Can a writer be too famous?

With The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown's follow-up to his global bestseller The Da Vinci Code, set for release later this year, Hillel Italie asks if fame can damage a writer's work.

"Lost Symbol" took far longer to complete than his previous books. In his increasingly rare public statements, Brown has lamented that he can no longer fly on commercial planes because of autograph seekers and expressed shock at the vehemence of the questions he faced while promoting the book.

Like other celebrities, he has learned the meaning of being sued. His most extended comments in the past few years came in a 69-page court statement he submitted for a copyright infringement case filed against him (and eventually rejected) in London.

"As soon as 'The Da Vinci Code' was published and had become a runaway success, I found myself in a firestorm of controversy," Brown wrote in his statement. "I had never experienced this kind of media attention, and it was very difficult at times (especially the criticism from Christians). Often at my book signings, I found myself interrogated publicly by an angry Christian scholar who quizzed me on details of Bible history from the novel."