Originally Posted by Matt Cartney

Aah, the holy grail! A job you enjoy! I've been looking for this all my life. The jobs I've done include working in a climbing shop (tedious after a year or so), working as a cycle mechanic (tedious after a couple of years) and news photographer (a hideous, soul destroying way of making a living - and I'm talking 'news' here, not 'pap').

I ticked 'It's OK' for my current situation, because actually I do two jobs and that's the average! -

1) I work as a civil servant which has good flexibility and promotion prospects and pays the bills, but is also furniture chewingly tedious. I'd give it up tomorrow if I could.

2) I also write children's books. (www.dannylansing.com) I have been working my arse off at this for six years and made almost no money out of it. I now have two published and a third on the way. I am amazed at how difficult it is to make money out of writing. As it stands, I would have made a hell of a lot more money over the last six years if I'd just spent the time doing a paper round. Having said that, I absolutely love it!

I often dream about what it would be like to be able to jack in the day job and commit to writing full time. It would be fantastic. I normally come home after a ten hour day, eat my dinner and then switch on the latop and write for a couple of hours - firstly because I have to (books don't write themselves!) and secondly because I love it.

It is exhausting frankly. I am totally knackered all the time. But I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that one day it will all pay off and I will be able to spend the rest of my life doing a couple of big 'research trips' a year and writing the rest of it.

If you look at any success story, whether it be an athlete or a business person or anything else, there is nearly always an enormous amount of work behind that moment of glory. And a great personal commitment to the venture.

Who knows if my work will pay off? I don't. But I really hope it does, as the alternative is another 30 years in a bowler hat and I wouldn't wish that on anybody!

Matt