blog to have a place for people to “click” to see my work rather than having to email samples as I do now. I know I’m going to have to keep it professional if I expect to get any work from it so I won’t be chatting about personal stuff. Shouldn’t be too difficult to remind myself that it’s “business”.

    But your business is writing so spilling some of your personal stuff is bound to happen. You’re doing fine. It’s your blog; post what you wish.

    Comment by linda from jersey (that's new jersey USA) — October 22, 2007 @ 1:47 am

  38. england is all about “what the neighbours might think”.

    Comment by coffeesnob — October 22, 2007 @ 3:38 am

  39. So if I understand correctly it’s OK to write about people anonymously behind their backs but now that you maybe “found out” it’s not!

    Am I the only one that finds that ever so slightly hypocritical and cowardly? Not the fact that you (or any other blogger come to that) stops but that you did it in the first place.

    It’s so very easy to be honest and say what you want from the safety of you own PC screen, just like I’m doing now…..

    Comment by Pauline — October 22, 2007 @ 7:25 am

  40. There’s a Book 2? Fantastic!!! Just hoping Book 1 makes it to KL.

    Petite, trust your own judgement regarding your subject matter.

    Comment by Otolokowski — October 22, 2007 @ 9:10 am

  41. Thanks for the words of wisdom! And good luck with that second book!

    Comment by Caroline in Rome — October 22, 2007 @ 10:15 am

  42. I was “discovered” by a work colleague earlier in the year, as a result had to shift blogs to where I am now. I was surprised at the number of people who came forward to ask for my new blog details when I said I was moving, and since then feel I have let them down, since what I once thought was annonimity has been lost. I know I’ll continue to blog, and when work calms down blog more frequently, but I can’t help thinking my rules will change too.

    If the rules change it doesn’t make you less of a blogger or mean that what you’re writing is any less than it was before, it is just different.

    Comment by Alan — October 22, 2007 @ 11:29 am

  43. Everything changes it’s what keeps life so intersting, if not always easy. I’ve always enjoyed your blog and hope to do so for a long time to come.

    sp_999

    Comment by sp_999 — October 22, 2007 @ 1:47 pm

  44. Félicitations is in order Petite!! On the changes and events in your life: being a mommy, blogging, winning your case, the book!!! Really great that things are working out for you! Que ça continue!

    Comment by JamRock — October 22, 2007 @ 2:43 pm

  45. I can understand your way of thinking… a few years ago I was chatting on msn to some English guy 2 hours away from us in France (about where to buy English beer would you believe… Then 6 months later when we were on holiday in the alps I called our ansaphone to see if anybody had left a message and his crazy wife (who he’s just left for another woman) had left 38 messages telling me she wanted to kill me… I struggled to remember who he was even…. some people are just bizarre.

    Wendy

    Comment by Wendy — October 22, 2007 @ 3:26 pm

  46. Living in the world we do, where the media is so keen to criticise those that have done well for themselves, putting anything overtly personal in “their laps” can only seem relatively discouraging. You are merely protecting yourself and those around you, it is at once understandable and natural … however on a personal note I love the fact that you express your experiences so well and have allowed me to see that other people feel the same way I do about the enormous decisions we make within our lives. I have often re-read your old posts to boost my own confidence, knowing that some-one has tread a similar path before me. I thank you for that and look forward to any future posts you feel able to write.

    Comment by Victoria — October 22, 2007 @ 4:34 pm

  47. I’ve often wondered, when reading here about Tadpole’s exploits, how she is going to feel when she’s old enough to read them herself.

    Before long, she and all her friends will be using the Internet every day. Will her sweet comments, lovely songs and childish tantrums – and your frustrations and adventures – embarrass her or provide ammunition for bullying? Will she resent that you’ve told the world so much about her?

    I don’t worry nearly as much about the effect your blog and books will have on your parents, sisters, friends and lovers, as I do about Tadpole and what it will all mean for her.

    Comment by Peg — October 22, 2007 @ 5:20 pm

  48. I can relate. I have a “boy” of my own now, here in Paris, and I was very candid with him right from the start: that I have a blog and that sometimes, the people I’m seeing end up in the blog, although I am always careful to change names and details to protect the guilty ESPECIALLY as I do not blog in complete anonymity. I also find myself considering the impact of what I’m writing on certain family members (my mother, in particular, as I do not wish to be hurtful), and while I also hate the idea of self-censoring to cater to everyone else’s tastes, sometimes I feel the need to weigh just how much is NECESSARY for me to disclose in order to make a point. Do I want to write something just for the shock value it might bring, to attract a few extra readers for my daily stats? Or is it really important to disclose something intimate? These are the questions I grapple with regularly.

