I describe my works as books, but my publishers in Spain, in the United States, and elsewhere insist on calling them novels

But I do not have the reader in mind when I write. No true writer does that

When I write, I enjoy myself so much that what is being written really needs no reader

No, absolutely not, writing doesn't have to be like a jigsaw puzzle, it can be a very linear undertaking.

Watching a movie from beginning to end is like reading, because even though what you see are images, they are telling you a story

I think that I've tried many times to get Cuba in my writings, especially Havana, which was once a great and fascinating city.

I was never a true journalist, I was a movie critic.