Our Top Twenty One Favourite “Quotes” From Every Breath…

Okay, so I lied – we don’t have twenty one favourite quotes. We really only have one. The other 20 below that are quotes (with page numbers) that relate to instances where James Mycroft’s hair and eyes are mentioned. Our top 10 for each, because CURLY HAIR AND BLUE EYES AW YISSS. Also because we’re weird* like that.

‘Live or die. Every breath is a choice.’ – pg 72: this quote is derived from Chuck Palahniuk’s Survivor and where Ellie got her title for this wonderful book from (we think).

HAIR                                                                                                                         EYES

pg 1 – ‘… his crazy curls are the same as now…’

pg 7 – ‘… his blue eyes are luminous from the sunlight reflecting off…’

pg 3 – ‘… his dark hair anarchy as usual.’

pg 39 –‘Mycroft has his raw blue eyes fixed on mine.’  

pg 9 – ‘His curls are a dark jungle…’

pg 92 – ‘…his eyes are electric, intense.’

pg 16 – ‘… his hair looks particularly frightful.’

pg 106 – ‘Mycroft’s eyes are sparking, blue as the after-image of an X-ray flash.’

pg 110 – ‘… his dark hair corkscrewing every which way.’

pg 108 – ‘His eyes are electric blue maelstroms.’

pg 142 – ‘Even his hair looks slumped.’

pg 160 – ‘His eyes are the blue of a lightning storm.’

pg 206 – ‘He smiles, curls flopping over his forehead.’

pg 180 – ‘… his blue eyes swirling with dark matter.’

pg 238 – ‘A mop of dark-brown curls bobs over the top of a nearby easel.’

pg 200 – ‘… blue eyes intent and over-bright.’

pg 270 – ‘Back-breeze from the traffic blows curls into his face…’

pg 208 – ‘… his eyes have darkened to an intense blue.’

pg 324 – ‘… I put one hand on the arm of his hair and one hand where it’s always wanted to go – laced through his hair, his amazingly dark and curly hair. His soft locks twine through my fingers and I pull his face towards mine.’

pg 219 – ‘His eyes are a rich ultramarine, like the sea on a Hawaiian beach, the long dark lashes a vivid contrast.’

*fucking awesome

Every Breath – The Playlist

Firstly, Ellie has a playlist that she put together for Every Breath, which you can find below. It just so happens to have two of the songs we’ve included in our playlist, so great minds eh.

http://elliemarney.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/playlist-of-stars.html

Alright. Every Breath isn’t a book with a lot of musical references. Really, there is only one song that is actually mentioned (as well as a few references to bands/musicians). So, this playlist is split into 3 parts consisting of: 4 songs from Every Breath, 4 songs we heard/listened to on our 3 part book tour and 7 of our own picks! I hope you like it.

IN THE BOOK *only the artist is mentioned, so we chose the song

My Sharona by The Knack- Please raise your hand if this song now reminds you of James Mycroft.

Little Black Submarines by The Black Keys* – Annette chose this one as I only know two (now three) Black Keys songs.

The Nosebleed Section by Hilltop Hoods* – our fave Hilltop Hoods song so it’s naturally the one we chose for our playlist.

When Your Love Is Gone by Jimmy Barnes* – thanks to my Dad, I know a lot of Jimmy Barnes songs. Including this one because it is one of my faves.

ON THE TOUR

Gypsy by Fleetwood Mac – Remember when we stopped for lunch on that day we went gallivanting around the Royal Melbourne Zoo? Well, Gypsy was playing in the cafe we bought those ridiculously expensive and average tasting hot chips and hot dogs from (yeah woo, I looooooooove FM).

Manic Monday by The Bangles – I can’t exactly remember where we heard this song but I’m pretty sure it was also in the cafe.

Cosby Sweater by Hilltop Hoods – We stopped to grab some cold drinks at one point (also at RMZ) and this was the song pumping out from the vendor thingo. It’s kinda cool that we can include another HH song because I know Ellie is a big fan.

Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Remember when we ate kebabs and got attacked by bees? Well, Over The Rainbow was drifting out from a shop nearby. Or it may have been a busker because it sounded acoustic-y and I couldn’t place the song initially. I picked this version for our playlist because it is super lovely.

