Offspring were a joy or a shame, but still the crown of their elders, nature's unpredictable creatures.

I've gotten to try on voices very different than my own, and I've become much more aware of structure than ever before. Also, you really weigh every word. There's no closer reading then when you read to translate.

Both childbirth and abortion are medical procedures but neither is an illness, and sometimes they're both treated as such.

I'm never afraid of research. I relish it!

The legacy of the embargo will be Cuba's poverty and desperation. When the island comes out of it, they'll be even more desperate than they are now about the things they think they've missed. I think one of the unintended results of the embargo is that Cuba is quite consumerist - and I'm talking about the people, not the government or the official propaganda.

I feel possessive about stories I write in Spanish and so I usually end up translating those into English myself.

We're a long way from the embargo ending. Look at what just happened with the rollback of Obama's Cuba policies. Two idiot congressmen convinced our idiot president to make it harder on Cubans on the island.