There were influences in my life that were more important than journalism, such as comic strips and radio.

I left my country because I was forced to, and I do not think that I am going to lose my language because I live in England

When I write, the first blank page, or any blank page, means nothing to me. What means something is a page that has been filled with words.

Cigars must be smoked one at a time, peaceably, with all the leisure in the world. Cigarettes are of the instant, Cigars are for eternity.

I have one main reader, Miriam Gomez, my wife. She reads everything I write - I have not finished writing something and she is already reading it.

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 have assiduously avoided calling my books novels