You will find a hilarious and slightly raunchy TOP 10 THINGS READER'S DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE JUST BREATHE TRILOGY, plus my REVIEWS of this amazing trilogy, plus THREE bloody awesome GIVEAWAYS and pretty much EVERYTHING you need to know about KENDALL GREY'S TRILOGY.
Geez, I'm ultra excited and slightly exhausted already!
So sit back, relax and enjoy the post!
- The original
version of INHALE had the Dreaming, but no supernatural creatures. When I first started writing, I didn’t have a plan. I wrote whatever came into my head, which turned out to be total shit. A couple of rewrites into INHALE, I realized I had decent characters, but I lacked strong external conflict to drive the plot. Once I figured out how to build my world (which took me a couple of years), the Elementals, Sentinels, and Wyldlings were born.
- Almost every
character name in the JUST BREATHE Trilogy has significance. Gavin means “a falcon.” Zoe means “life.” Adriene’s last name is Bright because she’s always so positive. I named Randy Heller for his promiscuity and the fact that he makes Zoe’s life hell. Yileen is an Aboriginal word for “a dream.”
- The first draft of
INHALE was 215,000 words.
When I wrote INHALE, I had no idea the average novel length was 80,000 –
100,000 words. Yeah. I cut a lot.
- Sinnder began as a disposable character. Sniveling, scared, and sycophantic, Sinnder started off as someone I planned to throw away once Scarlet was done with him. But somewhere along the way, I realized he could be useful later on. I gave him a secret, and everything changed. Sinnder is now one of the most popular characters in the series. And I’m currently writing his book. :-)
- Zoe was originally fourteen
years older than Gavin instead of eight. My editor got about twenty pages into INHALE and sent me a DM saying Zoe could not be that much older. Period.
So, that took care of that. I was pretty bummed.
- Gavin had a twin
brother in early drafts. I decided to nix the idea because it seemed like a lot of authors were writing twins. Though, imagine two of him running around. RAWR!
- Gavin began as the typical,
rock star asshole. I loved the cocky, smart alecky, womanizing Gavin of the early INHALE drafts, but my critique partners and contest judges hated him, so I had to soften him up.
- Some of the whale
scenes in the books actually happened to me. Many readers have commented on how
“real” the whale scenes come across on the page. I think it’s because I’ve
spent a lot of time with whales, and I have plenty of experiences to draw
on. People say, “Write what you know.” Well, I know whales. :-)
- Scarlet’s gangbang
scene in EXHALE was toned down considerably
from the first version.
Scarlet is a balls-out lunatic. I wrote the scene with Baldy the way I saw
her orchestrating it—with extreme sex, language, and violence. Most of the
violence stayed, but my editor warned that the sex was too over-the-top
for my established readership. So…more cuts.
- The end of JUST BREATHE is totally different from the first draft. No spoilers! My editor thought the first ending worked fine, but she suggested taking it in another direction. I had to think about it for a few days, but I decided to take her advice. I love both endings for different reasons, but I think the final version will make readers happier than the other one would have.
Kendall
Number 1
INHALE
by Kendall Grey
Published by Howling Mad Press
May 1, 2012
Print ISBN: 9780984887804
ASIN: B006TEW7KW
Book One in the Just Breathe Trilogy
Strangers in reality, inseparable in dreams…
After years of suffocating under her boss’s scrutiny, whale biologist Zoe Morgan finally lands a job as director of a tagging project in Hervey Bay, Australia. Success Down Under all but guarantees her the promotion of a lifetime, and Zoe won’t let anything—or anyone—stand in her way. Not the whale voices she suddenly hears in her head, not the ex who won’t take no for an answer, and especially not the gorgeous figment of her imagination who keeps saving her from the fiery hell of her dreams.
*This book contains graphic language, sex, and violence. Not suitable for readers under the age of 18.
Inhale, by Kendall Grey, is a truly original
read. The concept for the storyline, the ideas behind the collection of
characters and the different world kept me engaged and happy to follow Grey's characters.
The book on the whole was set at a sound pace.
Although there were occasions when I did get frustrated with the amount of
dream scenes within Inhale, these scenes were so very important; I just wanted
things to speed up a little. This no doubt was my more romantic side, okay, maybe
my more horny side talking!
Okay, so since I’ve led us down the path of
hotness, I loved the sex scenes. The passion between Zoe and Gavin was almost
palpable. Grey certainly knows how to capture the heat; my Kindle almost caught
on fire with the sizzle!
Inhale, leads the reader on an exciting
adventure and sets us up for the next instalment beautifully.
EXHALE
by Kendall Grey
Published by Howling Mad Press
June 5, 2012
Print ISBN: 9780984887828
ASIN: B0088QNBYK
Book Two in the Just Breathe Trilogy
Her dreams brought them together, but reality could tear them apart…
The man of Zoe Morgan’s dreams isn’t only real, he’s interested. In her. But her boss wants her too, and is leveraging his unsolicited advances with the threat of blocking the huge promotion she's after. When he places a spy on her research team, the intense stranger discovers more than he should, and Zoe fears hiding a relationship with Gavin Cassidy from her boss is the least of her worries. The whale she must protect has been marked for death, and Zoe's old enemy Scarlet is eager to deliver the killing blow. To both of them.
