Name: Helen Fielding.
Age: 41 years.
'Foolish' Idea: Turning her newspaper column - which describes the neurotic thoughts of a single woman desperate to find the right man - into a novel.
The Story: Published, 1996, Helen's best seller, Bridget Jones's Diary, struck a chord with readers all over Britain.
By autumn 1998 the novel reached a million sales and it has gone to sell a further 400,000 copies in the UK. In America, Japan and the rest of Europe, Bridget Jones's Diary has caught the imagination to shift another 1.2 million copies.
Earnings: Helen has earned royalties of around £1.4 million from her novel.
Spin-off: Turned into the highly acclaimed film of the same title as the novel.