My system for staying young is to work a lot, to always have a project on the go.

Contrary to the macho culture of Mexico, both my grandmothers were very brave young widows. I was always very close to these hard-working, intelligent women.

Work is what saves you.

I use a lot of film images, analogies, and imagination.

I always felt a little worm inside me: 'Now you need to write a novel with a woman protagonist.'

U.S. foreign policy is Manichaean. It's like a Hollywood movie. You have to know who has the white hat and who has the black hat and then go against the black hat.