Velinda
I am honestly not being funny here - but if you look at the date of your post and the date of Helena's you will see that the group that Helena has established was already set up and running somewhat before you posted this thread. I am quite sure that this is just a case of innocent duplication of thought and that you were unaware of the other group but it is unfortunate, as to a less charitable view it could look like copying an idea which was already up and running with the intent of establishing a deliberate rival. I do hope I am right and that that was not the intention.
Of course there is no reason why we should not have two groups but I hope in the longer term that we might perhaps be able to combine the two, otherwise we end up diluting the possible membership.
The other group has established slightly broader terms of reference in so far as we include amongst our number several professional writers who may wish to use the group to submit items of their work and these may include poems and screenplays as well as prose. They may also be longer than your suggested word count.
Anyway I would invite you to talk with Helena via PM and see whether the two groups will run side by side, or whether there is some scope for amalgamation in the interests of maximising membership
