In 2024, as I was writing my most recent novel, A Thousand Ways Home, a story came to me that I couldn’t shake. I tried to put it out of my mind because I was already working on another story, but the new story kept creeping in. I published A Thousand Ways Home in July 2024 and immediately started work on this new story, which I called The Walls Come Tumbling Down.
It’s not all that unusual for a writer to think about their next book before finishing their current one, but in my experience, this was different. The Walls Come Tumbling Down came to me fully formed. I was ready to start writing as soon as A Thousand Ways Home was published. The story was insistent. It wouldn’t be pushed to the back of my mind. It wanted to be told.
As I started writing, the new story flowed out of me. I don’t want to sound too woo-woo about this, but I felt like I was telling a story that was being fed to me from somewhere else. I’ve never experienced that feeling before, and although it felt a little strange, I have to admit that I liked how easy it was to commit the story to paper. Every book is a challenge. Some take more effort than others. But The Walls Come Tumbling Down seemed to take the least effort of any book I’ve written. Even so, I think it might be the favorite story I’ve told to date. I truly enjoyed writing this book.
The story being told in The Walls Come Tumbling Down involves a professional race car driver who is involved in a nasty accident while trying to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. He suffers severe head trauma which results in him remembering things that never happened, at least not in his life. He remembers being a construction worker in 1980s Chicago, a soldier in World War II, a butler in late 1800s England, and a cowboy in what would eventually become Colorado. When the memories start to take over his present life, they threaten his career and his relationship with his girlfriend.
Writing this story was a very satisfying experience. I’m looking forward to completing the book and sharing it with everyone in March. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
