[M T McGuire]

As an author, the jealousey thing intrigues me. To be honest I suspect the main problem my spouse has would be logistical.

I'm a full-time parent of a two year old. That leaves no time for reading books and precious little time for writing. I write because I have to so if I don't get to write enough, or am too knackerd to be able to squeeze anything meaningful from my imagination during the few minutes I have I can get pretty ratty.

If I do write and it's going well but I don't have enough time to get everything in my head typed up I can get pretty ratty.

When I am engaged with a project, it's like watching a really good TV programme, I want silence and any disturbance is a menace, ask me an inoffensive question and... yep, you guessed it... I can get pretty ratty.

Since I am engaged with a project of some sort most of the time I am also markedly disengaged with the real world. Luckily, my spouse deals with scientists at work, the kind of people who invent say, a cure for cancer, in their garden shed but have difficulty applying themselves to reality long enough to successfully boil an egg. So, at least I'm not unfamiliar territory... then again, if I was I'd probably be single. So back to the point (sorry).

From where I'm standing it goes like this. When I write about say, characters who are in love, I definitely get a bit pie-eyed over it all but not because of who they are but because I project their situation onto the relationship with my partner. So, if they're meeting and falling in love I relive that experience in my own life which often results in me examining what, in my partner, makes me love them and... well... falling in love all over again. That, in turn, usually results in a rise in... hmm how can I put it? Nocturnal activity? Yep, that'll do. So um... no need for jealousey writer spouse people, you are the winners in this process.

Cheers

MTM