One of the first questions I'm asked when people find out I've published a novel is, "How long did it take you to write it?" When I tell them it took about 17 years, I watch their jaws drop and after the look of shock dissipates, I know they're expecting me to have produced a masterpiece along the lines of War and Peace or Remembrance of Things Past. They can't imagine how it could have taken me all those years to write a semi-autobiographical, coming of age story. How could that be? Well...

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