Michael A. Stackpole

If your job all day is disallowing insurance claims, you can still spend an evening playing games with your friends, and you can be faced with threats and puzzles that are far more exciting than anything you've ever imagined facing at work.

I studied writing at university, and I actually majored in screenwriting. Then I went to work as a bookseller and then as a sales rep and publicist and then various editorial jobs until I ended up with HarperCollins in Australia.

Having a Congress with a more diverse educational and professional background would serve the country well. And given the budget challenges facing America today, we might benefit from a few more cold, calculating problem solvers, and fewer courtroom impresarios.