Australia’s Sentinels must find and lock the door into the Dreaming before Fyre Elementals launch another attack on innocent dreamers. But corruption and distrust abound, and Gavin believes someone on the Sentinel council is in league with the Fyres. As he reluctantly embraces his new role as council leader, Gavin must not only keep Zoe safe from Scarlet's vengeful clutches, but organize a Sentinel defense strong enough to prevent a full-blown Elemental war—with a traitor fighting by his side.
*This book contains graphic language, sex, and violence. Not suitable for readers under the age of 18.
The
main protagonist Zoe is such a wonderful character. She has such believable and
frustrating characteristics, that’s she’s impossible not to like. Throw into
the mix the continuation of the relationship development with Gavin and what we
are left with is a bloody fantastic read.
Grey
successfully introduces new characters and develops minor characters. These
inclusions help to push the story forward at a phenomenally fast speed. Too
fast at times, I wanted it to slow down as I was scared to finish it. Yes, it
was that good.
The
equal mix of tension, drama and hot romance, makes this book a must-read!
JUST BREATHE
by Kendall Grey
Published by Howling Mad Press
January 8, 2013
ASIN: B00AY0K0TC
Book Three in the Just Breathe Trilogy
He made a deal with the devil to save the woman he loves...
After a terrible accident rocks the foundation of their relationship, Australian Sentinel Gavin Cassidy and whale biologist Zoe Morgan call it quits. Gavin can't forgive himself for shattering her trust, and being with the sexy rock star is killing Zoe. Literally.
But love--and duty--are powerful motivators, and alliances are forged in the most unlikely places. With the key to salvation locked inside the mind of an unconscious child, Gavin must find another way to snuff out the Fyre Elementals before millions of humans die, or make good on his deal with the devil and lose the one he loves. Again.
*This book contains graphic language, sex, and violence. Not suitable for readers under the age of 18.
Purchase JUST BREATHE: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Kobo
This
impressive trilogy comes to a spectacular conclusion. There were tears, there
were cold showers, there were moments when I did a double take and had to
reread a page or 10 more than once because I could not believe the journey that
Kendall Grey was taking her characters on.
Kendall Grey’s craft has been fine-tuned and polished to perfection in Just Breathe. She pushes her characters to the precipice and threw in so many gauntlets along the way that I was barely hanging on. It was an amazingly quick read: not because of ease, not because of length, simply because I could not put Just Breathe down.
The
engaging journey that Grey has taken us along with her characters is an
impressive one. If you are looking for an epic hot fantasy read, and don’t
suffer from any heart-conditions, then this trilogy is a must read!
One CRN T-shirt
One Signed Inhale Postcard
One Signed Exhale Postcard
One Inhale USB
One Exhale paperback
One ecopy Just Breathe
One Mug
Scarlet's Chai
Zoe's fave brew
Sinnder's Ginger Snaps
Gavin and Yileen's Tim Tams
One Signed Inhale Postcard
One Signed Exhale Postcard
One Inhale USB
One Exhale paperback
One ecopy Just Breathe
One Mug
Scarlet's Chai
Zoe's fave brew
Sinnder's Ginger Snaps
Gavin and Yileen's Tim Tams
To win an ecopy of your choice from this series including The Ephemeras, just leave a blog post comment letting me know what you love about Australia. Entries will close on the 1st February. (You must leave your email so that I can contact the winner.)
It was the first place I ever went overseas, as a student ambassador. I love the accent (lol), barrier reef, the food, kangaroos, lol everything! laura2039@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI must have been to Australia more than 10 times - Sydney, Gold Coast, Perth and Melbourne! I love the coffee, fish & chips, thai and japanese food (I know of 2 great restaurants along Surfer's Paradise), strawberry jam donuts from Victoria Market *drools*, the flea markets *mad love*, the fresh air, Koalas, Kangaroos, chocolates, wines, and FREMANTLE!!!
ReplyDeletetess_halim(at)hotmail(dot)com
I love the unique animals and people in Australia. trbrakel@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI have been fascinated with the wildlife of Australia since I was a kid! KuligowskiAndrew (at) gmail (daht) com
ReplyDeletep.s. with regards to giveaway # 2, you've got books (dead tree & e), you've got swag ... if I HAD to suggest something, it would be - chocolate. KuligowskiAndrew (at) gmail (daht) com
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Australia but i would love to see the wildlife and the beaches the care package sounds good to me i would not add anything nikkimedical (at) yahoo (dot)com
ReplyDeleteWhat to I love about Australia well Vegemite of course LOL just kidding never tried it actually. I do love the pictures I have seen of the beautiful oceans and wide open country and of course the accents are just great to me, where I am sure I would sound bland over there. There there is an awesome crop of authors with their work finely making it our way!!! Thank you for the fun :)
ReplyDeletedz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
What would I add to the CNR pkg, well perhaps some Vegemite ;) actually it looks just perfect.
DeleteHi Denise - you're the winner of an ecopy of choice from this series. I'll be in contact via email :)
Delete