But then one is always excited by descriptions of money changing hands. It's much more fundamental than sex.
My first serious project was photographing badgers - very, very difficult as they are shy and nocturnal.
A large wildlife book, start to finish, could take one to two years, but then I would expect to get several good (nature) magazine features off the back of this, plus of course a lot of stock.
Courage is clearly a readiness to risk self-humiliation.