Paulo Coelho

It's not difficult for me to put my feelings into written form. I try to be concise and to go direct to the subject. This is what people like about my work, and what the critics hate.

MySpace is my wife... Facebook is my mistress.

I am not a self-help writer. I am a self-problem writer. When people read my books, I provoke some things. I cannot justify my work. I do my work; it is up to them to classify it, to judge.

Most of my young years were spent under the boots of the military.

I'm not a person that socializes very well.

I never say I am a guru.

I'd have stopped writing years ago if it were for the money.

I am a Catholic.

MySpace is an addiction.

Publishers see free downloads as threatening the sales of the book.

I can't consciously explain how people feel after reading my books. All is too personal.

I am a Catholic because I choose to be a Catholic. And then I go to the Mass because I choose. It is out of my free will.

Writing is a solitary experience. I'm extremely superstitious. If I talk about the book or name the title out loud before finishing, I feel the energy I need to write will be drained. It's so intimate, I can't even share it with my wife.

I believe enlightenment or revelation comes in daily life. I look for joy, the peace of action. You need action. I'd have stopped writing years ago if it were for the money.

Of course, to have money is just great because you can do what you think is important to you.

I have been practicing archery for a long time; a bow and arrow helps me to unwind.

My literature is much more the result of a paradox than that of an implacable logic, typical of police novels. The paradox is the tension that exists in my soul.

This may sound a little bit idealistic, but when I go to my blog, my Facebook page, my Twitter account, I talk to different people from all over the world, and you see how it's easy to establish a dialogue.

I don't set out to write about spirituality; I am free to do something different every time.

I walk every day, and I look at the mountains and the fields and the small city, and I say: 'Oh my God, what a blessing.' Then you realise it's important to put it in a context beyond this woman, this man, this city, this country, this universe.