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Count Backward from 100...
This is my bloodless mystery novel. No murder.
I wrote the book in two weeks. Eyelids is the result of a little
writing exercise I set for myself. I simply wanted to see how fast I could
pound one out -- forget subplots, forget other interests, forget everything
that gives a book its own distinctive texture. Just tell the story.
So I thought up the bare bones of a plot, did about fifteen minutes' worth
of research, and went at it. I worked into the story just about anything
that happened to pass through my head during that two-week period --
baseball, Aeschylus, cholesterol, etc. The bare bones of the plot
acquired flesh.
I'd vaguely had it in mind to turn my writing exercise into a "real" novel,
if the results warranted it. But I was surprised to find I was rather
pleased with the story the way it was. The three main characters were
consistent and credible...and likable. The plot was just offbeat enough
to hold interest. And while feelings run high a couple of places in the
story, the book had an overall amiable tone that would be lost if I added
a murder or other grim stuff.
Murders would be add-ons anyway, rather than arising naturally out of the
plot, and that would give the book a patchwork quality. So I
decided to keep it cozy. I went through the manuscript and did my usual
final polishing -- tweaked a little here, cut a little
there -- and Doubleday published the book without a whimper.
The story concerns a rising young executive named Megan Phillips who awakes
one morning on the fourteenth green of a Pittsburgh golf course. She has
no idea how she got there, nor does she have any memory of the last 38
hours. Worried about her blackout, she consults a most unusual psychiatrist
who determines that Megan had been hypnotized.
A neighbor is present when Megan receives a phone call reinforcing a
posthypnotic suggestion -- which Megan herself is unaware of. It looks as
if she has been programmed to do something...but what? Megan, her neighbor,
and the psychiatrist decide that the only way to solve the puzzle is to
find the hypnotist. And the hunt is on.
I'm finished with writing two-week books, now that I know I can do it. My
usual time spent on a mystery novel is ten months. But I'm pleased with
the results of my writing experiment. Eyelids stands up to
re-reading, and that's always the acid test.
Reviews:
Cincinnati Post:
"With her fourth suspense novel, Barbara Paul again demonstrates
considerable range within the genre. For this novel, a first-rate treat,
is different in subject and tone from any of the three before it."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
"What you see is what you get: an economical, well-plotted mystery
with a sympathetic protagonist, some diverting supporting characters,
and one departure from the conventions of the genre: No one is killed."
Cedar Rapids Gazette:
"In the past couple of years, Paul has written three of the most
distinctive, witty, and engrossing mysteries published anywhere....
The prose is as flaky as ever and the plot as bizarre as her last
novel, First Gravedigger. Paul is a unique and important talent."
Publication:
N.Y.: Doubleday, 1981, ISBN 0-385-17466-7
Roslyn, N.Y.: Detective Book Club, 1982
London: Collins, 1982, ISBN 0-00-231689-7
Bath: Chivers Press, 1984,ISBN 0-7451-0055-4
Paris: Gallimard [as Les paupières lourdes], 1986, ISBN 2-07-049078-5
N.Y.: International Polygonics, 1992, ISBN 2-07-049078-5
Audio:
Oxford, UK: Isis Audio Books, 1993, ISBN 1-85695-493-5
Standalones
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Page created June 28, 1995; last updated August 1, 1999.
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