    Fortunately for me, the man in my life not only accepts my blog, he embraces it, encourages it, gets a real kick out of it actually, and even adds in his own comments regularly. I went from using a pseudo for him to using his first name (mainly because I kept slipping up and typing his real name without realizing it!), and he’s fine with having been “outed”. Still, I am discreet when it comes to just how much I say about our relationship and especially HIS personal life or his work, which is not my information to disclose. After all some things should be private. So from that perspective I see nothing wrong with being selective about what does or does not make it to my blog.

    In your situation, I would think things WOULD need to shift a bit for you, because in the past year, everything else has shifted whether you wanted it to or not. You’ll find the right balance. Just like you found the right boy.

    Comment by The Bold Soul — October 22, 2007 @ 6:16 pm

  49. All bloggers/writers have exhibitionist tendencies and all readers have voyeuristic tendencies… and that is mankind in a nutshell.

    Comment by Ariel — October 22, 2007 @ 7:48 pm

  50. For Pauline (39) “mrrrow!” (negative salute for a catty comment)

    I don’t think it counts as talking behind someone’s back if you keep the edges blurred enough that it could easily be someone else.
    If you start saying ‘my 6’4″ redheaded friend did ..’, then the friend in question should have been consulted about publication.

    If you decide to post bits of fiction (labled or not), I’m sure I will enjoy your writing as much as now. And friends close enough to know the difference will enjoy the stories.

    Comment by Alice — October 23, 2007 @ 12:30 am

  51. I’ve always thought the idea of being famous as such a horrible thing, complete strangers just accosting you on the street to say how fabulous or terrible you are, with the mantra “they’d be nothing without there fans” YUCK!

    However I think this might not be the popular opinion, as allot of people seems to want to be famous even for nothing in particular and I understand with certain professions, being famous is a cost of doing business if your successful.

    When I think about it, there might be some people I would want to tell, what a good job I thought they’d done or how much I enjoyed something they had written or performed in.

    So I have the opportunity to ask (and maybe get answer from) some one who is about to be very famous:

    Would it bother you if some one came up to you in the street or in a restaurant and told you how much they had enjoyed your Blog/Book(s)?

    Comment by GTO — October 23, 2007 @ 6:16 am

  52. So that’s why you removed the posting about your first all-night dance outing with the Boy :-)

    Comment by Emma — October 23, 2007 @ 9:46 pm

  53. Petite (sorry, it just feels too weird to say Catherine)

    I’ve been a long time reader too – at the beginning I read because I identified with a lot of stuff you were writing (Brit married to a Frenchman, small kids in Paris etc.etc.), but the reason I still read is the quality of your writing. I like the way you can summarise feelings which can be so intense in just a few words or sentences.

    Reading your post above, though, got me wondering – does this mean you’ll be doing (or have been doing) a sort of ‘triage’ in your writing? The good stuff goes into the book, for the ‘paying customers’, anything which is not deemed as being of high enough quality (by whom?) goes on the blog? I don’t mean to criticize at all – it’s your blog and your prerogative, naturally – but I was just curious…

    BTW sorry for the slight overuse of hyphens in that comment, must be PMT messing up my train of thought…
    :)

    Comment by Suziboo — October 24, 2007 @ 9:28 am

  54. @suziboo – no, more that anything which would fit perfectly into the story arc of book2 might be set aside. As using something twice could potentially spoil some of the surprises in the book for anyone who is familiar with the blog.

    Is that clearer? or muddier?

    @pauline (39) – the people I talked about in the blog in the past were almost always aware of what I was writing and okay with it (notable exception being ex-employer). So being “found out” by the people I write about is not the issue, my concern is that now these people can be identified by their own friends as a knock-on effect of my anonymity being lost.

    Example: I once wrote about my little sister being hospitalised (really about Tadpole’s reaction to it) and many of her friends found out she was ill from my blog before she had chance to tell them. She didn’t mind, but it felt odd to me…

    Comment by petite — October 24, 2007 @ 9:56 am

  55. Whew! You had me worried there that you were going to desert your fevered fans. Keep back what you must, but please keep in touch!

    Comment by Danna — October 29, 2007 @ 12:01 am


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