Kayla Tausche

Live television invites a lot of comic relief, and I've definitely had my share. I got tongue-twisted on the word 'prevalent' once; had a homeless man accost me during a segment; and got my mic snagged off when a congressional staffer barged into my frame.

Smart authors, faced with storms, chose to create umbrellas. That's why a diverse group of authors banded together to create The Fiction Writer's Co-op, which will work to find innovative ways to promote each other's work and cheer each other on in a very competitive field.

The thrill of a photo-realist painter is if you get really close to the painting, it looks just like a photograph. Whereas in my case, if you get close to my paintings, they totally fall apart - so I'm about as far from a photo-realist as it gets.