Santiago de Compostela

My turning point was my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It was then that I, who had dedicated most of my life to penetrate the 'secrets' of the universe, realized that there are no secrets. Life is and will always be a mystery. We have to follow the omens, and pay attention to others. Life is a constant miracle, and this miracle manifests itself in encounters with other people.
After the pilgrimage, I simplified my spiritual search a lot, and instead of searching for answers, I started to understand that life itself is an answer.

For Paulo Coelho, the only crime against life is to believe in the word 'impossible'. According to him, each person has a role to play, a life pattern that is uniquely designed for an individual. And fulfillment lies in following and understanding that pattern, being who you are, instead of walking on the trodden path.

Q: Have you ever seen an angel? What are angels really?
Yes, I've seen angels. They are what everybody knows: messengers of God. Sparks of the Divine Light. But they use the most unusual ways to talk to us—through other people, for example.

Q: Carlos Castaneda also wrote of sorcery. Is there any similarity between your ideas and his?
Castaneda played a major role in my youth. As for the ideas, I tend to believe that the universal knowledge is accessible to anybody through faith. Castaneda concentrated his work on a more specific path.

Q: What has been the driving force in your life?
Knowing that everybody has a purpose. We know when we are closer to our goal by listening to our heart. So, my driving force is to fulfill my destiny.

Q: Does an author cultivate writing, or is he divinely gifted?
You need discipline and inspiration, rigor and mercy, earth and heaven. You need to have a clear goal, but you also need to allow yourself to be guided to get there.

Q: In Veronica Decides to Die, you have portrayed a young girl who tries to commit suicide...
No, it's not a book about suicide. It is about the necessity to accept our differences, instead of trying to fulfill other people's destiny (like the destiny that our parents choose for us, for example). When, as a young man, I insisted on being a writer, my family sent me to a mental institution—not only once, but three times. Veronica is based on this experience. We must stop following the 'Manual of Good Behavior', this non-written book that guides our life, and dare a little bit more. Veronica is bored, because she realizes that today is the same as yesterday, and it will be the same tomorrow.

there are some battles that kill you, and some that make you stronger. For me, it was the latter. I never saw myself as a victim of circumstances, but as an adventurer who must, from time to time, cross troubled waters.

Q: The Alchemist has been the most popular of all your books. Which of your books do you personally think is the best?
I rate all my books A+, because I put the best of myself in them. That means my books are better than myself.

Q: Have you been inspired by any authors?
Yes. Castaneda, Henry Miller, William Blake. But, above all, Jorge Amado and Jorge Luis Borges.

: Your books portray a lot of sensitivity. Sometimes even pathos. A trend not often seen in many of today's New Age books, Which focus more on a feel-good, rose-tinted worldview. What makes you different?
I don't want to judge other people's books. My books only portray my experience, not my wisdom. First, because I am not wise—as I said earlier, everybody knows everything or nobody knows anything, because God is democratic. Second, because experience is all you have and must share. This is our reason to be here: to share. A book can act as a catalyst, making people understand that they are not alone. Several authors made me understand that, and I felt relieved during some critical moments in my life. A book can be a good companion. But it is up to each one of us to learn from our own experiences.

Q: What do you as an author try to communicate?
My soul. My love. My experience. And one sentence: "Who dares, wins."