Today I am so pleased to welcome Carey PW to Joyfully Jay. Carey has come to talk to us about his latest release, Grayality. He has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving Carey a big welcome!

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Exclusive Excerpt

As we sat down, Granny’s eyes fixed on Pate as if she were purposefully searching for remnants of Patricia. Pate began eating, placing his focus on the food, but I knew he noticed.

“So how are you feeling?” I inquired. “When do you start chemo?”

“In a few weeks. They want me to heal more first. I need my strength.” She brushed a few strands of her thin gray hair out of her face. Her eyes stayed on Pate.

“Where are they?” I asked. “Billings.”

“That’s a drive. Let me know the schedule so that when I register, I can make sure that my classes don’t interfere,” I told her, but her eyes remained on Pate.

“Is there something that you want to ask me?” Pate muttered, slowly looking up from his plate and clinching his jaw.

“So…do you have a penis now?” “Granny!” I snapped.

“I don’t mean anything by it. I just don’t know what all you’ve had done.”

“No.” Pate pushed another mouthful of food into his mouth.

“Are you going to?” Granny continued to pry while rubbing her fingers along the table.

“I don’t know. I don’t have the money,” he replied. “You were so pretty as a girl. I thought you and

Oakley would get married and have some pretty babies. You two would have pretty babies—”

“Granny,” I inserted, “Don’t—”

“It’s okay.” Pate said gently holding up his hand to me. “Yes, I was a pretty girl. Now, I am a handsome man.”

“You still look like a girl. You have that baby face.” Granny finally started eating a piece of biscuit.

Under the table, I squeezed Pate’s thigh. Pate was more than aware that he looked ten years younger and feminine in the face. He desperately wanted facial hair but little had emerged, and he was very insecure about it.

“So, if you don’t have a penis yet, aren’t you still a woman?” Granny pushed between bites of biscuit.

“Does not having breasts mean you’re not a woman anymore?” Pate stated more than asked, and his green eyes laid right into Granny’s. My throat fell into my chest.

Granny was mid-mouthful when Pate made the comment, and the silence was agony.

Finally, Granny smirked. “I guess you’re right.”


Blurb

grayality coverLove 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.


Bio

carey pw bio imageCarey PW (he/they) is a debut author, college instructor, and mental health counselor. Carey is currently completing his next manuscript, Acing the Game. This novel follows Shep, an asexual, transgender person who convinces his husband Elmer to seek a third to join their marriage because Shep fears that he cannot satisfy Elmer, and the adventure begins.

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 shared through his characters’ narratives. Carey is particularly interested in exploring relationship conflicts around sexuality and gender differences. Carey 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.

Readers can learn more about Carey from his blog, www.careypw.com. When he is not writing, Carey is busy training for marathons, sharing his culinary talents on social media, and watching horror movies.

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Giveaway

To celebrate the exciting debut, Carey is giving away 15 Special Swag Bags! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!

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