Tess Gerritsen Quotes

Throughout most of my life, I've tried to downplay my Chinese heritage because I wanted so much to be an American. I was the only Asian kid in my elementary school, and I longed to be like everyone else. I insisted on American food; I was embarrassed by my mother's poor English. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I know there's evil in the world, and there always has been. But you don't need to believe in Satan or demons to explain it. Human beings are perfectly capable of evil all by themselves. ~ Tess Gerritsen

If you don't love him, if you don't even care about him, then seeing him now shouldn't be all that painful. Should it? ~ Tess Gerritsen

God, it's like reality's completely shifted on me. I used to think I was standing on such solid ground. If I wanted something badly enough, I just worked like hell for it. Now I can't decide what to do, which move to make. All the things I counted on aren't there for me anymore. ~ Tess Gerritsen

He had a son, but he died some years ago, on a foreign trip. His ex-wife's dead, too, and I've never seen any woman there." Nora shook her head. "It's an awful thing to think about. Dead for four days and no one even notices. That's how unconnected he seemed to be. ~ Tess Gerritsen

My father was second-generation Chinese-American, born in 1923 in California. My mother emigrated to the States from China when she was in her early twenties, in part to escape the political turmoil in China. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Because we bear responsibility for our own actions alone. Not for anyone else's. ~ Tess Gerritsen

She was the only woman in the homicide unit, and already there had been problems between her and another detective, charges of sexual harassment, countercharges of unrelenting bitchiness. ~ Tess Gerritsen

In memory of Jim Heacock "In thy face I see the map of honor, truth, and loyalty." - William Shakespeare Henry VI, Part III ~ Tess Gerritsen

You can study a face all you want, but you never really know what lies beneath the mask. ~ Tess Gerritsen

It's what all writers dream of, that our work finds a measure of immortality that long outlives the words of any critic. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Some people make choices hoping for the best; Korsak had made a choice simply to avoid the worst. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Everything's a gamble, love most of all. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I think of myself as a fairly logical, scientific and somewhat reserved person. Maura Isles, the Boston medical examiner who appears in five of my books, is me. Almost everything I use in describing her, from her taste in wine to her biographical data, is taken from my own family. Except I don't have a serial killer as a mother! ~ Tess Gerritsen

Death does not discriminate; whether saints or sinners, in the end, all are equal. ~ Tess Gerritsen

But human anatomy and human endurance are variable. While the much younger nun had succumbed to her injuries, Ursula's heart kept beating, her body unwilling to surrender its soul. Not a miracle, merely one of those quirks of fate, like the child who survives a fall from a sixth-floor window, and is only scratched. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Because I never plan anything out ahead of time, I'm always in the process of learning about my characters. Without a biographical sketch to guide me, I discover things about my heroines as the stories unfold. Only in 'Body Double' did I discover that Maura's mother was a serial killer. ~ Tess Gerritsen

The most intimate feeling people can share is neither love nor hate, but pain. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Jane remained in her chair thinking about justice, about how the dead never benefited from it. For them it always comes too late. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Only animals should have to pee in the woods. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Parenthood is nothing but doubts. ~ Tess Gerritsen

There are far scarier things in this world than dead bodies. ~ Tess Gerritsen

With every year that I grow older, I also draw closer to (my loved ones) to the day when we will once again be together. So I march through the deepening shadows, serene and unafraid, because I know that at the end of my journey they will be waiting for me. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Sometimes, the stars line up, the gods smile, and love gets a fighting chance. Just a chance. That's all it can really hope for. No guarantees, no certainties ~ Tess Gerritsen

I'd been writing stories since I was a child. I wrote little books for my mom and bound them myself with needle and thread. Mostly, they were about my pets. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Where we go depends on what we know, and what we know depends on where we go. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Why do we always treat kids like the enemy?" "Because they so often behave like an alien species? ~ Tess Gerritsen

A project like 'Rizzoli & Isles' is something you can't pursue. It's something that comes to you ... I like to call it 'fairy dust.' And it happened without my having to do anything. ~ Tess Gerritsen

We are so good at killing each other, she thought. Yet we fail so miserably at love. ~ Tess Gerritsen

The bush is not merely a holiday destination; it's where you learn how insignificant you truly ~ Tess Gerritsen

