The biggest challenge in working together is simply listening.
I've been writing plays since the third grade. The biggest difference now is that professionals act in them rather than eight year olds...and the language is a bit more "colorful".
I'm always reading. I have four books on my nightstand right now. The same is true with writing, I tend to work on several varying projects at once.
I think readers nowadays are happy to have genres blurred. We're seeing that on screen too: The Pirates of the Caribbean mashes up history and fantasy, Cowboys and Aliens mixes the Western and the Science Fiction genres.