Before I start writing, before I have an idea of where and when the story happens, I research it thoroughly.

It's good for a writer to come from journalism because it gives you the tools. A journalist knows that he or she can lose the reader in six lines, so try to keep the attention of the reader. Also, you learn to research, and to conduct an interview - to extract from the person whatever you need from that person.

When I'm scared - and I'm always scared when I have to face an audience, when I have to read a review, when I publish a book...then, I think of my grandfather. My grandfather was this strong, tough Basque who would never bend....What would he do? Well, he would go ahead, close his eyes, and drive forward. You do it and the spirit that is within you....is there.

The fear is not real, Dil Bahadur; it is only in your mind, like all other things. Our thoughts form what we believe to be reality.

Every person is born with a talent, and happiness depends on discovering that talent in time.

The pain of losing my child was a cleansing experience. I had to throw overboard all excess baggage and keep only what is essential.

We've lost our sense of ethics; we live in a world of small-mindedness, of gratification without happiness and actions without meaning.