"The Story Behind the Story" - This Is Falling by Ginger Scott

Ginger Scott's newest novel, This is Falling, releases today! To help celebrate, Ginger is here with a great post, "The Story Behind the Story". Trust me, this is so good! Thanks for stopping by.

Series: Standalone

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Ginger Scott

Publication Date: 8/29/14

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First, I had to remember how to breathe. Then, I had to learn how to survive. Two years, three months and sixteen days had passed since I was the Rowe Stanton from before, since tragedy stole my youth and my heart went along with it.

When I left for college, I put a thousand miles between my future and my past. I’d made a choice—I was going to cross back to the other side, to live with the living. I just didn’t know how.

And then I met Nate Preeter.

An All-American baseball player, Nate wasn’t supposed to notice a ghost-of-a-girl like me. But he did. He shouldn’t want to know my name. But he did. And when he learned my secret and saw the scars it left behind, he was supposed to run. But he didn’t.

My heart was dead, and I was never supposed to belong to anyone. But Nate Preeter had me feeling, and he made me want to be his. He showed me everything I was missing.

And then he showed me how to fall.

THIS IS FALLING – The story behind the story

Hmmmmm, there’s always a story behind a story. Isn’t that what they say? At least, there is for me. And it doesn’t have to be some weighty experience from my youth that I’m still carrying around—though, I must admit I have been inspired by a great deal of that. (Hint: you’ll probably find a lot of those elements peppered throughout WAITING ON THE SIDELINES.)


When I get hit with inspiration, it’s usually instant and often inconvenient. There have been several…okay hundreds of conversations in the car with my family that I’ve only been halfway tuned into because I’m busy tapping out notes on my iPhone for some thing I just thought of. I’m also big on writing things down on the backs of receipts, bill envelopes and ticket stubs.


This is how THIS IS FALLING hit me.



It was the back of a ticket stub that started it all. I was at an Arizona State University baseball game, comfortably relaxing on a towel (lawn seats). The kid and the hubby were playing catch somewhere else, and I was watching the team warm up. Then I started my favorite ritual of people watching. I’m sure it’s nothing unique, but I watch mannerisms—I like to see how people flirt, how they look when they’re embarrassed, how they show off. I’m constantly making mental notes so that way the next time I’m hit with a scene that calls for it, I can get that feeling—and the way it looks—just right with my words.


I was people-watching just for the sake of entertainment when I noticed this one girl—cut-off denim shorts, tennis shoes without socks and her brown hair piled up high in a bun (the spring Arizona look when the temps are in the 90s). She was chewing on her nails watching one of the players, and he noticed her—believe me, he noticed her. They never talked. He never once walked over to say something to her. There was this really intense moment of lip biting, glances and really awesome smiles. But it never manifested. And eventually her friend came back from the snack bar and the two of them became lost in their phones, texting rather than watching the game. But I was still stuck on those few minutes when I caught her looking at him—both of them…interested.


By the second inning, I had THIS IS FALLING mapped out. The main characters’ names, Rowe and Nate, were written on the back of my ASU ticket stub, and the direction for the first chapter was outlined. I started writing as soon as we got home, and I didn’t stop—the story literally poured out of me.


This moment—this feeling that I probably felt more than the two unknowing suspects I’d been staring at—was the genesis of THIS IS FALLING. But the details came from other experiences in my life. There’s a major plot point in this story—I can’t give the exact idea away because it would ruin the reading experience, but it’s clear early on and from the synopsis that Rowe is recovering from a tragedy. I’ve covered many tragedies as a reporter, and the thought of what happens after, when the media dies down and when people start forgetting, is something I always think about.


There are also two very special brothers in this book—the Preeter boys, Nate and Ty. I think these may be my two favorite characters I’ve ever written. Nate came first, but he needed an opposite—a really loveable but very blunt opposite—and that’s what Ty’s character is. The Preeter brothers were inspired by two brothers from Arizona State University—the Poole brothers. I won’t get too deep into their story, but Keith Poole was one hell of a wide receiver, and his brother Marc was paralyzed from the waist down. I worked at the college paper and knew their story well—often seeing Marc on the sidelines, his brother and best friend making a game-winning catch on the field. Their story is one that’s unbelievably inspiring, and it stuck with me for years. I didn’t know them well, having met Keith a handful of times and quoted him once or twice for an editorial. But they made an impression. And when I was trying to find the right fit for Nate’s brother, they came to mind. The Preeter boys aren’t the Poole brothers, but they definitely moved me in a direction.


There were dozens of other small things that found their way into FALLING. I could go on and on, but I’ll end with these special last two. There’s a really great bar in THIS IS FALLING called Sally’s. If you know Stillwater, Okla., then know this—Sally’s is a little bit of a shout-out to Eskimo Joe’s. I named it Sally’s after my bassett hound.


And lastly, there is something in every one of my books that is inspired by something my husband said or did. I’m a lucky girl in that I married my very best friend on this earth, and he is and has always been the nice guy. He has also always been the funny guy. And there is one prank—the prank above all pranks—that plays out in THIS IS FALLING. I married a man who actually did that to someone;-)


THIS IS FALLING has its own playlist! And these songs seem to be sticking with me through Ty’s story (Nate’s brother). Have a listen: http://open.spotify.com/user/thegingerscott/playlist/66hCTgyzBgQLBCH2t3oGIz

Amazing! I don't know about y'all but I am so ready to read This is Falling.

Ginger Scott is a writer and journalist from Peoria, Arizona. Her new adult romance, "How We Deal With Gravity," centers on a young, single mother of a child with autism and her chance at love with a familiar face from her past. 'Gravity' releases July 8.

Scott is also the author of "Waiting on the Sidelines," a coming-of-age love story that explores the real heartbreak we all feel as we become adults throughout our high school years. The story follows two characters, Nolan (a Tomboy with a baseball player's name) and Reed (the quarterback she wishes would notice her) as they struggle with peer-pressure, underage drinking, bullying and finding a balance between what your heart wants and what society says you should want -- even if you aren't ready. You can read it, and the sequel, "Going Long," now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other e-book outlets.She is also the author of "Blindness," and the soon-to-be-released new-adult romance "This Is Falling."

Scott has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at

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