The Blatantly Obvious

Miracle of miracles - I left the house the other night for beers and burgers with friends. Trust me, between deadlines and dirty diapers this is an event worth marking.

To sweeten the deal, the friends were some buddies from my old writing group, The Fantastic Saloon, and I’m happy to say that the band (as they say) is getting back together.

Writing groups are a unique thing  - I can’t really picture groups of painters, for example, huddling together over coffee and suggesting changes to each other’s works - “You know the yellow bit really works for me, but I just don’t buy the brushstrokes in the bottom corner there.  But maybe that’s just me.”

And in New York the various groups of speculative writers have taken on a certain prestige.  There are hard-to-get-into groups, boasting memberships of hot published writers and influential junior editors, as well as the countless groups of passionate unknowns.

The Saloon definitely belongs to the latter category.  But just look out, because we’re taking our vitamins.