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After publishing my first book, After the Green Withered, many people have asked me questions ranging from the inspiration for the story to character development to, my least favorite, how long it took to write. Why is the latter question my least favorite to answer? Because five years is a long time to take writing a novel. It's not even a long novel. In fact, it's in the average range when considering that little thing called word count. So, why did it take me so long to write? Have a seat and let me 'splain (I would sum up but I think that unlike Inigo Montoya's* predicament, we've got the time to delve into this). Four score minus seventy-five years ago, I wrote a course in environmental