This is a question I’m sometimes asked. How long does it take me to write a book?

Answer: It takes as much time as I have!

With my first published book ( Midsummer Night’s Mischief ), I essentially had all the time in the world. I didn’t have a book deal or a deadline. I worked on it here and there, a little at a time, and eventually finished in about a year and a half. (Then I started the query process to find an agent.)

With the last book I wrote—and recently submitted to my editor—I complet...