Fans are always asking me where I get my ideas from. The answer is that I'm very curious, and I get inspiration from everywhere. I read the newspapers voraciously, so I know what's going on in real crime. I pay attention to the strange stories people tell me, and I also read a lot of scientific and forensic journals. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Since my romance novels had all been thrillers as well, it wasn't such a leap for me to move into the straight thriller genre. The most difficult part, I think, was being accepted as a thriller writer. Once you've written romance, unfortunately, critics will never stop calling you a 'former romance author.' ~ Tess Gerritsen

She had never paid much attention to the heart beating in her own chest. As she watched the pattern traced by Korsak's, she became aware of her own pulse. She had always taken her heartbeat for granted, and she wondered what it would be like, to hang on every beat, fearful that the next might not come. That the throb of life in her chest would suddenly go still. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Only by the shuddering of the bed did Toby realize the girl was sobbing. Molly herself made no sound; it was as though her grief was trapped in a jar, her cries inaudible to anyone but her. ~ Tess Gerritsen

For years I've wanted to write a book about mummies, and had been following the science of mummy CT scans when the premise for 'The Keepsake' occurred to me: what if an 'ancient' mummy turns out to have a bullet in its leg? How does a modern murder victim get turned into a mummy? ~ Tess Gerritsen

She pressed her fingers to the woman's neck and felt icy skin.
Bending close to the lips, she waited for the whisper of a breath, the faintest puff of air against her cheek.
The corpse opened its eyes. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Maybe it's because I can't have him that I feel safe wanting him. He's beyond my reach, so he won't hurt me. ~ Tess Gerritsen

If you want to remain at liberty, I suggest you not antagonize your defenders. ~ Tess Gerritsen

The human mind was expert at filling in missing details and confidently turning them into facts, even if those facts were merely imagined. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Now they were probably telling one another: Yeah, I knew something wasn't right. Everyone's brilliant in retrospect. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I believe that every experience, every wrong decision, teaches us something. That's why we shouldn't be afraid to make mistakes. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Look into his mind, his universe. We may think it's sick, but for him, this place is a little slice of paradise. A place where the dead are laid to rest. Just the place the Dominator would come. He walks around here and probably imagines a whole harem of sleeping women right beneath his feet. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I was an anthropology major in college, and I've had a lifelong fascination with Egyptology, mummies, and all sorts of bizarre cultural practices. ~ Tess Gerritsen

That's what makes life an adventure. Sometimes you just have to jump in and trust in the universe. ~ Tess Gerritsen

What Rizzoli thought, staring at her own image, was that she hated Elizabeth Hurley for giving women false hope. The brutal truth was, there are some women who will never be beautiful, and Rizzoli was one of them. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I devote most of my day to writing, and try to turn out at least four pages a day. As for what triggers the creative process, it's a mystery to me! Characters often just walk on the page, and I wait to see what they do and say while I'm writing them. ~ Tess Gerritsen

The hardest part of writing is the first draft, and the closer you get to your deadline, the messier your workspace becomes - but that's the same with any creative outlet. ~ Tess Gerritsen

My name is Mila, and this is my journey.
There are so many places where I could begin the story. I could start in the town where I grew up, in Kryvicy, on the banks of the Servac River, in the district of Miadziel. I could begin when I was eight years old, on the day my mother died, or when I was twelve, and my father fell beneath the wheels of the neighbour's truck. But I think I should begin my story here, in the Mexican desert, so far from my home in Belarus. This is where I lost my innocence. This is where my dreams died. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Can you ever really know a person? ~ Tess Gerritsen

No kiss, no embrace, could bring two people any closer than we are right now. The most intimate emotion two people can share is neither love nor desire but pain. ~ Tess Gerritsen

'Lonesome Dove' by Larry McMurtry and 'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver have stuck with me throughout my life, and I think that says a lot about an author's writing. ~ Tess Gerritsen

There are hazards to every job, just like there are hazards to getting up in the morning. Driving to work, walking to the mailbox. Boarding a plane... The surprise isn't that we die. The surprise is how and when we die. ~ Tess Gerritsen

How far have we strayed from our essential natures. Just the sight of blood can make some men faint, and people scurry to hide such horrors from the public eye, hosing down sidewalks where blood has spilled, or covering children's eyes when violence erupts on the television. Humans have lost touch with who, and what, they really are.
Some of us, however, have not.
We walk among the rest, normal in every respect; perhaps we are more normal than anyone else because we have not allowed ourselves to be wrapped and mummified in civilization's sterile bandages. We see blood, and we do not turn away. We recognize its lustrous beauty; we feel its primitive pull.
Everyone who drives past an accident and cannot help but look for the blood understands this. Beneath the revulsion, the urge to turn away, throbs a greater force. Attraction.
We all want to look. But not all of us will admit it. ~ Tess Gerritsen

