I have more freedom when I write fiction, but my memoirs have had a much stronger impact on my readers. Somehow the 'message,' even if I am not even aware that there is one, is conveyed better in this form.

I write to understand my circumstances, to sort out the confusion of reality, to exorcise my demons. But most of all, I write because I love it!

My desk is like a 'U,' so I have my computer and lots of dictionaries because I write in Spanish and I live in English.

I am not much of a researcher as a novelist; I write mainly from experience.

I'm a writer. In Latin America, they say I'm a Latin-American writer because I also write in Spanish and my books are translated, but I am an American citizen and my books are published here, so I'm also an American writer.

I'm living in California but I have a place that is mine in Chile and I belong there. I am no longer an exile.