Last night we held our annual potluck dinner/monthly meeting at critique member Laya Steinberg's house. Usually we meet once a month at the Newton library to go over our manuscripts. But for the last five years we've kicked off our September meeting with a dinner at someone's house. In the kit lit world it's not unusual to find writers joining together in monthly critique groups. But what I think makes our group unusual is the level of commitment. For the last 10 years, once a month, we've been meeting to give each other honest, often difficult, feedback on our WIPs. Members have come and gone (Mitali Perkins, you will always be a member!), and several of us -- John Bell, Ed Loechler and I -- have been there since the beginning. We don't dwell on our families, our other hobbies, our lives outside of our writing. We work. And we know each other very well through our work. Last night was an exception when we were entertained with wonderful harmony and guitar by three of our members (Mordena Babich, Laya and Ed). Thanks, all!