I think fiction allows us to sit for a while with people we would rather not meet.

I believe that Jesus was both priest and poet. Imagine those powerful parables! My experience as a priest tells me it's not possible to reach the hearts of the congregants without a bit of poetry and storytelling.

I think fiction allows us to sit for a while with people we would rather not meet.

I always felt my writing could benefit from the attention of established writers. I knew my work could grow and be better.

I'm happy if my book makes you want to kiss your family... if we can reconcile with each other no matter where we are on the globe.

For me, as I've said many times, the story is not research. The story is how the characters relate with each other and with the environment... I try to apply my imagination to what could have happened and how a little child could have viewed and processed the event.

I believe artists should be able to step into other people's situations, contexts and cultures and work from there. If artists don't have that freedom, then, as someone has said, are we all writing our autobiographies?