Her "job":  Yes, I write LGBT fantasy fiction, full time. My husband works full time, and I work tirelessly writing/editing/promoting my books. It's something I can do even when I'm confined to bed, on my phone. (It takes a lot longer to type on a phone!) It's my love, and my job, and some days it's the only thing that still keeps me going when I look at all that I've lost...so please don't suggest I 'do something else'. If I could still work, outside of my home, outside of my chair, outside of my room, I would. This is what I have. At the moment, working outside of the home is not an option. Even an Avon round pushed the limits of my illness at times.  Contrary to popular belief, it's not at all easy to be able to work from home via a call centre (I was in office management before I fell desperately ill). I have even looked into 'adult chat lines' because I have been that desperate. Desperate enough to consider prostituting myself for a few more pounds a week. So while I appre  437a  ciate you are probably trying to help, and find a solution for my 'problem', telling me to get a job is, ultimately, not at all helpful, and actually rather condescending and hurtful. I work full time, writing. Sometimes, I work in excess of 18 hours a day.  Cundishns:  I had to stop work when I had my heart attack. Some days I find rolling over in bed enough to trigger an angina attack. I can't expect an employer to cater to my needs, when my needs can see me bed bound for days at a time. My heart condition is unstable, yet because I can cater for my 'personal needs', I have zero entitlement to PIP/DLA.  I don't write because I choose not to work in paid employment outside of the home - I write because due to my heart condition, and my COPD, as well as a broad range of other health issues, working outside of the home is an impossibility. I have not made a 'lifestyle choice' to be chronically ill'. I have made a positive choice in taking control of how I spend my days, when working beyond my doorstep is impossible, and am using the skills I have to earn what I can.