Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: Grayality by Carey PW @CareyPW2 @GoddessFish

Grayality

By Carey PW

GENRE: LGBTQIA Contemporary Romance

BLURB:

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.

Excerpt:

Pate held up his hand to stop me. “You didn’t pull away when he held your hand. Even he noticed that. You didn’t pull away from his kiss. You think he’s never hit on straight guys before? I think he’d know by now that straight guys pull away—”

“And gay guys don’t?” I asked.

“They don’t if they are interested. Oakley, sexuality is not either/or. Maybe you have some attraction to him. Maybe not toward just any man, but toward him.”

I had been so busy trying to analyze my repulsion toward guys that it had never dawned on me to consider what made Jody attractive to me. His emerald-green eyes alone were enough to mesmerize anyone. His skin was silky and soft like a woman. His frame was small and delicate. But thinking on it, it wasn’t so much those physical traits as it was his confidence and free spirit. I had never seen a girl perform and light up a room as if she owned it the way Jody had dominated the club in Billings. When he realized that I thought he was a girl when I made the date, his response was calm. He didn’t get offended or even embarrassed. Jody was going to keep being Jody. I hadn’t found that certainty for myself yet.

“It wouldn’t mean anything different than me preferring to stay a feminine guy,” Pate replied, shrugging his shoulder. “It’s not about girl or boy. It’s about the feminine and the masculine that’s in all of us.”

Interview with Carey PW

Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?

Honestly, I have no desire to be anyone else. When I turned forty, I reflected on my life, and I’m amazed that I have exceeded my expectations. I take lots of risks and consistently engage in new experiences that challenge me. I have a wide range of hobbies. I consider myself a rich person, and I enjoy being me.

What did you do on your last birthday?

My birthday is in January when it’s cold and snowy here in Montana. It’s also the beginning of the new semester at the college where I teach, so it’s not a good time to travel. I took the day off, baked some cookies, and binged on horror movies. Being lazy is often good enough for me!

What part of the writing process do you dread?

Getting a novel started is probably the most challenging part, but I don’t dread it. There’s not a part of the process right now that I would say that I dread. I enjoy revising and editing more than the drafting process, though. Getting my ideas down and putting the story together is complicated. When I revise, I get to enjoy polishing it up and seeing it improve. I also like re-reading my work during that process.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

I did for about ten years after I got discouraged from writing during my first marriage. When I tried to return to writing after my divorce, I couldn’t find the passion to get the ideas to flow. For a while, I thought that I would need to write it off as some dream that wouldn’t happen. But when the idea emerged to start writing about my experiences in China, the content flowed again. I think I just needed to get in the right headspace. I don’t think forcing it would work well for me. If it happens again, I may just take a break or maybe write something shorter than a novel. I think I would just try to stay engaged in some way.

Tell us about your latest release.

My debut novel is Grayality. It’s a LGBTQIA new adult romance set in Montana. It’s narrated by two best friends and ex-lovers who move to Montana for a new life. Pate is transgender and still struggling with his own insecurities there. Oakley supports him, but he begins questioning his own sexuality when he falls for a confident and charismatic drag queen. While the two are dealing with some complicated gender and sexual identity issues, their immaturity and avoidance behaviors create a great deal of trouble for them. Just as they must adjust to Montana, they must also adapt to who they really are. Sometimes being oneself is scary enough. 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

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.

Connect with Carey PW

Author Blog ~ Instagram ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

 

Giveaway:

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