far away from my country I would be like those trees they chop down at Christmastime, those poor rootless pines that last a little while and then die.

Writing is like making love. Don't worry about the orgasm, just concentrate on the process.

I come from the so-called Third World (what is the Second)?

You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend, or not.

I get hundreds of emails daily and a lot of feedback from people that are reading or have read my books. When I'm writing, or in my daily life, I just think of the work. I love to tell a story, but I might work with a story to make it the best I can without thinking of how many people will read it or if it will influence anybody.

Words are not that important when you recognize intentions.

At the most difficult moments of my life, when it seemed that every door was closed to me, the taste of those apricots comes back to comfort me with the notion that abundance is always within reach, if only one knows how to find it.