Today I am so pleased to welcome Zane Riley to Joyfully Jay. Zane has come to talk to us about his latest release, With or Without You. He has also brought along a great tour wide giveaway. Please join me in giving Zane a big welcome!

Paperback cover for 'With or Without You' by Zane Riley

 

This isn’t an excerpt, it’s more of a deleted scene. The original manuscript for With or Without You was so long that I cut this idea before it was ever written. This isn’t all of that scene, but it encompasses the heart of this moment.

So the setting: it’s the end of the school year, and graduation is only days away. Roxanne, one of Will’s friends, has decided to make a video of their final days of high school so they have these moments to look back on later in life. Lennox, as usual, is reluctant, to participate.

 

“Okay, tell me about Will. What do you love best about him?”

Lennox made a drawn out fart noise and leaned back on the bleachers. In front of him, Roxanne lowered her camera.

“This is for my graduation video, you goon. If you aren’t going to take it seriously—”

“Then ask me about that, not Will.”

“But you two are the only couple in our group. Besides, I already talked to Will and he answered my questions.”

“You did not,” Lennox said as Roxanne nibbled on her lower lip.

“Fine, I haven’t, but please say something nice. Just this once. This is for all of our memories, not just mine.”

Lennox huffed. As Roxanne turned the camera back onto him, he tried not to make a face.

“So talk about Will.”

Lennox shrugged. “He’s got a great ass, nice dick, he’s terrible at math. Like getting a C average from him in math is an appalling experience.”

Lennox.”

“What? Does this video come with a rating?”

“No, but the school library where I can edit this does. You’re such an—”

“Ass man, yes.”

Roxanne threw her camera bag at him and shut the camera off. “Fine. I don’t know why I bother with you. Or why Will bothers with you.”

Lennox looked away toward the empty bleachers. A few people were scattered around the football field, playing games or sitting on picnic blankets with their friends. Will, Natasha, Aaron, and Otto were among them, tossing a baseball around.

“Give me that stupid camera.”

“No way!”

“Do you want me to talk about Will or not?”

Roxanne gave him a dirty look, but handed Lennox the camera. “If you get one scratch on that…”

“Go sit over there, all right?” Lennox waved his hand toward the far end of the bleachers.

Roxanne glowered, but did as he asked. Once she was seated and Lennox had checked to make sure nobody else was within hearing distance, he switched the camera on and turned it onto his face.

“Err, what do you call these? Selkies? No, selfies? I don’t know. Um, so Will…”

###

“Can’t this wait?”

Will winced as Roxanne dragged him into the bleachers, tripping over steps until he was seated at the empty end in direct sunlight.

“Nope. If Lennox can do this, then so can you.”

“Yeah, and I bet he made fart noises and crude comments the entire time. I told you not to bother him. He doesn’t like this stuff. He has a hard enough time talking with just me.”

“Well, he took the camera and did it himself, then made me swear I wouldn’t listen. Which makes no sense, okay? I have to edit this—”

“Why? It’s more authentic if you don’t.”

“I—well, that’s true…anyway, here. Listen to Bozo the Clown wax poetic about your ass and dick some more.”

She left him, taking a seat a dozen risers below. Will rolled his eyes at all the secrecy, but turned the camera on and found the part where Lennox first appeared. For several minutes, Lennox and Roxanne argued. It was everything Will had expected Lennox to say on a camera held by somebody else. Then the angle changed. Lennox was alone, trying unsuccessfully to aim the camera at his own face.

“…selfies? I don’t know. Um, so Will, I think you damn well know I’m not spilling all my guts on camera. Yeah, Roxanne, I know you’re listening after I said not to. But what I said earlier was true. You are hopeless at math. Completely. You’re bad at walking, too. Like, I don’t get how you can play baseball so well when you trip walking upstairs four days a week.”

Will stuck his tongue out at Lennox’s image and a second later Lennox’s recording did the same.

“I bet you’re wagging your tongue at me. I’d rather have your tongue doing that in a few other places… and no, I’m not telling you, Roxanne. Get lost. In, like, Nevada. Anyway, you’re bad at a lot of things, Will. So am I. But you’re the best listener I know. You always let me talk myself out and don’t interrupt when I’m telling you about my life. So thanks. You want to hear the rest, then ask me when we’re not on Roxanne’s stupid camera.”

The recording ended and Will smiled. He’d heard the rest a dozen times since spring. Everything Lennox wanted to say, he’d already said to him in person and that was enough. Will called Roxanne back over to say his own piece.


Blurb

With or Without You by Zane RileyIn the much-anticipated sequel to Go Your Own Way, high school seniors Lennox McAvoy and Will Osborne pick up right where they left off—navigating the tumultuous waters of a new relationship and dealing with Will’s disapproving father.

When a violent incident forces Lennox to give up his independent ways, he must come to terms with his past just as Will is grappling with his future. As Will’s college plans become reality, will Lennox have the courage to go after the opportunities he doesn’t think he deserves?


Bio

Zane Riley is a transgender writer who wrote his first work of fan fiction in the fourth grade. He is a recent transplant to Vancouver, Washington where he spends his time watching long distance baseball games, hiking, and exploring the musical depths of the internet. His first novel, Go Your Own Way, was published by Interlude Press in 2015.

Where to find the author:


Giveaway

Zane has brought a grand prize of a $25 Interlude Press Gift Card and 5 first prize winners will get e-copies of ‘With or Without You’. Follow the Rafflecopter link below to enter.

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