DR. WALLACE: I'm a college student, but when I was back in high school, I always thought I would be a fiction writer. Now that I'm a few years older and more experienced, I realize that I'm now finding I'm much more interested and motivated by reading great biographies of notable people.

I'd still like to write as a career path, but I'm now considering specializing in writing biographies rather than diving deep into the world of fiction. Do you think this adjustment is feasible for me? What would I need to do to begin pursuing a potential career as a biographer? — Want to Write in a New Direction, via email

WANT TO WRITE IN A NEW DIRECTION: My advice would be not to try to land a "big fish" of a famous person for a biography right away, because you'll have to work up to that type of opportunity, most likely. Instead, find some local or regional people that you know and have come in contact with who are already friendly with you.

Ask them to provide you access so that you can learn more about their lives and careers, their goals and dreams and accomplishments. Let them know that you're interested in becoming a biographer someday and that you'd be honored to write a few practice biographies, starting with people that you currently know and know of in your area.

I trust you'll find a few people within your circle of influence who would be flattered to have such an opportunity presented to them. Beyond this, definitely seek out teachers and professors, and any other local biographers in your area that you can seek out as mentors in this direction. One great thing in life is that when you find something different that motivates you, you have the free will to quickly make a change and pursue a new endeavor to see where it leads.

MY AUNT IS LIKELY DECEIVING MY MOTHER REPEATEDLY

DR. WALLACE: I noticed that my aunt, my mother's oldest sister, quite often requests things from my mother for one reason or another. Sometimes they are favors, requests for money for a specific purpose or for my mother to provide time and energy to help her with a project.

To my surprise, I found out entirely on my own as an 18-year-old that several of my aunt's requests to my mother were not explained completely in context, and at the very least, my aunt has had a hidden agenda that she has kept from my mother. I know this because my girlfriend's mother works with this aunt and therefore hears a lot of discussion about her social life and our family.

Recently, my girlfriend came to me and explained another complicated request from my aunt for something that's coming up in the next two months, and it's blatantly obvious that she is literally milking my mother with false information to get my mom involved. This time, I have the opportunity to notify my mother in advance of what's going on. Should I say anything, or simply stay out of it? — My Aunt is One Crafty Lady, via email

MY AUNT IS ONE CRAFTY LADY: This is definitely a delicate situation, because the information you're gathering is coming to you secondhand, and you don't know for sure the veracity and reliability of it. Having said that, time is on your side, especially if this request is something that's a couple of months away.

Rather than running directly to your mother and trying to explain all of this to her, see if you can do some quiet research on your own. If it does look like there may be a hidden agenda involved, seek out another trusted adult, whether it be a father, an uncle or someone else that you trust. Don't start by saying anything accusatory; simply say that you always want to look out for your mother and her best interests, and you had a bit of a question regarding an upcoming situation. From there, if some sort of maleficence or unsavory hidden agenda is involved, perhaps this other trusted adult would be a better alternative to deliver such news.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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