I’ll try to get back in the saddle by writing a few short paragraphs each day. Hope it works.

What’s been happening? I have three days to finish a book. Hmm. On to the next subject. I had to evacuate for Rita. Hated it, hated it, hated it. A three and a half hour drive took twelve hours. Twelve hours without a restroom break, I might add. The good part was that I live on the water near Galveston, and we missed Rita’s wrath. I feel badly for all those devastated by Rita and Katrina. What an awful hurricane season.

I’ll be in New Jersey from November 3 to 13. High school reunion and a visit with a best friend. I can’t do much about the body, but I will have good hair and makeup. That should count for something. I’ve been away for almost twenty-five years, so I’ll have fun visiting all my old haunts. I love nostalgic trips.

I promised Michele many many weeks ago that I’d talk about my critique group. There are four of us who’ve been together for almost fifteen years. When we started, only one was published. Now all of us have sold books. Kimberly Groff writes as Kimberly Raye. She moved to the Texas Hill Country, but we still talk every day about writing. Kim just sold a funny vampire series to Ballantine. Gerry Bartlett, who wrote under a pseudonym for Dorchester and Kensington, will use her own name for a funny vampire series she just sold to Berkley. Do we see a pattern forming here? Donna Maloy wrote for Kensington and Harlequin.

Several other members of the group have come and gone. We’ve learned that it helps if all the members of the group are close to each other in writing experience. When we first started, we spent a lot of time marking grammar and spelling mistakes. Words like “was” were viciously stricken from each others’ manuscripts. As we matured as writers, we spent most of our time discussing things like overall feelings, pacing, conflict, and motivation. We were never easy on each other. I remember coming home in tears because the group hadn’t loved my “baby.” But tough love got us all published. And we’ve been an incredible support system for each other. A critique group is wonderful with the right mix of people. And you have to be willing to accept criticism of your work and grow as a writer. You also must not allow yourself to be gobbled up by the group. Even today, I’ll look at the group’s suggestions and decide if they work for me. Most of the time they’re on target, but once in a while I choose to ignore them.

We still try to meet once a week at a restaurant. We exchange chapters, take them home, read and critique them, and then discuss them at the next meeting. We’ve become close friends over the years. I don’t know if I’d have hung in through all the years of trying to sell my first book without them. For me, joining the critique group was one of the best decisions of my life.

If anyone has questions about the group, please ask.