I also thought it referred to sunburned necks, so it's nice to learn something new.

I come from an area with many hillbillies. Also not necessarily a compliment most times. But when I think about the hard work, honesty and determination that makes up those people, it becomes a source of pride instead of an insult. And I certainly need some of their tenacity right now.

I don't take on projects that I already know sound miserable just to make money, and I don't accept projects that undervalue my work. To me, a writing career is supposed to be more fulfilling than a full-time job at a company. That's the whole reason I wanted to do it in the first place. So I choose the projects that make it fulfilling.

I don't care to work for micromanagers, and I already fear the newest client may be just that. This publisher insists on weekly updates (down to the number of times you called a potential source), and e-mail he seems to be anti-e-mail. I do like initial phone contact, since it is more personal, but I find e-mail is far more efficient and accurate than phone calls. Speaking of which, I need to call a source who left a message for me after 6 PM Friday. Another source called me at 7:30 AM Monday.

I already want to scream: "If you want me available for phone calls during both east coast and west coast business hours, you need to pay three times what you currently pay." I don't mind putting in extra time when I'm being paid fairly well, but when I compare the per-word rate by the phone calls and transcribing 7-9 interviews, the hourly rate might not be worth it.

For me, "on my terms" was a matter of not caring what other people think–which is a corollary to some of your bullets here. And I mean that in both senses; you can't worry about naysayers and you can't get depressed if you're not a good fit for a given gig.

(Love the Mavericks, by the way!)

My mantra for this year was "work smarter." And I have been good about sticking to that. I moved away from taking what I call "admin" work and I keep my work to what I do best – writing.

Recently, a client of mine asked me to do copyediting for a newsletter he is planning. It will have 9 or so different authors for the articles. I know he is on a tight budget and I started to work up a quote. Then I stepped back and thought, "I really don't like copyediting work. And even if I did it, I know he wouldn't be able to pay what I was asking."

So, I told my client that I wasn't doing copyediting anymore. I was sticking to the writing, but I referred him to someone I have used for copyediting.

A year ago, I would have done that quote and underpriced it and hated every minute of it.

I sure am not as rich as I could be either, but one of the big reasons for striking out on my own was to have more control over my decisions and my life.

I can't wait to see what next year brings.

The few times I did something JUST for the cash, and not for the cash AND commitment to the project, I truly regretted it.