Bulgarians eat tarator every single day in summer. They think of it as salad although we'd call it a soup. You can make it as thick or thin as you like depending on how much water you add. It's very practical in summer because yogurt cools the body faster than water, but the water hydrates you.

Then you must say to her, 'Madame, I observe that your heart is broken. Allow me to repair it for you.

In the end, I always act from the heart, even if I also value reason and tradition. I wish I could explain why, but I don't know.

I've noticed Dracula was often as practical a fellow as he was a nasty one.

There is nothing harder, at moments, than talking to someone who has all the power of silence.

My publishers are wonderful because they have let me write what I wanted to. They're wise enough to know that, with any author who's not simply writing formulas - who's trying to create something new - pressuring them to do something for market purposes almost always backfires. I can't imagine working under those circumstances, actually.

I keep telling myself I should try very hard to write a novel of about 210 pages... I don't seem to be capable of it, but I keep hoping it will happen.