Difficult People

I've started doing some freelance writing for a new client. After I quit my job, I did quite a bit of freelancing. But I found it was hard to manage--I couldn't get the kids settled and everything organized to make it work. So, I pretty much stopped, other than a few long-term clients that I've worked for sporadically over the years. But, I've toyed with going back to work part-time or working harder to add new clients now that the boys are older and it's easier to entertain them while I work at home (and they're in school much of the year). This year, thanks to the economy, the husband is not anticipating a bonus at the end of the year. We use that bonus money to pay for extras for the kids throughout the year, so any money I could earn would be a help.

This new client sort of fell in my lap, and I finished my first project for them last week. It was a grant, and my primary background and field is non-profit marketing and communications. I hadn't actually written a grant in over 15 years, but it seemed like a good fit. I liked all of the people at the organization and it seemed like a good place doing good work.

But (and of course there's always a but), the personal dynamics of the situation were crazy. My liaison, who I truly liked on first meeting, turned out to be a first-rate sabotageur. I didn't get all the information I needed; and I couldn't get feedback on work partially finished until the very last minute when we were in danger of not meeting the deadline. But completely worse and extremely difficult from my point of view--she flat-out lied to others about what I had been told and what information I had been given. I considered quitting part-way through, but I decided I needed to suck it up and finish. I was proud of the job I did, because my contact made that assignment easily twice as hard as it needed to be.

And now, there's apparently more work. I was kind of torn, because that would be plunging back into the dragon's den. But, simply because of the money and because I'm just starting out again, I want to try and make it work. My husband has said I can vent to him if need be.

But I'm curious if others have tricks for working with particularly difficult people who seem nice on the surface but turn out to be all kinds of crazy beneath that surface. I've figured out I need to write down and keep a log of absolutely everything that is said. But how else do I manage this situation a little more proactively to keep myself from going nuts?