OUR PICKS

Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty – I think this one is pretty obvious, no?

London Calling by The Clash – As above.

Electric Feel by MGMT – Yeah so I don’t know the meaning behind this song  but it’s on the list purely because the title directly relates to the way this book kills me with its sexual tension. Please see pgs 161-163 in particular but also 243-244, 272-273, 324-328, 332-334 (you’re welcome).

Bang A Gong (Get It On) by T-Rex – Again, including this song and using the title to be wildly blatant about my shippy feels.

Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones – I felt our playlist needed some Stones and I chose Paint It Black because it’s got a fast, thumping kind of beat that goes well with the pace of EB.

Private Universe by Crowded House – As a Rachel who is a CH fan, I’ve decided Rachel Watts is also a CH fan. Am I projecting? Probably. So be it then; this is my fave CH song.

Mess Is Mine by Vance Joy – This song accurately describes the relationship dynamic between Rachel and James. Also, Vance Joy has curly hair. What does that have to do with anything, you ask? Well… *runs away*

 

(Also posted on our playlists page).

Every Breath – The Places We Couldn’t Go

For one reason or another, there are always places we can’t go when we do a book tour, sometimes because it’s a made up location, sometimes because time/cost/distance/the law interfere.  In any case, this really grinds my gears because it means I have an incomplete spreadsheet and this is something I really don’t need in my life.  Ellie was kind enough to give us very detailed answers to our barrage of questions about locations, so even though we couldn’t visit them, we learnt some pretty cool stuff;

1. Five Mile – A made up town because of the content of the novel, Ellie (and I assume publishers?) didn’t want to give a real town a bad name.  However, she did tell us that if you travel up to the Mallee, and go to Ouyen and then take the turn off to Murrayville and drive for a while there are lots of little towns that fit the bill – Murrayville being a very close representation.  Fun fact: It was originally called Nine Mile but the name was changed at the last minute because there is an actual town called Nine Mile.
2. North Coburg Secondary – An entirely made up location
3. Grey’s House – Another made up location
4. Homeless Shelter – We did a bit of research into this and we are pretty sure we found the correct information.  Apparently this shelter used to exist but was shut down for some reason.  Probably because we have a country run by moronic, unsympathetic, money hungry, corporate giant douche twats who make us look like a backwards country.
5. Mutual Systems Incorporated – Ellie said this was an imagined location but we mentioned to her that I always pictured it where the portrait of the Indigenous child is on the building on Hosier Lane and Ellie said that was was kind of a perfect spot (huzzah!!)
6. Hundertwasser School – I hope she doesn’t mind, but this is Ellie’s response to our question asking if this was based on LaTrobe near Melbourne Central – “No – but I used to date a boy who lived in a warehouse flat on the corner of Russell Street and Little bourke, right in the thick of things.  That was a beautiful space inside, once you made it up all the stairs.  The Hundertwasser School I sort of located in that funny corner of Spring St, right before it meets Victoria Parade – there are some old buildings there, one of which used to be an artist’s squat, I think (although again, those might have been revamped now).  I remember going there at 5 in the morning, while I was helping to make a short film with the VCE, and trying to wake up the guy inside on the second floor by throwing things at his window – he had all the film shoot lights stashed in the flat! (we never managed to rouse him)” – We interpreted this as the location being at Spring Street and Victoria Parade but the inside looking like that of the warehouse on Russell and Little Bourke.  We chose not to visit this location because it’s in a difficult place to drive to, we weren’t sure if it would still be there and weren’t entirely sure of what we were looking for.
7. The Lion Enclosure – We did visit the lion enclosure but it has been re-vamped since the book was written so it looked different when we visited (which we only found out recently thanks to @nicolehasread)

– Annette

Every Breath Book Tour: Part 2

This is the second installment for the Every Breath Book Tour where we filmed our crazy adventures for your viewing pleasure.  Watch and enjoy our escapades down Sydney Road and our Battle With The Bees

15. Baker Street – EB

‘”Is there a Baker Street address in Melbourne?”… “In Richmond. Off Victoria Street-“‘ – pg 332

Just so we don’t have any confusion – and maybe possibly  definitely because I did not understand this reference for a long time – Baker Street is where the infamous-yet-fictional Sherlock Holmes lives, Every Breath is a Sherlock Holmes-esque novel thus Baker Street is significant.  Capiche?

