I just got Touched with Fire by Kay R. Jamison. Looks good. A lot of the other books in the same section had info I'd already read online, but I like that this focuses on the artistic aspect of the disorder and how moods affect creativity. I've had the same experience. In a major depression for the past year and have had very little ability to write or do anything else. All my poetry was/is so depressing so it kind of discouraged me from wanting to try writing again. I did have a manic episode last May '08 for 3 weeks where I was able to finish my novel, but have since been irritable, depressed with difficulty sleeping and only a few short stories written since that point. Funny that spring seems to be a common time for bipolar artistic people to get depressed. Before I got diagnosed the doctors were always baffled by that because they thought it should be in winter or summer like unipolar people. I look forward to finding out more so I can find better ways to spot and deal with my symptoms.