Idea adapted from my friend’s blog In the Land of Ridd. She calls hers “Ridd Quicks,” and I’ve been sitting here, burning my eyeballs out on the computer screen and trying to come up with something clever. The closest I’ve gotten is “Bethie Bits,” but that smacks too much of “Bacon Bits” (smacks, get it?) so we’ll just not call it anything. This is in the true spirit of a Friday Free-for-All post. I had some other topics, like my vacuum cleaner, but I’ll save them for another Friday. (I know, there are so many great things to look forward to.)

1. Ethiopian Restaurant: There’s one nearby, and my friend D-Chan and I went there today. Sadly, I’d already eaten lunch, but I pecked at some of D-Chan’s food, and it was DELICIOUS. My first Ethiopian cuisine experience was a success, and D-Chan was even generous enough to give me her leftover Chicken Tibbs and a bit of the injera bread, so I can enjoy it again for lunch tomorrow. We went for gelato afterward. I think I am surprising no one by saying I enjoyed mine.

2. My current work-in-progress is being reviewed by eight critique partners. I’ve heard back from four so far, and am really excited about their feedback…even when it’s hard to hear that your novel isn’t, like, totally completely magnificent don’t-change-a-word-perfect. As excited as I am to make the changes they’re suggesting, I’m going to give the manuscript a full month to breathe so I’m not hovering over her like an insecure boyfriend. Give her a little space, let some other people listen to her and hear what she has to say.

3. I’m super-excited about Easter this year, because we have both sets of parents, as well as my younger brother’s family, coming to the house. We’ve been working hard to clean things up, but the yard is still wild-looking. I blame the weather, not laziness.

4. Husband and I are in Season 3 of Prison Break, and even though it is not everything Season 1 was, we’re still hooked. For me it’s always a battle to not read each episode’s mini-synopsis on Netflix before we hit the play button. So many episodes are spoiled because I’m a fast reader. Sometimes I pretend I didn’t read them, because Husband and I have a game of trying to predict the weirdest things in episodes. Then I’m like, “Dude, I predict he is really a woman and he used to date the lion-tamer slash tightrope-walker back when they were in juvie.” And then it happens, and Husband is amazed at my clairvoyant skills. Actually he uses his Super Powers of Deduction and says, “Dude, you read the mini-synopsis.” (Okay, he doesn’t really say “dude.”)

5. Finally, a shout out to my amazing critique partners – even if you haven’t yet finished my manuscript. Thank you to (in alphabetical order by first name)…Danica, Jeri, Kary, Margaret, Melissa, Pam, Pat, and Seven! How cool it would be if someday The Black City is actually published, like, in a BOOK, and I can put you on the acknowledgements page. (Just discovered, there is a book called The Black City, or maybe The Black Town. It’s in Hungarian, so the translation leaves a little room for interpretation. This, coupled with another series coming out next month, The Dark City, has me re-evaluating the title of my novel.) But back to my amazing critique partners: until TBC is published (with whatever title works), you get part of a blog post. You deserve so much more.