What is a novel?

This is from my hero, the writer James Michener, who answers a popular question from novel readers: Did the events in the story really happen?

He says: "Yes, but only in the mind of the writer. And, of course, in your mind too. That's what a novel is: the exchange of dreams."

I hope that Katsuren, too, is that kind of novel--as vivid as a dream, one that you'd like to linger in.