Does it?  It’s been pointed out to me (first by Word, then by those who’ve read the ms) that Under the Poppy is by far the longest novel I’ve ever written – over 150,000 words.  Well.  What can I say, I’m in love . . . But the shape of the narrative, its chronological shifts and bounds, its various voices – a story, a novel, any piece of work, takes its own shape in its own time.  I wish I could remember the source of the quote – “How long should my story be?” “Go on until the end, and then stop.”  Size never matters, unless you like to buy your art by the pound.