A Goodreads user asked Rebecca Donovan:

I really love your Breathing series, and wish that so many more writers, would write their books this way. I was wondering, what suddenly made you write the first book, and where did the ideas come from?

Rebecca Donovan I've always had an active imagination, even as a child. I would write for enjoyment, as a way of creating a new world, or releasing emotion. I actually went to college in hopes of becoming a journalist. Life ended up taking me in a different direction. However, I never stopped writing.

I blame my over active imagination for my bouts of insomnia as well. One night I was tossing and turning, half asleep. I decided to force a dream in hopes that I'd eventually be able to rest. It started with a boy and a girl in an art room. There was tension. He wanted her to talk to him, but she kept avoiding him. She had a secret that he could never know. A paint fight and an unbelievable kiss later, I forgot all about sleep and started to create a story around this couple and what it was that was keeping them apart.

Her secret had to be something she could conceal, but be devastating enough that there was a risk in being exposed. And I wanted her to be in a community where they really didn't want to know this secret, because things like this didn't happen in their town. That's when I decided she was being abused. With my background in human services, (I ended up with a psychology degree instead of journalism), I was able to use what I'd witnessed to aid in the portrayal of Emma's struggles.

By 4am, I was creating an outline.... and decided to write Emma's story.

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