Sometimes the stories are smarter than me, and suddenly these things start to make sense.

I don't need art to tell me people are assholes. I can just go into the streets.

For me taking a pragmatic decision when it comes to art is almost an oxymoron. The reason I first picked up a pen and wrote a story had nothing pragmatic in it.

The best stories you usually hear are stories that people feel some type of urgency about.

I was born at six months, and I weighed 900 grams [less than two pounds]. I have a very heroic birth story.

The fact is that everything I have in my pockets is carefully chosen so I’ll always be prepared. Everything is there so I can be at an advantage at the moment of truth. Actually, that’s not accurate. Everything’s there so I won’t be at a disadvantage at the moment of truth.

When my books were translated, it was always about the characters, because the unique language aspect was lost in translation.