I jokingly say if there was one great thing about, you know, the Lebanese Civil War was that it forced me to read.
If you go through any culture that has had wars, go to the bomb shelters, and you'll hear some amazing stories. Yes, it's a necessary thing that we actually both distract ourselves and it's a way to bond.
I always say show me a storyteller who doesn't embellish, and I'll show you a bad one.
I loved problems on paper, and I was good at math, but I was a mechanical engineer, and I never understood - or cared to - how a car worked.
Nobody ever said I'm a simple personality.
When I wrote my first book, 'Koolaids,' I felt rejected and not wanted.
As teenagers, a lot of us just did not want much to do with Arabic culture - we looked to the West.
I started writing half a paragraph of a mystery novel, half a paragraph there, and they were terrible.
If I were to pray in Arabic, I'd pray to Allah. If I were to pray in English, I'd pray to God.
I can make up stories with the best of them. I've been telling stories since I was a little kid.
In 1982, Algeria made their first appearance at the World Cup. I believe it was the first Arab country to do so.
The relationship between France and its 'foreign' players - blacks and North African Arabs - has always been troubled, particularly with Algerians.
I always assumed that everyone knew no country would ever be awarded a World Cup without pricey gifts exchanging hands under the tables.
In 1975, I left the burning city of Beirut for the quiet insanity of England. To say that short, frail and wispy 15-year-old me didn't fit in would be such an understatement as to be a joke.
For me, soccer was a dance.
When I was younger, I used to find stories about divas charming. Not much anymore.
I gave up on the delusion that these players enjoy soccer as much as I do, that they play for the love of the game.
I was about 11 or 12 when I began to pick up my mother's books.
When the Lebanese Civil War started in 1975, I was 15. I was shipped to boarding school in England and, after that, to UCLA.
Close friends consider me a literary snob.
