Oddly I feel this is less personal (at least to me). I've got plenty of distance from it - at least one character is British but they're both male, only one is specified as creatively minded and he's an actor rather than a writer/painter/sculptor.
In some ways I think it's less convincing than the others because everyone can understand that an actor needs an audience. The question is whether people can translate that into other creative endeavours and understand that as much as there's a real joy in painting a watercolour, if it's intended for public consumption (eg put in a gallery rather than just hung on your wall) then it feels like a failure if there's no interest in the finished product.

I can only dream of a six figure hit count :( But I refuse to write explicit Derek/Stiles just to attempt it. I want audience but I want to write what I want to write. It's another balancing act.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm sorry I'm so behind on replying to comments but I'm getting there, piecemeal.