Finding a writer's critique group - or not

 I have failed at finding a writer's critique group that suits my needs.  

My first one was a collection of beginners , so it was the blind leading the blind.  

After I had several published books I outgrew that one and tried some others. Sometimes I was the only one who knew anything about the publishing world, so the group wasn't helping me grow and they were ignoring me anyway, so I quietly dropped out.  

In others, it was all fiction novel writers and I was writing nonfiction -- mostly biographies. I definitely didn't fit.  

Now I'm writing mostly picture books and yes, also biographies. So - should I join a picture book group or a nonfiction group? (there are few to no nonfiction groups.) 

The two of us nonfiction writers in the large Baltimore writer's association would often cling together, especially because we were published and most everyone else there weren't.  

The very best writer's group I ever belonged to wasn't a critique group at all. It was a group of published Maryland writers who met an hour away from where I lived, but the conversation was great! (It was an hour and a half if I was coming from my workplace, but I still attended when I could.)

It's spider time again

 Opened my front patio gate to get to my car one day and hmmm - something was hanging at eye level. When I re-focused, it was a spider web with small spider in the middle. So I picked up some pine cones and threw them at it until I destroyed the web so that I could pass through. Spider gone.

 Next day = no spider at my gateway. She had moved into my patio. She wasn't blocking my pathway to my car, so we ignored each other. 

Then the hurricane came through and spider and web washed away. Good. 

However -- today I noticed she's back, right in the very same spot, blocking my idea of sitting in my front patio or sweeping the pine needles off the patio. errrgggg. 

Yes, it's a huge web - with a half inch spider in the middle of it.  

Adventures with names

So you want something to eat?

Walk into (or call) your favorite restaurant.  Order food for Take Out. (Or Carry Out?  Or whatever that  particular restaurant has decided to call it)  Now they want your name.

I used to simply give my last name - Old.

Wrong

They can't spell it. And If they spell it 'Auld,' there's no way they'll find your order when you try to pick it up. Or they wait and wait for the rest of your name. Surely it's - Olds or Olden or Oldenham or something more than OLD.  (when computers were young, the computers wouldn't even accept a name that short)

So I changed to giving my first name -- Wendie.

oops - nobody can spell Wendie.   This is what I've gotten over the years.

Wendel (hey that's a boy's name; surely you can look at me and see that I'm female)

I go weekly to a local place and order a lovely salad and you'd think they'd know my name by now, but no.  It's been Leslie and a few days ago it was Randy.  I never make a fuss when they spell it Wendy because that's close enough, but RANDY?  Really???