Throwback: The Year We Fell Down

This is a big anniversary for me. The Year We Fell Down came out this week in 2014. It was my second romance ever published. (Just a month behind Coming In From the Cold.) But it’s the first one that really took off. Here are a few things you may not know about The Year We Fell Down.

  1. When I wrote this book, I’d been reading a lot of college romance featuring girls that were broken on the inside. They had invisible scars. I wanted to write something a little different that dealt with body issues. And then Corey sort of announced herself in my mind, and I knew I had the character I was looking for.

  2. This may be my most intensely researched book. I spent months reading about spinal cord injuries. I haunted forums, and read everything on the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation site. I wanted to get Corey right. What I learned, though, is that spinal cord injuries really are like snowflakes—no two are the same. I watched YouTube videos of therapists working with patients, and settled on a realistic profile for her injury.

  3. I did so much research, in fact, that I realized how differently this might affect a male character. And that’s how Falling From the Sky was born.

  4. The most gratifying thing about publishing this book was the reader mail from people who identified with Corey’s physical challenges. One physical therapist gave copies away to her female clients.

  5. ... But then I spent most of the writing time on the friendship and romance, of course. That’s what readers are here for. And I wanted to make you ache. 😊

  6. The Year We Fell Down is one of my most translated books, into German, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Danish, Czech, French, etc.

  7. I wrote parts of Bridger’s book—The Year We Hid Away—before The Year We Fell Down was published. But I decided that Corey and Hartley deserved to go first!

  8. The book did well from the start, but a few months after publication, both Tammara Webber and Colleen Hoover recommended the book during the same week. Those ladies helped me and this book so much, and I will be forever grateful. 🙏

The Ivy YearsN. L.sarina bowen, Ivy Years, The Year We Fell Down, Throwback, Colleen Hoover, Tammara WebberComment