Paulo Coelho

Where do you find inspiration? Is it true that some of your novels (except ‘The Pilgrimage’ and ‘The Valkyries’, which are autobiographical) are inspired by problems and lifes of people””of your readers and journalists””who you met?

You see, you don’t find inspiration; you nurture it. This is because even if something amazing happens to you, if you’re closed up and merely centred in yourself, you’re unable to see it. It’s like being blind to the sun. I try then, everyday, to get out of myself and see the world with childish eyes. When you do this you can learn from everyone.

And writing is precisely that: learn from yourself and others, everyday.

Flaubert once said that he was Mme Bovary, well, I am my books and they are part of my soul. My characters allow me to explore my soul since they incarnate all my doubts and hopes.