This is the last location mentioned in the book and also the last one we visited, so that’s nicely symbolic.  It’s a pretty quiet street that runs off a not-so-quiet street in Richmond and a bit of a pain in the arse to get to really (I’m from the outer suburbs bruh, anywhere that has ‘no right turn’ signs and paid street parking is a pain to me).  But it’s good that it was a quiet street because Rachel took her customary standing-in-the-middle-of-the-road photo (which turned out really well, I think) and didn’t have to worry about getting run over in the process.  WINNING.

I’m not quite sure why I liked this location so much, it was a pretty unremarkable street really.  Perhaps I could just imagine Rachel and Mycroft living here.  In any case, it was a bittersweet moment because it meant that the location visiting for our Every Breath book tour was over.  On the plus side, we can now fly to London for an Every Word book tour so WATCH THIS SPACE (but do keep in mind that it’s going to take about 10 years for us to save enough money for it).

– Annette

14. The Lion Enclosure – EB

‘Too quickly, we’re at the base of the ramp that travels over and above the lion enclosure… we stop in front of box squared wire… “Lions. You’re going to put us in with the lions.“‘ – pg 296

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

I liked this location in the zoo the most because it is one that features quite heavily throughout the last 40 pages of the book. I can’t really go into how Rachel and Mycroft end up being forced into the lion enclosure without being ridiculously spoilery but, you know, clearly it’s The Baddie (yes, I still say ‘the baddie/s’) that puts them in this situation. Real talk for a sec: while we knew they were obviously scared, I can’t understand how (once they were forced in there) they both didn’t lose their heads completely and start screaming the zoo down because lions are beautiful and majestic and ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING creatures to look at, much less get stuck in the same space with, holy wow.

But hey, that is because I am, well, me and not Rachel or Mycroft.

Imagine if I was the Rachel in Every Breath, instead of Rachel Watts.

‘Rachel, what are you doing?’

‘Stop screaming.’

‘Get up off the ground.’

‘Okay.’

‘We need to run.’

‘No, please stop running your fingers through my hair.’

‘No, you can’t bum a ciggy, you quit ages ago.’

‘RACHEL, WE HAVE TO RUN.’

‘Yes, I know you hate running, but you do realise we’ll die otherwise, right?’

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake.’

And then we’d angrily make out before the baddies captured us because I really don’t run. Ever.

ANYWAY.

*daydreams about snogging James Mycroft*

ANYWAY ANYWAY.

I tried to both capture the size of the enclosure and get a good shot of the lions in the photos below, but I kind of feel like I failed on both accounts. With the one above there, we thought it was the area Ellie was describing in the quote we’ve included, or at least probably the area she based it on because there’s a ramp and a fence and IT TOTALLY IS, OKAY?

– Rachel

 

13. Frogs And The Reptile House – EB

‘We make our way up to a small modular hut. A wooden walkway in front takes pedestrians over a tiny rilling stream; the constructed lagoon there looks amazingly natural… “This is where you work?”…”Yep. Well, here, over near Reptiles, other places.” – pg 277-278

I can’t promise that this will be the most coherent post because I’ve spent the last 2 hours having my brain addled in a YouTube rabbit hole of attractive people.  Like Robert Sheehan, who was the inspiration for Mycroft.  Speaking of Mycroft, the handsome devil, he and Rachel end up at these locations towards the end of the book.  We think Ellie may have combined the two to make the… well, I don’t want to be spoilery, but if you’ve read the book, you will know the significance of each of these pictures.  The bottom one is good hey. We loitered around this area that zoo visitors probably aren’t really meant to loiter in (or take photos of) because it looked like ‘the labs near the Reptile House’, and we are COMMITTED to capturing the right picture and really making Every Breath come to life for you all, okay? OKAY.

