UPDATE: MARCH 2025
Exciting news! A professionally-edited, revised edition of On the Way Down will be coming to Amazon and Kindle Unlimited later in 2025. Add this book to your library to be notified when the new edition is available! Please note that most chapters of this version of On the Way Down will be unpublished here before the end of March 2025.
༺â༻
ON THE WAY DOWN started as my Open Novella Contest (ONC) project. Around nine chapters in, it became clear that Delaney and Phoenix's story was a full-length novel. It's a story of second chances in love, redemption, romantic suspense, and a Dateline-like mystery to solve. I hope you enjoy reading it every bit as much as I enjoyed writing it.
༺â༻
TROPES IN THIS STORY
Second chance
Redemption
One bed
Emotional scars
Is it all as it seems?
The one that got away
༺â༻
STORY SUMMARY
They say you meet the same people on the way up and on the way down. In her wildest dreams and story plots, novelist Delaney Sharpe never fathomed this could apply to her, or that it would involve Phoenix Alden, the ex-boyfriend who ghosted her while his acting career was on the rise to Hollywood A-list status.
When Phoenix struts back in to Delaney's life after a career nosedive and time away from the spotlight, he claims he's no longer the walking red flag he was when they dated. And when he asks her for a second chanceâone weekend together to explain himself and prove he isn't who he used to beâshe isn't sure what to do. Reuniting with Phoenix was a daydream Delaney had after he walked out, and before she healed, moved on, and found her own success.
Still, it's only one weekend, and there's a spark between them Delaney can't ignore. She can finally get answers about what happened in their relationship and where Phoenix disappeared to. But when the weekend leaves her with deeper feelings than she expected, more questions, and a mystery to solve, Delaney knows she must uncover the truth about the last few years of Phoenix's life to decide if he really has changed, or if he's a danger to more than just her heart.
༺â༻
PLAYLIST
Here's what I listened to while I writing this and daydreaming about scenes:
exes - Tate McRae
justified - Kasey Musgraves
Lie Lie Lie - Joshua Bassett
Flowers - Miley Cyrus
Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift
Prophecy - Remy Zero
good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo
All the Things I Wasn't - The Grapes of Wrath
My Head & My Heart - Ava Max
Faded - SoulDecision
Barely Breathing - Duncan Sheik
Wicked Game - Theory of a Deadman
Telling Myself - Joshua Bassett
Salt - Ava Max
Don't Let Go - En Vogue
Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran
All of Me - John Legend
Taking You There - BROODS
On the Way Down - Ryan Cabrera
Perfect - Ed Sheeran
Move into Me - Bad Sounds, BROODS
Lovesong - The Cure
hostage - Maggie Lindemann
Afterglow - INXS
Mood Ring - Cannons
greedy - Tate McRae
༺â༻
FOR THE CURIOUS
Back when On the Way Down was still an ONC project, it was based on these prompts:
Primary prompt
51. The problem with red flags is that I'm attracted to them.
Secondary prompt
5. Flip the coin and make a life choice with it. Two choices, one coin, and no turning back. Do you dare?
༺â༻
COPYRIGHT
©2024 by Jennifer Farwell. All rights reserved. This story may not be reproduced or published, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the author.