Having started out as a teacher, Gervase Phinn was struggling to make it as a writer until he appeared on Esther Rantzen's talk show. He was contacted by Penguin where he met James Herriot and his editor, and the rest is bestselling Dales history.

A woman said to me last week, 'I'm a big fan of yours, I've read all your books.' I said, 'No ...