The author saw a fan reading his book in flight without recognizing him. Then he did something nice.

For a celebrity or a public figure, interacting with their fans is always special. After all, it is the fans that make you a superstar. Without someone to witness one’s art, no one would know the taste of fame. Joseph Fasano, an American poet and novelist, got a taste of his fame in an unusually bizarre way. While flying to Scotland, he encountered a stranger sitting next to him reading his book. As delighted as he was, he was unsure how to handle this remarkable situation. So he turned to X (formerly Twitter) to ask his followers what they should do.

His post read: “The person next to me on the plane is reading my novel. Should I say something?” In the caption, he shared a snapshot of his fellow passenger’s counter, on which lay his book titled “The Swallows of Lunetto.” “The Swallows of Lunetto” is a novel about a young couple fleeing Italian fascism at the end of World War II.

The tweet caught the attention of over 2.4 million people and received over 700 comments. @recycledgiraffe hilariously advised the author to reveal his identity towards the end of the flight or he would have to “talk the whole time.” Another user, @fgalanma, suggested the author turn the book over so the reader could see his photo printed on the back cover. To this, the author responded that he looked nothing like his picture at that moment.

It seemed the author couldn’t contain his excitement, as he continued the X-thread by suggesting some ideas of his own. In one of his posts, he asked if he should ask the woman if this book was better than his last one. The post read, “I’m thinking of whispering to her, ‘Is it better than the last one?'” He continued to describe his experience moment by moment.

Within 3 minutes of his last update, he posted: “You’ve just opened it to page 10, so this is going to be an interesting journey.” “I sat there for a while and thought: what am I going to do? Am I going to give this person their privacy?” Fasano told the PA News Agency, according to Bracknell News: “I don’t want to impede them from reading the book. I certainly don’t want them to feel obligated to talk to me.”

Unable to contain his excitement, the author spoke to the reader. “I asked them if they were traveling for work or pleasure and they said ‘just a quick trip to see family’ and looked right at me for a moment,” he reported. Within minutes, he continued the thread, informing his followers that his flight was about to take off, so he might lose network. He asked them to keep sending suggestions. “Okay, I might lose reception when I take off, but keep sending suggestions and I’ll review them before I make my decidedly awkward interaction after landing,” he wrote.

His post was full of ideas and advice. @opinionsnotmine told the author to “wait until they go to the bathroom and sign it.” Another user, @EastlandKathy, commented, “Please film their reaction!” @Lmaxt suggested the author ask the reader if they liked the book and then reveal their identity. He wrote, “Do you mind if I ask, ‘How do you like the book?’ They might tell you and probably ask, ‘Have you read it?’ Then tell them.” Fasano found this suggestion interesting and seemed to have implemented it.

In the next update, he revealed the conversation he had with the reader. He told his followers that he had found a new friend. In his post, he approached the reader and asked her if she liked the book. The reader replied, “I think so. Have you read it?” The author replied that he had read it about “100 times,” which surprised her. After the conversation, there was a brief pause and now they are “friends.” He signed her copy, “To Jan, thank you for taking me on your journey – your seatmate.”

Fasano called this interaction with Jan a “magical moment.” He said, “It was a great way to just meet somebody and talk, and it’s funny because writing literature is an attempt to build a connection with other people, but you never expected it would be that kind of connection in real life. So it was a pretty magical moment!”