Danita Minnis

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Author Interview: Carey P.W.

What group did you hang out with in high school?

                I hung out with the group called the “freaks.” We were a bunch of goth and grunge kids (it was the 90s) who wore everything black and big, baggy pants. I loved this group, and I feel that hanging out with them had a significant impact on my life. They taught me that I could be different and be myself. They weren’t gossipy or judgmental. I still talk to many of them today.

What are you passionate about these days?

                I’m probably passionate about too many things! Other than my writing, I am passionate about running. I started marathon running in 2007 and have completed eighty of them. I’ve run a few ultramarathons, too. I made two new personal records this year and even came in third place in one race. My dad was a runner, and since he has passed away, I feel like running is a way to still hang out with him. I always feel like he’s with me when I am racing. I’m also passionate about counseling. I am currently working on certification in expressive arts therapy and somatic experiencing. I love learning new ways to help people; I also love connecting with others.

If you had to do your journey to getting published all over again, what would you do differently?

                In terms of my approach to publishing, I don’t see a need to change anything. However, I wouldn’t have listened so much to the naysayers who made me feel like focusing on my writing was a waste of time, especially my ex-husband. I wasted years that I could have been writing and publishing. I’m not doing that again. I’ve decided that I need to prioritize my writing just as I prioritize my other work.

Ebook or print? And why?

                I have enjoyed my Kindle because it saves me from collecting a bunch of books that take up space. However, I prefer print books. I used to buy books and stare at them in anticipation. I’d even sleep with them! In some ways, daydreaming about what the books’ plots was better than reading them. I love holding books. I didn’t grow up with computers, so I’m probably bias here.

What is your favorite scene in this book?

                This is hard because I don’t want to give it away! I would just say that there’s a very emotionally intimate scene where Pate is very vulnerable, and his friend Stormy is there for him. Pate is rather exposed in this scene, and there’s something in me that wants to feel what it would be like to be that open but still accepted. I hope that I can find a way to get there one day.

Grayality

By Carey PW

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GENRE: LGBTQIA Contemporary Romance

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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.

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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.”

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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.

Other links:

Author Blog: www.careypw.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/careypatrickwertz/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CareyPW2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kerri.p.singer/ 

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