That is exactly what I learned. That evil can be so ordinary. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I organise jam sessions every month. We have an open session, so everyone knows about it, and we can get as many as 30 people showing up at the house. Somebody will play a tune, and everyone will pick up on it. My best friends are all musicians. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I was always meant to be a writer. I've felt that way since I was a child. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I think what medical training does is it gives you the language, the tools to look up facts. I think medical training gives you a sense of how to approach a problem, how to look at symptoms and go down the list of what it might be. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Only with maturity did I come to appreciate my own Chinese roots: not just the food and the ancient history, but also the philosophy of child-rearing and the respect for education and knowledge. ~ Tess Gerritsen

She met his gaze, and what she saw in his eyes scared her, because at that instant she saw both possibility and heartbreak. She was ready for neither. ~ Tess Gerritsen

No man easily admits that he is afraid. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Does he think it's so easy? One smile, one touch and all is forgiven -Dr Maura Isles ~ Tess Gerritsen

In 'Last to Die,' three children living in different cities are the only survivors when their families are slaughtered. Two years later, their foster families are murdered, and these three orphans are once again the only survivors. ~ Tess Gerritsen

There's nothing as boring as perfection ~ Tess Gerritsen

The Christmas tree, twinkling with lights, had a mountain of gifts piled up beneath it, like offerings to the great god of excess. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I'm trained in science, believe in logic, and like to think there's an explanation for everything. And I'm truly not really at ease with other people. ~ Tess Gerritsen

It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. ~ Tess Gerritsen

The best heroes in the world are the reluctant ones. Courage isn't fearlessness - it's acting in the face of fear. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Medicine is probably one of the best backgrounds for a writer to find stories. I always think cops and docs have the best background because we see so much of human behavior, such a range of human emotions. ~ Tess Gerritsen

There's that unpredictability factor, that chance that something completely unexpected - something amazing - could happen. That's what makes life an adventure. Sometimes you just have to jump in and trust the universe. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I spent my childhood watching every scary movie that Hollywood ever made. And I think that gave me the best education for storytelling. It also made me want to reproduce the scary moments that I felt, sitting in a theater at the age of 5. ~ Tess Gerritsen

ADD has turned into a catchall for all childhood misbehavior. When a student's failing in class, or he gets into mischief, ~ Tess Gerritsen

Mom and I often talked about the trip we'd someday take together to the 'city of eternal spring' where she was born. In Kunming, she said, the fruits are sweeter, the mountains look like Chinese paintings, and the weather is always perfect. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Because my dad's Chinese-American, and they're very concrete, he said, 'There's no money to be made in literature.' So he told me to go into the sciences. And I was a good girl. And I did what Daddy said. And that's how I ended up being a doctor. But you know, you just can't stamp out that desire to tell stories. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Society thinks of violent acts as manifestations of evil or immorality. We're told we have ultimate control over our own behavior, that each and every one of us has the free will to choose not to hurt another human being. But it's not just morality that guides us. Biology does as well. Our frontal lobs helps us integrate thoughts and actions. They help us weight the consequences of those actions. Without such control, we'd give in to every wild impulse. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I think fiction, for me, is a way of trying to understand why people do the things they do - and trying to explain what is, at heart, illogical. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Richard subtly slipped in the fact that he is thriller writer Richard Renwick, creator of MI5 hero Jackman Tripp. Unfortunately none of them had ever heard of Richard or his hero, which led to a prickly first day on safari. But now he's back in form, doing what he does best: charming his audience. Laying it on too thick, I think. Far too thick. But if I complain about it later, I know exactly what he'll say. It's what writers have to do, Millie. We have to be sociable and bring in new readers. Funny how Richard never wastes his time being sociable with ~ Tess Gerritsen

When you shine a bright light, a secret loses all its power. ~ Tess Gerritsen

What happens when we get old? he wondered. Where does the kid part of us go? ~ Tess Gerritsen

She now knew her death was inevitable, and with that acceptance came liberation. The courage of the condemned. ~ Tess Gerritsen

