Food for thought from "Just One Look" by Harlan Coben:

Loneliness, the precursor to boredom, is conducive to the creative process. That was what artistic meditation was all about - boring yourself to the point where inspiration must emerge if only to preserve your sanity.

The key to serenity, Wu knew, was to keep working, keep moving forward. When you're moving, you don't think about guilt or innocence.  You don't think about your past or your dreams, your joys or disappointments.

Child-rearing experts - those namby-pamby, lobotomy-voiced Ph.D.s on cable TV - would probably tsk-tsk, but Grace was not one of those tell-kids-everything parents.  Above all else a mother's job was to protect.  Emma was not old enough to handle the truth.  Plain and simple.  Deception was a necessary part of parenting.  Of course Grace could be wrong - she knew that - but the old adage is true:  Kids don't come with instructions. We all mess up.  Raising a child is pure impromptu.

The problem with tragedy is that you have to go on.  There is no choice. You cannot just pull off the road and wait it out - much as you might want to.  If you have other children you understand that right away.  Your life may be over, but you get out of bed for others.