Never, ever again will I impose on a family member or friend for an idea of "what to write about." In response my to naive plea, "Gimme an idea, gimme something to write about," my husband puffed out his chest, stuck his lips out, stretched his arms down like a petulant child and said, "Freelance for Mrs. Hotpants." I haven't bothered to clear with him if I am Mrs. Hotpants or if "hotpants" was the very first word that came to mind that rhymed with "-lance." I arched one eyebrow at him, the only move I made, actually, as I stood there with my arms crossed over my bathrobe and my head cocked to one side, and waited. He slowly blew all the air out of his puffed cheeks, relaxed his arms, back and chest. He looked at me sheepishly and said, "Ok, that wasn't funny. I thought it would be cute. Sorry. Gimme a little while to think about it." A good forty-five minutes hence, "Medium" is is full trance, and so is my husband, sacked out in his Lazy Boy. Sigh. So much for family support.

In case any of you are wondering, yes, this did indeed teach me that, yes, indeed, you should shy away from pestering friends and family members for "ideas about stuff to write." Clearly, if they had ideas about "stuff to write," they would be writers. They're not. I am. So, it's my job to come up with the "stuff" and write about it, to entertain my readers. I am going to chock this up to a learning experience, despite the fact, I, like many comediennes, just threw my beloved under the bus for the sake of a story.

They come to understand, the loved ones do. It goes with the territory. He knows I won't get too outrageous with our family skeletons. The point is, we the writers, must learn to depend upon other writers for support, at least about writing. Other people just don't understand why, when in a frenzied stream of typing, Mama will come unglued if anyone disturbs me. They simply cannot fathom what I am thinking when I refuse a ride in the country on a Sunday afternoon because I have a deadline I just have to meet. Don't get me wrong, I do my best to balance work and family. But they don't understand and they never will. They don't understand the fickle nature of the drive to create, how it is so capricious, like the wind, leaving you never knowing which way it will be coming from next, or what it will bring with it.

What do you think? Tell us how you have managed to balance life as a writer and a spouse and/or parent. How does your family view your "job?" Email me or leave a comment...More soon!