2013. Thirteen years since I watched the millennium fireworks explode over Lake Washington.  Thirteen years since I wrote fanfic for the first time (Jane Austen style).  Thirteen years since I met Jennie and we started planning the Sugar Quill. Can it really have been so long?  How old does that make me? How is that possible?

New Year’s Day is also my wedding anniversary. Four years ago, my husband and I threw our happy little wedding, with stacks of our favorite books tied with ribbons for centerpieces, and a cake shaped like a giant, open, gilt-edged fairy-tale book, with the words “All was well” written on the page (and if you can guess why, then you’re our kind of geek).  We have had a marvelous seven and a half years together now, four of them as a married couple, and two of them as parents, and whatever surprises 2013 brings, I’m pretty sure we can handle them as a team.  We make a cracking good team. 

This year, I have a lot of goals, none of which I can entirely control.  So I guess they’re hopes, more than goals.  But they’re not passive hopes; I’ll do everything I can to bring them about.  Can I make sure to get an agent?  Can I make sure to get the first book under contract with a publisher?  No.  But I can work hard and do my part, just as I have been doing, and maybe this year, the work will pay off. 

My biggest hope is that my little boy continues to be bright, healthy,  and happy. I sure wish I had complete control over that one.  At least I can snuggle him up right now.  I think I’ll do that.  

Happy New Year, everyone.