This pep talk was inspired by that extremely uncomfortable phenomenon of going home for the holidays, only to be grilled by your relatives. It was made with the generous contributions of writers just like you. We hope this will give you some cheer when your family asks, "Soooo--are you still writing?" "Are you a New York Times bestseller yet?" "How much money do you make?"

Explaining the writing life to your family can be hard, especially during the holidays. So when they start asking you why you don't have a movie deal yet/how many copies your book has sold/why you don't just hit Upload and become a bestseller, pop in your earbuds, crank up this podcast, and remind yourself you're not alone.

Please note: there is some (very justified, we think) swearing in this podcast.

To make your season a little brighter, we asked writers to tell us what works--and doesn't work--when discussing the writing life with your family. How do you keep the kids occupied? What do you say to those awkward questions? And how--with all the holiday craziness--do you find time for your work?

We are thrilled to have the following contributors (in order of appearance, after the names montage). Find them on Twitter and thank them for being awesome!

2:24 Brandon Hoang @BrandonHoang_

2:50 Ted Fox @TheTedFox

2:56 Tiffany Meuret @TMeuretBooks

3:03 Bethany Telles @BethanyTelles

2:26 Denise Mealy @DCCMealy

3:50 Writer from Texas

4:04 Caitlin O'Connell @Caitlin_Renata

4:10 Heather Smith @SmithWriter

4:20 Eileen

4:30 Pam Barney @lifewithBarns

4:38 Caitlin O'Connell @Caitlin_Renata

4:43 Mehr Lee @mehr_lee

4:50 Heather Smith @SmithWriter

4:59 Mehr Lee @mehr_lee

5:24 Kelly Schluterman @kmschluterman1

5:43 Writer from Texas

5:51 Lara Ruth Ziobro @lararuthz

6:06 Sharon Chriscoe @schriscoe_

6:17 Ozma Bryant @ozma_bryant

6:33 Caroline @Keep_Tha_Faith

7:02 Marcela Ferreira @mlmfd

7:25 Jessica Kapp @JessKapp

7:58 Bethany Telles @BethanyTelles

8:10 Jessica Kapp @JessKapp

8:35 Kelly Schluterman @kmschluterman1

8:47 Pam Barney @lifewithBarns

9:04 Mehr Lee @mehr_lee

9:21 Caroline @Keep_Tha_Faith

10:09 Writer from Texas

10:29 Ozma Bryant @ozma_bryant

11:06 Sharon Chriscoe @schriscoe_