They say you only write a diary for someone else to read and I've always maintained that there must be a certain amount of truth in that. Why else commit your darkest secrets to paper each night in the hope that once they have hit the page your burden will become lighter? Perhaps we are secretly hoping that someone, somewhere, sometime with be thrilled to discover what we were really up to.

But one lady had a really, really BIG secret, juicy secret and luckily for us lovers of the salacious, she decided to commit her double life to a web blog. After a while the saucy and shocking day to day life of 'Belle De Jour' as she called herself became internet gold dust and it wasn't long before the media caught on to this literary phenomena. Now with a book under her belt and several magazine and newspaper columns it looks like coming clean (at least online) was a rather shrewd career move for Belle. We caught up with the now ex prostitute (in the most covert circumstances of course) to find out what drove her to confess her secret profession to the online world.

One thing that really impressed me was that you never once question your profession as something 'bad' or 'wrong'. It comes across clearly that you not only chose a profession you were interested in but a job you enjoy. Do you purposely avoid addressing any moral or ethical debate because you do not believe you should not have to (it's a job like any other) or because you feel you would be letting yourself down by giving the issue any credence?
That's completely correct - I didn't feel the need to justify what I was doing, as it is, after all, a legal occupation. Even when I was young I supported the right of legal prostitution. Obviously, there is still a lot of stigma attached to working in the sex industry - that's one reason why I choose to remain anonymous - and I respect those people who, like Annie Sprinkle, are upfront about what they do or have done. Someday I might be brave enough to do that, and still feel comfortable enough to tell the truth about what I do.

Do you ever dream of quitting? If so why and same for if not...
At the moment, I'm not doing any sex work. I'm in a committed relationship and working at a different job! However, when I did leave the escort agency, it wasn't because I found the job any worse or harder to deal with than anything else would have been - I had the usual work-related problems a person has, and decided it was time to move on.

Do you think more people know your identity than you'd like to admit?
In theory only my accountant really knows everything. But it's possible others have their suspicions. If so, they're all too polite to say!

First your job was a secret. Now your success as writer has meant more secrecy. Do you like all this mystery?
Good gracious, no. It's very stressful. There was a period of about a year where I was afraid to walk down my own street alone… afraid that the secret would be out and there would be photographers waiting on my doorstep. With time I learned who was trustworthy and who wasn't, and I've also been very lucky. Also, I haven't had a lot of the perks any other bestselling writer would take for granted, such as publishing parties, meeting fans in person, being wined and dined and so on. I sort of wish for a bit of that, but then again, I haven't had to go on a book tour so that's a plus.

Do you ever crave normality?
What's normal? If you mean aspiring to middle-class settling down, I had as much of that as I could take at school. Maybe it's a selfish view but it would be a shame, I think, to waste the privileges I've been granted on a life more ordinary. My parents raised me with very high expectations and I've pursued them as far as I've been able.

What made you decide to start posting your own blog? Do you think it was a desire for constructing some sort of regular contact and honesty in your life (not dissimilar to having a glass of wine after work with friends and discussing 'work') that is otherwise filled with so much secrecy? Or do you think it was more of a desire to share your experiences creatively that once again you can't regularly and openly do from day to day?
It was more about sharing my experiences than unloading to friends – when I started to receive so much feedback it truly surprised me. For the first month I didn't even know if anyone was reading, then one day I opened my email and there were dozens of messages! But the main motivation was to aid my own memory – if I don't write things down I find it hard to recollect most things. Especially conversations.

Do you ever feel like you are 'confessing' to your blog?
A little. There are certainly a few comments I made about people that, if I was doing it over again, I wouldn't have written. But then again if I had been so self-conscious about it, there might not be so much content that people enjoy.

Why do you think we as humans feel the need to confess? Especially to strangers?
It's the judgment issue. If you spill everything to someone you know, there is always a chance that person will judge and reject you. Of course, someone who really loves you wouldn't do that, but I truly believe we can count the number of such people in our lives on one hand. It's nice to just get the experience out there, and it can help to be able to go back and read your own words later, to try to see them from a third party perspective.

With the success from your books and potential second book, plus your burgeoning career as a writer – do you think you will quit the business? If so - would you reveal your identity or would you leave it a secret?
Well... If I manage to make it to sixty and the secret's not out yet, there will be the mother of all memoirs to write. But I wouldn't say that the success of the book has convinced me to become a full-time writer, not quite yet. Writing provides a far less secure income than people imagine.