Wonderful Thing About Novels Is That Sometimes

We All Have A Tendency To Over Generalize Our Individual Experiences. After I've Published Something, I'll Meet Someone Who Says, "i'm Haitian, And I Don't Know This, So It Must Not Be True." Even If We're Talking About A Work Of Fiction. I've Gotten Very Angry Myself Reading Many Things About Haiti. We're Not A Monolithic Group; No Group Is. Also, It's Important To Keep In Mind The Genre In Which We Are Writing. Fiction Is Full Of Invented Stories About Exceptional People In Exceptional Situations. Those Situations Are Not Always Cheery Or Celebratory.

People Think That There Is A Country There That These People Are Only Around When They Are On Cnn. I Don't Think That's Limited To Haiti.

Someone Has Said That Nations Have Interests, They Don't Have Friends, And You See That Over And Over In U.s. Policy.

Often When You're An Immigrant Writing In English, People Think It's Primarily A Commercial Choice. But For Many Of Us, It's A Choice That Rises Out Of The Circumstances Of Our Lives. These Are The Tools I Have At My Disposal, Based On My Experiences. It's A Constant Debate, Not Just In My Community But In Other Communities As Well. Where Do You Belong? You're Kind Of One Of Us, But You Now Write In A Different Language.

There Is This Split Between The Haiti Of Before The Earthquake And The Haiti Of After The Earthquake. So When I'm Writing Anything Set In Haiti Now, Whether Fiction Or Nonfiction, Always In The Back Of My Mind Is How People, Including Some Of My Own Family Members, Have Been Affected Not Just By History And By The Present But Also By The Earthquake.