It's time for a sabbatical from the critique group, I think. I will probably stick with the local group, oddly enough, because I feel like my role there is fairly vital. But the Odyssey alumni group, while VERY valuable and very enjoyable and very wonderful -- I'm not sure how to explain it, but it seems to "draw" all my forces. Like I concentrate my creative efforts on getting stories ready for the group, on getting critiques done, and then I don't take the stories further -- almost as if the group itself is the final goal.

I am not sure I'm making any sense, even to myself. All I know is that when I think about taking a sabbatical from it and concentrating purely on the writing, I feel a sense of rightness.

After the apocalypse, there will be all these dazed people wandering around saying: "where's the reagents vendor??"