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Chip, you said:

"I can't even begin to impart to you what a challenge it has been to make a living from intellectual property."

An inspiring article is in Wikipedia on Rod Serling of Twilight Zone fame. The article shows how he wrote for years for radio in an attempt to establish himself as a writer. He said later that it was a mistake because he lost the work by being on staff at radio stations at $50 per week. Only after he got the recognition and started in television did his fame take off. A very revealing and inspiring read. Just go to startpage.com and type in Rod Serling and look for Wikepedia. Link is here:

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Rod_Serling

He was also awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and the Philippine Liberation Medal for service during WW2 which is in itself admirable. However, it led to his having nightmares for the rest of his life.

It is, in a sense, a "What-to-Do-and-Not-Do" revelation for the aspiring writer and shows him as an extremely prolific writer. One script was found in his garage after his death and it also became well-received.

Open heart surgery due to smoking took his life because on the operating table he had a heart attack. He lived only three days after that. He was only 50 at the time, if I remember correctly. Can you imagine how many more literary works we would have seen from him had he lived longer?

TV Guide rated him Number One in the "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends." Now, I do not agree with this after reading Edgar Rice Burroughs and some others but he is definitely in the top 10.

He was attributed as the first person to write for TV that led to replays of a program. Not only once but more than once. His first was replayed at least twice after viewers' requests.

While this may not seem to be very much related to ham radio, it does relate to writing and how a writer's life is not all that simple. Recommended reading.