First and foremost let me say, I LOVE critique groups! There is no better way to improve as a writer/author than to get feedback from your writing peers/colleagues. I am the president (not as glamorous as it may seem) of a local writers group. In 2013 I approached 5 writers in the group to ask if they would like to form a critique group. (wow. I just used "group" a lot. *shudder*) I was so happy when they said yes. For over a year we brought our babies to the table once a mon

Lately I have heard or seen this statement a multitude of times: writers crave the experience. Maybe it's because I've spent the last two weekends binge watching Girls, the HBO show created by Lena Dunham, that I feel like this "truth" is being hammered into my head. Hannah, Dunham's character, often does things (mostly sexual) for "the experience". You see, Hannah is a writer. In the first season she is working on a book of essays. Not being one who writes essays, I can only

I've lived my entire life asleep, I think. Moving through moments in a fog of waking. I think I did this as a child, too. Never quite grasping a moment because I was too preoccupied. So what am I doing? I used to attribute this lack of earthly focus to a creative mind. I've been writing stories since I was 12, and play acting since well before then. But is that it? Have I simply been lost in a world of make believe? Can I only see that now because I'm waking up? In my twentie