In journalism, if there's a hole in your story you figure out a way around it because you've got a 4 p.m. deadline. It's a neat skill to have but it's deadly for literature. In literature, you need to stare at that hole, not ignore it. You need to figure it out.

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

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

Journalism is very much public writing, writing with an audience in mind, writing for publication, and frequently writing quickly. And I know that when I worked daily journalism it really affected my patience with literature, which I think requires reflection, and a different kind of engagement.

Interestingly, in Cuba abortion is treated as lightly as getting a mole removed.

In journalism, if there's a hole in your story you figure out a way around it because you've got a 4 p.m. deadline. It's a neat skill to have but it's deadly for literature. In literature, you need to stare at that hole, not ignore it. You need to figure it out.

I tell people to have a relationship with their work every day, even if it means you just move a comma.