Moments before New York-based writer Elisa Albert began to read aloud from her novel, The Book of Dahlia, at Taylor De Cordoba Gallery on Monday night, the author scanned the packed room and said, "This does not...

I was first introduced to the world of contemporary art during my tenure as a "gallerina"--that dreaded, dispassionate youngin' who looks on coldly as you try to ascertain what makes the piece before you (a shoddy length of PVC pipe swaying from the ceiling as a looped track of laughing...

"I was not a very ambitious kid," says Carson Ellis as she begins what she calls the "unconventional" tale of how she came to be a professional illustrator. Ellis and I are sitting down to coffee nearly 1,000 miles apart--she in Portland, Oregon and me at the beach...

At a panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this year, I sat on while three distinguished authors discussed their work. After about 45 minutes of talk of craft and inspiration, the panel was opened up to questions from the audience. One by one the readers and writers...