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Susan Crandall | Sleep... Is It Really Safe?
January 12, 2010
I’ve always been curious about the working of the human mind; which has
certainly come in handy during my career as a fiction writer. It doesn’t matter
how cool your plot is if your characters are acting...well, out of character. I
spend a lot of time before I ever start writing a book working on my characters’
backgrounds and psyches. When I began planning my romantic suspense
SLEEP NO MORE, I was
looking for something that was a deep-seated part of my heroine that could
present a danger in itself, as well as lead to danger from external forces.
When sleepwalking came to mind, I immediately knew I had just the ticket. The
research into sleepwalking made me more certain that I wanted to wrap this
book’s plot around it. Think of it. Night. That moment when we put away the day, fall blissfully into
the welcome softness of our familiar beds and close our weary eyes. But what if
you feared what you might do after you fell asleep? What if your unconscious
sleeping-self had wrought pain and destruction to those you love? How would you
cope? Abby Whitman has found a way. She lives in isolation, never sleeping under the
same roof as another person. Extreme you say? Certainly. But some childhood
traumas run so deep, there is no exorcising them - especially when your sister
was the scarred victim of the fire you caused and spends every day ensuring you
never forget. Then one night Abby awakens behind the wheel of her van, half-submerged in a
lonely country marsh. She has no memory of how she got there. Was she
sleep-driving? An anonymous 911 call brings help to the scene and Abby
discovers she wasn’t the only one in this accident. A senator’s son has been
killed. Shortly thereafter the strange telephone calls and threats begin.
Someone doesn’t want Abby to tell what she saw. She sets out to discover
exactly what did happen on that deserted road, before the threats become acts. She turns to an acquaintance, psychiatrist Jason Coble, a man with a boatload of
personal problems of his own. Jason is torn. He wants to help Abby, but he
doesn’t trust his professional judgment when his own emotions are involved - and
his emotions have quickly become engaged with Abby. Circumstances force him to
forge ahead, helping Abby understand herself, her sleepwalking and her guilt, as
well as uncovering the secrets that someone is willing to kill to keep. Now, tonight when I lay down to sleep, you can bet I’ll be thinking how lucky I
am that I know I’ll wake up right where I fell asleep. Susan Crandall
SusanCrandall.net
Comments
16 comments posted.
Re: Susan Crandall | Sleep... Is It Really Safe?
Interesting concept....I like the title and the cover of your book. I have never met anyone who walked in their sleep, but it sounds like it could be a very real problem.
(Ruby Davis 12:19pm January 12, 2010)
I've only had a brush with it myself. My daughter did some sleepwalking as a young child. The alarm on the house gave her away, or we might not have caught her before she went outdoors. It was scary!
(Susan Crandall 11:05am January 12, 2010)
My son would sleepwalk when he was young,would scare us because we had a basement with stairs, he was big enough that gates and special locks did no good. He never got hurt and finally he just stoped. Pretty scarey!
(Dee Walls 11:21am January 12, 2010)
Fascinating idea. I can't wait to read the book. Strangely enough, some sleeping pills cause activity while sleeping--eating, driving, etc.
(Megan Kelly 11:23am January 12, 2010)
Yes, it was the driving reports of those pills that fed this idea. The unconscious mind is a fascinating thing!
(Susan Crandall 2:23pm January 12, 2010)
I was a sleepwalker. I used to get up, turn the T.V. on and watch it in my sleep. Great ideas for a book, I recommend everyone try sleepwalking at least once! :-)
(Lisa Glidewell 4:38pm January 12, 2010)
I don't know anyone who sleep walks. It would be terrifying.
(Mary Preston 5:26pm January 12, 2010)
I've heard of people who eat while sleepwalking. Man, what a bummer, all of those calories and none of the lasting pleasure.
(Susan Crandall 7:18pm January 12, 2010)
I actually used to sleepwalk when I was a child and woke up some distance from my sleeping bag on a girl scout camping trip. Thankfully I outgrew it and I sure don't recommend it.
[email protected]
(Penny Tuttle 8:24pm January 12, 2010)
I've known sleep talkers and my sister was one. She thought a lamp cord was a snake and took awhile to convince that it wasn't anything bad. My sister never awakened, but carried on a conversation she never remembered. Oh, the powers of sleep. I've also known people who fall out of bed and stay asleep. Hopefully, they land on a rug.
(Alyson Widen 8:46pm January 12, 2010)
My brother sleepwalked into a neighbor's tent one time and asked a stranger to move over.
(Alyson Widen 8:50pm January 12, 2010)
I've never experienced being around someone who has sleepwalked I think it would really not be a safe thing for them!
(Brenda Rupp 9:30pm January 12, 2010)
I can only image the horrors that these people must suffer knowing they are sleep walkers. Where did I go? What did I do? Where am I?? So many questions that should not have to be asked nor answered. I have been driving home and listening to radio and all of a sudden I nothing seems familiar. Where am I? Where am I going? This one thought makes your heart almost stop, and terrifies you. This is minor to what these people suffer on a daily basis.
(Brenda Hill 9:44pm January 12, 2010)
Oh, Brenda, I know what you mean about tooling along in a familiar area with your mind otherwise occupied and realized you can't recall the past few blocks or where you were going. Good comparison! And sleepwalking has to be so much more frightening.
(Susan Crandall 10:20pm January 12, 2010)
Susan, the book sounds wonderful, can't wait to read it. Love the book cover.
(Judy Anderson 10:44pm January 12, 2010)
I've never before thought of sleep this way, although I've seen movies or TV shows that use this theme. As far as I'm aware, nobody I know is a sleepwalker. However, I know that "living" with your character for the length of the book will make me feel as though I do. At the moment I have "Seeing Red" on my immediate TBR pile and hope to get "Sleep No More" soon.
(Sigrun Schulz 5:43pm January 15, 2010)
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