Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Grayality organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.
Author Carey PW will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!
And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Garyality
by Carey PW
Genre: LGBTQIA Contemporary Romance
Synopsis
Love knows no gender.
Pate Boone, a twenty-six-year-old transgender man, embarks on a new adventure when his childhood best friend, and yes, ex-lover, Oakley Ogden, convinces him to escape their hometown in hopes for something new.
They land in Cloverleaf, a tiny rural town in Montana, so that Oakley can care for his granny who is battling breast cancer. She pressures the two young men to enroll in a nearby college. Pate immediately becomes enthralled with Maybelle, a young, vivacious freshman to whom he fears revealing his transgender identity. Still, he finds it impossible to resist Maybelle, even after he meets her ex, Bullet, a large, violent man determined to keep Pate away from “his girl.”
But there are others who accept Pate immediately, like Stormy. An outdoorsy, rugged freshman, Stormy warns Pate away from Maybelle and Bullet, but Pate’s too infatuated to heed these warnings.
Oakley tries to support his friend’s new love but finds himself entangled in his own emotional calamity when he unintentionally falls for Jody, a gay and ostentatiously confident drag queen. This new relationship awakens deep internal conflicts in Oakley as he struggles to accept his bisexuality, lashing out at Pate and causing friction between him and Jody.
Oakley must decide if he can overcome his insecurities so he doesn’t lose the love of his life. And Pate must discover if the love between him and Maybelle is strong enough for her to accept him as a transgender man, or if she will break his heart.
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Enjoy this peek inside:
“Do you not realize that all these things you do hurt me?” he asked.
“I apologized for that. I thought we were over that,” I pleaded.
“Then you call me your boyfriend, but you don’t tell your parents,” he continued. “And you know that people around here already know about us, yet you won’t hold my hand at lunch. Not to mention that you still won’t touch me.”
I looked down in shame. “I told you it’s hard for me.”
“So when does it get hard for me, Oakley? How long am I supposed to date someone who seems repulsed by me?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know what to say. You know I’m straight.”
Jody wiped some tears from his eyes. “Maybe that’s the problem. I shouldn’t be wasting my time on a straight guy, or at least a guy who keeps insisting that he is straight. I told you upfront that we could be friends and that if you wanted to pursue this, then you needed to be ready to actually do it.”
“Are you breaking up with me?” I asked desperately. Jody finally made eye contact.
“No, not yet anyway. But I’m not waiting for you, Oakley. You need to figure this out because my heart isn’t a tool for you to figure out your sexual orientation.”
“I promise. I’ll try harder. Don’t give up on us yet.” I grabbed his hands.
Jody smiled and went to touch my cheek with his hand, but I pulled away. He shook his head in disappointment.
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Interview with Author Carey Pw
Do you have any tattoos? Where? When did you get it/them? Where are they on your body?
I have a lot of tattoos. I was too scared to get any in my twenties because people kept swaying me against it. Finally, I just decided to be myself.
I have a lot of patchwork tattoos on my arms. I have several Mario characters but mostly villains like Bowser, Gumba, and several of Bowser’s children. I also have the Skull Kid from Majora’s Mask on my left forearm. I have an owl on a tree on my right upper arm that I got the day that I defended my dissertation for my Ph.D. in 2013. The owl stands for wisdom. I have a monkey holding the Chinese flag on my upper left arm with the Great Wall of China behind him. I am a monkey in the Chinese zodiac and lived in China for three years, so I wanted something to share that part of my journey.
My legs are horror themed. I have Jason, a critter from Critters, Billy the Puppet from Saw, Slimer from Ghostbusters, the Elite Hunting logo from Hostel, and Peachfuzz from Creep. I also have a classic American traditional skull and dagger tattoo.
My most meaningful ones would be my hand tattoos because they show my identities. On my right hand, I have an asexual cupcake. On my left, a nonbinary cat. Written above them are the words, goth and punk. I also have the years when I came out tattooed on my upper fingers. I love displaying my pride.
Is your life anything like it was two years ago?
Two years ago, we were deep into the pandemic, so yes, my life is different now. Probably the most noticeable difference for me would be my physique. I was less than two years on testosterone, and now, I have facial hair and a leaner, masculine build. I feel way more congruent in my body. I also got into baking two years ago as a way to stay busy during the pandemic. Now, it’s one of my favorite pastimes. I also came out as asexual in 2020, which brought a lot of relief to my life. I have one kidney now, too since donating one this past December. In many ways, I am a totally new person; in others, I am completely the same.
How long have you been writing?
Third grade is my first memory of writing and learning that I loved it. But other than writing for some school assignments, I don’t recall writing in my free time until high school. I wrote a lot of poems to sort out the depression and gender dysphoria I was experiencing at the time. I started writing novels in college, but I got discouraged after graduation and didn’t write for ten years! Finally in 2013, I wrote another novel that was a fictional work about my experiences in China. It’s only been within the past two years that I started writing heavily. I hope to keep that up because I feel like it’s been a missing element in my life.
What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?
Do the work and don’t give up. Writing is a lot of work. It’s not just writing the draft, but it’s hours of editing and revisions. Also, it takes time to write blurbs and query letters and other promotional materials. Marketing is probably the most time-consuming part. I never expected to spend so much time on social media! For me, I treat it like another job. I have to devote the hours and meet my deadlines. I also did a lot of research and continue to research this industry.
Tell us something about your newest release that is NOT in the blurb.
It’s not just a lovey dovey romance. The characters are young, but their conversations reflect deep, intricate issues around sexuality and gender identity. Don’t get fooled by the new adult genre. This book may offer something to people of all ages.
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About Author Carey PW
Carey PW (he/they) is a debut author, college instructor, and mental health counselor. Carey is currently completing his next manuscript, Acing the Game.
Carey lives in Montana, and identifies as nonbinary, transmasculine (AFAB) and panromantic asexual. Due to the lack of resources in rural communities, Carey has discovered that writing about his lived experiences is a therapeutic outlet for him and hopes that his readers relate to his own personal struggles and triumphs shared through his characters’ narratives. Carey is particularly interested in exploring relationship conflicts around sexuality and gender differences. He has also worked as a high school writing instructor and college writing instructor, earning a B.A. in English Literature, a M.Ed. in English Education, and Ph.D. in Social Foundations of Education all from the University of Georgia. In 2020, Carey earned his second M.Ed. in Counselor Education and works as a licensed clinical professional counselor, LCPC. He has a strong passion for working with the unique mental health issues of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Readers can learn more about Carey from his blog, www.careypw.com. When he is not writing, Carey is busy training for marathons, parenting his six cats, sharing his culinary talents on social media, serving on the board for the nonprofit Center for Studies of the Person (CSP) and learning photography.
Carey PW loves to hear from readers. You can find his contact information, website and author biography at http://www.pride-publishing.com.
Other links: Blog / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook
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