How to Walk Away

by Katherine Center

What’s next for you? Are you currently working on another book? I have a new book coming out soon called Things You Save in a Fire. The story is related to How to Walk Away, actually, because the main character in the new book is the female firefighter who pulls Maggie out of the plane. The stories don’t overlap too much, but the characters’ lives do intersect at the plane crash. I loved writing this new book because my husband is a volunteer firefighter and an EMT. He was working as a paramedic when I first met him, and he has a hundred astonishing, heartbreaking, shocking, hilarious stories about working in that world. I interviewed him over and over and had him read drafts for accuracy. There aren’t too many opportunities in life to interview your own spouse, but it was a lot of fun. Highly recommended! And I’m writing a new book now that doesn’t have a title yet! I am having so much fun with this new story because it brings back a character from my novel Happiness for Beginners, the main character’s little brother, Duncan, who irritates the heck out of her. In fact, Duncan only came into existence because I was looking for someone to irritate her—but then he kind of stole the show in that book, for me, anyway. I totally fell in love with his sweethearted goofiness, and I’ve been noodling for years on ways I could give him his own story. When it finally hit me, I couldn’t wait to start writing, and this new novel lets us see Duncan ten years after the end of Happiness, ...

It’s been a busy summer for me, book-wise! My new book, Things You Save in a Fire, went on sale August 13, and while it’s not exactly a sequel to How to Walk Away, it is related, since Cassie, the main character of the new book, is the firefighter who rescued Maggie in How to Walk Away. In this story, Cassie winds up having to leave her beloved fire station in Austin, Texas, to move across the country to take care of her ailing mother, who she doesn’t even like. Her new firehouse has never had “a girl” before, and they aren’t too thrilled for her to join them, and she has to work like crazy to prove herself there. The move totally up-ends her careful life, and she has to face all kinds of hardships, disappointments, and demons, both past and present—while she navigates relationships with her crew, her mother, and the ridiculously appealing rookie who laughs at all her jokes. She’s tested over and over—and winds up having to redefine courage for herself. The paperback edition of How to Walk Away came out this July, and it’s got all kinds of bonus features—including a Q&A with me and a bonus chapter that tells the story of the rescue in How to Walk Away from Cassie the firefighter’s perspective. It was so fun to write this chapter—and I learned things about Cassie, and Maggie, and even Ian, that I didn’t know before. There’s so much to look forward to. One of my novels, The Lost Husband, got adapted into a movie (starring Josh Duhamel and Leslie Bibb) last year, and that should be out for us all to see sometime this year. And I’m finishing up my next book (for summer 2020) right now! I’m so grateful to everybody who has read How to Walk Away and helped spread the word! I hope folks will love all the upcoming goodness, as well!