Is it approved?--

The problem with being a pro-bono writer is that you don’t get paid, what - doing something for nothing, that's a novel idea. Usually people want to get paid for doing nothing – there is less work and the reward is greater. That’s why the lottery system is so successful. Also if the topic you are writing about is you, your experiences and views, it’s kind of like bearing your soul to the masses, which is always met with mixed result.

Another problem is that most people want me to continue to pay my bills and have money to do things – especially my family. So I still have to have a full time job. In my chosen profession I hold a number of licenses - unlike James Bond none of them is a license to kill. Part of my employment agreement is that I have all extra business and special ventures approved in advance. I don't even know what clothes I'm going to wear tomorrow let alone what I'm going to be putting on paper. This rule includes a lot of the things I don’t even get paid for.

I've been told that this is to make sure there isn't any conflict of interest. I’m just surprised there is any interest in the first place. I have a lot of experience in the area of conflict, I come from a family of ten kids and I have seventy nieces and nephews – but the fact that I played twenty years of church basketball takes the cake and makes me an instant expert.

The conflict with my employer is that sometime I may say something that could influence someone’s decision making without the proper information and alternatives being presented. As you can tell they haven’t read my stories. I never give to much information - that would only get me in trouble. Now because I represent other organizations as well I need to make sure I don’t embarrass them or say something wrong.

One such organizations is my family, if I try not to embarrass them or to say something they think is wrong – I would never leave the house. If I needed their approval first there wouldn't be any stories in the first place. I’m also a member of a religious organization, maybe I will embarrass them – so I need their approval. I wonder how high I need to go – I guess it depends on how many people read my stories, early indications are not to many. That brings us back to my family and friends and you know what they think. I guess the old adage - it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than approval rings true in this case. Ultimately the greatest approval comes from within, I'm the only person putting my neck on the line, but I guess the others have to live with the consequences.