One Mom and Three Crazy Dog Ladies

Kansas City is a huge metropolitan area, but when it comes to the non-fiction writers community, it is a pretty small place. I had the opportunity to dine with three other writers yesterday, the pretext was to get together with other writers who are all a part of an international writing community we belong to online. But I knew these writers personally from publications for which we formerly had written. Two were from a local alternative paper and another was a former editor at a community newspaper. We're all now freelancers, but we had more in common than the publications and the online forum. Three of us are animal writers. We talked, laughed and lamented over our dogs and rescues we had taken in. While Tammy isn't an animal writer, she likes dogs and (I think) took an interest in our conversation. It at least gave her some stories about the 3 crazy dog ladies to take home to her children and husband last night.
Our conversation and holiday book exchange didn't concentrate on writing so much as it did on our lives. It reminded me that even when getting together with a group of writers, it's fun to not talk shop sometimes, but to just relax and hang out. That's especially important for writers who are pretty much sequestered in their homes all day.
**I've added a new link. Several weeks ago someone posted on that international writers forum about a blog that spears bad listings on Craig's List. Craig's List Curmudgeon's identity remains a mystery, but we wrote via email last night and agreed to support each other's efforts. Visit the site - it's a real hoot!