One of the things I love most about this writing life is the people whose stories criss-cross your own. We all intersect somewhere in some way but finding those connecting points can be tough. The thing I love most about meeting up with other writers is how quickly we all seem to cut through the small talk and the pleasantries and get right down to it. Words are important and we'd rather not waste them on trivialities. So when my writer friend, Cara Meredith, told me she was vacationing with her …