That's how it starts

"Auld lang syne" translates as "olden times" or "days gone by." But I just found out that it's also the Scots equivalent of "Once upon a time" (or, if you really want to stretch it, "In a galaxy far, far away").

Last year, I spent New Year's Eve with friends in Palm Springs. At some point, a list of resolutions made the rounds and I wrote, "Finish my novel." I don't know what happened to that piece of paper, if they burned it or laminated it or made it into an origami swan, but that may be the first (the only?) resolution I've ever kept.

This has been a magical year. I finished my book, got a wonderful agent, got a book deal. I couldn't be more glad and grateful, and it feels very right that, when midnight rolls around, I will start the New Year singing, "Once upon a time."