You know that movie, where the little boy says 'I see dead people'?
The Sixth Sense.
Well, I see them all the time, and I'm getting tired of it. That's what's ruined my mood. Here it is, almost Christmas, and I didn't even think about putting up a tree, because I'm still seeing the autopsy lab in my head. I'm still smelling it on my hands. I come home on a day like this, after two postmortems, and I can't think about cooking dinner. I can't even look at a piece of meat without thinking of muscle fibers. All I can deal with is a cocktail. And then I pour the drink and smell the alcohol, and suddenly there I am, back in the lab. Alcohol, formalin, they both have that same sharp smell. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I raised two sons, and I know that even though they're bigger and stronger than I am, they're still little boys inside. They still cry, they still hurt. So whenever I write a male character, no matter how 'heroic' he may be, I think of my sons. And I remember that every man was once a little boy. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Fierce-looking, a coal-eyed brunette with a gaze direct as lasers. She ~ Tess Gerritsen

She'd loved their scent--not sweet and cloying like other flowers, but pungent. Assertive. She'd loved the way they sprang up wild in vacant lots and roadsides, reminders that true beauty is spontaneous and irrepressible. ~ Tess Gerritsen

But death wouldn't deter her killer. It would whet his appetite. He'd look at her corpse and see only an object of desire. Someone he can control. She doesn't resist him. She is cool, passive flesh, yielding to any and all indignities. She is the perfect lover. The ~ Tess Gerritsen

One of the best Christmas presents I ever got was the globe that I now keep right beside my desk. ~ Tess Gerritsen

That's what I imagined, a giant game park with comfortable lodges and roads. At a minimum, roads. According to the website, there'd be "bush camping" involved, but I pictured lovely big tents with showers and flush toilets. I didn't think I'd be paying for the privilege of squatting in the bushes. ~ Tess Gerritsen

The best ideas are those that really affect me emotionally - those are the ones you never forget. You think to yourself, 'I want to write that book', for years; those are the ideas that I love to work with, and 'The Bone Garden' was one of them. ~ Tess Gerritsen

Some people just couldn't commit to their own health. Instead they wasted their energy worrying about things they could do nothing about. ~ Tess Gerritsen

There is honor between bitches ~ Tess Gerritsen

Your blood reveal your most intimate secrets. Are you dying of leukimia or AIDS? Did you smoke cigarette or drink a glass of wine in the last few hours? Are you prozac because you're depressed, or Viagra because you can't get it up? ~ Tess Gerritsen

She siged, a sound of regret for childhood transgressions, for all the lessons learned too late. ~ Tess Gerritsen

'Ice Cold' is the eighth in my 'Rizzoli and Isles' thriller series. It was inspired by a true occurrence in the 1960s, now known as the 'Dugway Incident,' in which 6,000 sheep mysteriously died overnight in a remote area of Utah. I thought, 'What if it happened instead to people? What if the inhabitants of an entire village vanished overnight?' ~ Tess Gerritsen

No matter how much you try to maintain order in your life, no matter how careful you are to guard against mistakes, against imperfections, there is always some smudge, some flaw, lurking out of sight. Waiting to surprise you. ~ Tess Gerritsen

The dead do not hurt you; only the living do. ~ Tess Gerritsen

But that doesn't explain the apparently random killing of women and children. No, there was something else behind it, the same thing that's inspired ritual murder cults around the world. Vast numbers of people have been sacrificed for a variety of beliefs. Whether you kill to terrify your enemies or to appease gods like Zeus or Kali, it all gets down to one thing: power. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I'm a dinosaur, he thought, lumbering through a world where truthtellers
are despised. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I met my husband, Jacob, in medical school. We married and went to live in Hawaii where his family lived. It was very beautiful, but I wasn't used to being on an island and needed wide open spaces. Eventually we moved to Maine, New England. ~ Tess Gerritsen

I look at the others seated around the campfire. Mr. and Mrs. Matsunaga are diligently reviewing the day's photos on his camera. Vivian and Sylvia lounge in their low-cut tank tops, oozing pheromones that make poor, awkward Elliot grovel for attention as usual. Are you gals chilly? Can I get your sweaters? ~ Tess Gerritsen

Beware the ignorant, Lorenzo. They're the most dangerous enemy of all, because they are everywhere. ~ Tess Gerritsen

My brother often complains to me about the 'angry Asian male' in the United States. As a female, I haven't encountered this, but Asian-American men are angry. They're angry because, for so many years, they've been neglected as sex symbols. Asian women have it much easier, I think; we're accepted into various circles. ~ Tess Gerritsen