"All day and every day."
"How long before you found a publisher?"
"Finished in June, and it came out in the autumn season."
"That's a year. Were you paid on publication?"
"No: six months afterward."
"Eighteen months. I don't like to ask you any more."
"Oh, I don't mind telling. I've cleared a hundred and twenty pounds."
"For eighteen months' work and worry."
"It's great fun. I've nearly done another."
"Yes, but assuming, for the sake of argument——"