A journalist also needs to be disciplined, and so do I. I am, essentially, lazy. Without discipline I'd be just a mass of gummy bears on the sofa instead of on book tour with my eighth novel.

But, like peace, comfort didn't come from hiding away or running away. Comfort first demanded courage.

But you want murderous feelings? Hang around librarians," confided Gamache. "All that silence. Gives them ideas.

I had to learn compassion. Had to learn what it felt like to hate, and to forgive and to love and be loved. And to lose people close to me. Had to feel deep loneliness and sorrow. And then I could write.

Myrna could spend happy hours browsing bookcases. She felt if she could just get a good look at a person’s bookcase and their grocery cart, she’d pretty much know who they were.

I've seen enough successful writers who no longer seem to care when they are recognized with an award, and I think that's just tragic.

In winter the very ground seemed to reach up and grab the elderly, yanking them to earth as though hungry for them.