– Annette

12. The Little Greek Social Club – EB

‘We pile off into the whizzing shambles that is the corner of Sydney and Brunswick Roads…. He leads me back up the street to a little Greek social club…’ – pg 269

Alright, pull up a chair, y’all. I’m about to tell you a most fantastical story about bees and angry people and yelling. I don’t want to talk it up too much, but it’s probably going to change your life.*

Sooooooo, we (mainly me) were pretty hungry by the time we got to this location, despite starting our day off right with that packet of pineapple m&m’s. With no specific place to visit, we decided to go for a bit of a wander and see if there was maybe a certain place giving off an Every Breath vibe (whatever that is). We walked into one (I think it was Greek?) that Annette knew of from the time she worked in the same area and proceeded to stand there awkwardly for a bit because it was crazy-busy and the line (if there was one) made no sense and we had no idea where to go to order… so we actually decided to leave in the end rather than endure the pain of trying to figure it out. We did stay longer than we needed to before ditching though, because we were watching the amusing antics of a serving girl who was making her way back and forth through the crowd by yelling ‘SCUSE ‘SCUSE ’SCUSE to clear a path. It was MAGNIFICENT and as far as making people get the fuck out of your way goes, it was pretty effective and a method I’m waiting for the right moment to try myself.

ANYWAY.

We kept on trucking and eventually found ourselves in a good ‘ole fashioned kebab shop, with a good ‘ole fashioned straightforward serving line. Unfortunately though, one of the dudes manning the kebab production line was having a good ‘ole fashioned yelling match with everyone else in the KP line. He was also holding one big-arse knife so we were a little intimidated and scared he was going to stab someone before we got our kebabs, which would’ve been horrible because we (mainly me) WERE. SO. HUNGRY. Thankfully, that didn’t eventuate and we trundled back closer to where we had parked the car (pictured above) as it had a nice atmosphere – families sitting around laughing with Over The Rainbow drifting out from a shop nearby – and sat on a bench to chow down on our kebabs. WHICH IS WHEN THE SWARM** OF BEES POUNCED ON US (something you’ll get to see in an upcoming video, you lucky things). Probably because I laughed at Annette when they attacked her earlier in the day, they targeted me this time and I did a fairly impressive job, if I do say so myself, of folding my head into my boobs and squealing in panic. Predictably, Annette started laughing at me, but then they turned on her as well so we had to haul arse awaaaaaaaay from there.

*It is in no way going to change your life. I commend you for reading this line right now, for sticking with me through all that garbage nonsense speak.

**It was, like, two.

– Rachel

11. Fawkner Police Station – EB

‘The afternoon is still glorious with sun, too glorious for me to be standing in the car park of the Fawkner police station…’ – pg 133

So this one time I had a job for 10 weeks (which is not even the shortest time that I’ve ever had a job) (which was 1 day) (and no, I’ve never been fired) and part of my job was to go to the Fawkner Police Station once a week to change over a sign in/out sheet and check on a car.  It’s a long story.  Aaaanyway, I didn’t have this job when I read Every Breath for the first time, but I had worked there when I read it for the second time and I was like ‘well heeeeeey girl I know this place!’ so that was kind of cool and gave it a bit of context.

I don’t know what the law is about taking photos of police stations, but I feel like probably you shouldn’t spend 5 minutes standing in the middle of the road trying to get the perfect shot.  Which is what Rachel did.  Whilst I stood there freaking the frack out, thinking we were going to get arrested.  But, look how good the picture turned out!  Well done Rachel.  Well done.

– Annette

10. The Cafe At The Zoo – EB

‘Why don’t you come into the zoo and go to the cafe?… I stagger to the cafe, where I’m disappointed to find that all my loose change won’t buy me a bucket of hot chips…’ – pgs 124 – 126

There’s quite a few cafes at the zoo, all in the same area. We chose this one because it was the busiest, and had the widest range of food – more specifically hot chips. This moment in the book becomes pretty significant later on in the book for a reason you will only know if you’ve read the book (do you like that non-spoilery explanation? Annette came up with it. Pretty good, huh?)

As you can see, we, unlike Rachel, had enough money to buy ourselves some hot chips. Unfortunately, both the chips and hot dog tasted kinda shite. Sad potato. We also each had a Curly Wurly to eat, but they seemed to have some weird pattern on them so Annette became suspicious of it and wasn’t sure if she should eat it…. while I ignored it completely and ate mine in about 10 seconds flat.

– Rachel