Austin, Texas novelist Ruth Pennebaker, who's old enough to call herself "fabulous," writes about family, politics, marriage, friendship, feminism, aging and whatever else occurs to her. Her latest novel, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough, was published by Berkley in January 2011.

1) 1958. I first learned television’s power to wound when I was eight.

Aside from hosting frequent tornadoes that blew away houses and people and barnyard animals, the town I lived in — Wichita Falls, Texas — also had a kids’ show called Pet Parade on the local TV channel.

Since I was a budding narcissist, naturally I wanted to be on TV more than anything in the world.