Regarding your ambition to become a writer, the most helpful thing I can point out is Mil Milington's advice: http://www.mil-millington.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/writing.htm. What I took from it is that you should not write for money nor vanity. Why do it then? So I guess if you can find a good answer to that, you're on your way. Personally, if I ever take up writing, it will be for therapy. Often when I am clouded with something that just won't leave my mind and doesn't let me do anything else, I write about it. I don't have a blog or anything, just emails to friends or to myself (how sad is that?). Happily (or sadly, depending how you look at it) I lead a worry-free, unclouded life at the moment, which means I don't really have anything to write about. Can't wait for those years of gloom to really start cracking. Cheers mate, you're a damn fine writer as you are... and if you don't get paid for it, well heck, that's just like the artist whose art 'never got recognised'. And at any rate, as I told you before, you definitely have an interesting life to talk about, and knack for putting it on paper, so it's just a matter of time before you hit the bookshelves.