As odd as it may seem, I very seldom visit a book store. Several years back I had a vision of becoming an old hoarder lady who dies after a stack of books topples over on her. I resolved then to get books from the library whenever possible as a means of staving off dying under the weight of the written word. That said, my quest for a better critique group lead me to Book People of Moscow.
The critique group was a flop. One man proudly informed me that, “sometimes the fringe element of society tries to join, but we just don’t allow that.” Being a card carrying member of the fringe element myself, I wasn’t impressed. Their rotation for getting work critiqued left a lot to be desired as well. Members are eligible to have up to 3,000 words critiqued twice a year. At that rate it would take 17.5 years to work through a novel. A pair of orangutans with type-writers could produce something publishable in less time.
But, the experience wasn’t all bad. I did manage to pick up a date; two actually.