We're all entitled to our superstitions.

For me it was a lot harder to come to terms with the death of my grandfather than it was to come to terms with what's happened to the former Yugoslavia.

No matter how grave the secret, how imperative absolute silence, someone would always feel the urge to confess, and an unleashed secret is a terrible force.

At the end of the day, it's about the reader's attachment to and belief in the magical elements that make or break magical realism.

Suddenness," he says. " You do not prepare, you do not explain, you do not apologize. Suddenly, you go. And with you, you take all contemplation, all consideration of your own departure. All the suffering that would have come from knowing comes after you are gone, and you are not a part of it.

I grew up in Cyprus and Egypt, these fantastic places I remember fondly.

You never know what's going to happen in your life, and you never know what's going to happen in someone else's life either.