That’s it. There’s not a word or a photo that I can change now. Carly, my super-cool editor at Headline, emailed me: ‘About to go to print – if you’ve got anything to say shout now!’

The first copies of Different Country, Same State are now rolling off the printing press. They’ll be in the shops on September 30^th, and if you order it online you should get delivery on the day itself.

For me, it’s a pretty scary moment. I mean, what if no-one buys it? What if they buy it and no-one likes it? Yes, I expect I’ll get a whole bunch of opposing views about what I’ve written – celebrities don’t come any more controversial than James. Inevitably, the book is a reflection of that. You either love him or you don’t – there doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.

Four years and more have somehow slipped by since I flew to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to meet with James and discuss my idea for writing a wholly independent account of what really goes on behind the scenes during a Blunty tour.

If I’d known then just how long it was going to take and just how rocky was the path that lay ahead, I think I would have driven straight back to Denver Airport, caught the next BA direct flight back to Heathrow, and found myself another project!

Little did I know that that meeting with the UK’s most eligible single guy in a place that was appropriately called Bachelor Gulch would lead to such a fascinating, frustrating, exhausting, but ultimately life-enhancing experience.

Then when the world tour ended last year in Athens, I headed home to Hampshire and wrote it.

‘Yes, but what is “it”?’ you may well ask.

Well, what I can tell you is that Different Country, Same State is not the usual pop biography. James’ soldier-to-stardom story is already known to just about everybody so there didn’t seem much point in going down that track.

No, I wanted to delve much deeper than that, to discover who James Blunt really is. I thought that the best way to do that was to move in and travel on the tour bus with him and the band.

On his fan site there’s a thread that asks: ‘what would you like to see James doing?’ The answers are pretty random.

I’d like to see him eating an apple… sleeping… dressed up in a tail coat… swimming… laughing… eating pizza… standing on a crate and drinking a beer… topless…

In the course of the All The Lost Souls tour I guess I’ve seen all these and more. One fan even posts: ‘I’d like him to look me in the eye and say nothing.’ I’ve definitely seen that a few times!

It’s a lonely business putting it all down on paper and worrying what everyone will say – not just the people who buy the book, but James, the band, and all those around him. I’ve tried to tell the truth about each and every one of them. Managing to do that without betraying their trust and their privacy has been the hardest bit.

So it was worry, more than anything, which shook me last Tuesday whilst I was in the garden cooking a barbeque.

‘It’s Beardy on the phone!’ shouted my wife from the kitchen door.

I hadn’t spoken to Beardy (Paul Beard, keyboard) in a couple of months – not since I spent the night with James and everyone in a London recording studio listening to the making of a couple of tracks from the new album.

I have to say that one of these completely blew me away. I think it’s his best song to date. It’s deeply emotional and it’s all about the girl who… well, I guess you have to read the book to find out who she is.

As I walked to the phone, my heart sank. That night, I’d given Beardy the book to read but hadn’t heard from him since.

‘I love it,’ he said. ‘You’ve really captured what happened on the tour, and above all you’ve been honest. You’ve told the truth.’

Phew! I really have tried to be honest, which is not always the easiest way. Nobody – not least James – is spared some pretty searching scrutiny! It’s most definitely a warts-and-all tale of life on the road.

And I’m glad that you – the ones reading this – are around for the ride. Since launching this website last week, we’ve been inundated with kind messages and excited emails from all of you out there that are looking forward to the release of the book. Thanks to all of you that have sent them (and for those of you that still want to, say hi to us @jamesbluntbook, on Facebook, or simply send us an email).

So what’s on the menu at jamesbluntbook.com?

In the coming weeks (and with plenty more pictures, which you can check out in all their glory on our Flickr), you’re going to hear from members of the band on what it’s like to live out of a suitcase with a different gig in a different country almost every night – whilst Weird Uncle Peter tracks your every move.