He was giving me enough rope to hang myself with. Apparently he didn't realize that once a noose is tied it will fit one neck as easily as another.

My granda always told me that fall's the time to root up something you don't want coming back to trouble you.' Kote mimicked the quaver of an old man's voice. 'Things are too full of life in the spring months. In the summer, they're too strong and won't let go. Autumn...' He looked around at the changing leaves on the trees. 'Autumn's the time. In autumn everything is tired and ready to die.

Character is half the reason we read. We're excited because of the plot, but we care because of the characters.

Beer dulls a memory, brand sets it burning, but wine is the best for a sore heart's yearning.

I'm not a stereotypical professor type. I don't smoke a pipe and wear a tweedy jacket. I'm more like a student who stayed at the university for so long that they gave him a job to keep him out of trouble.

That is how heavy a secret can become. It can make blood flow easier than ink.

Caffeine helps a lot. That and a certain amount of isolation.