With or Without You By Zane Riley

Author Name: Zane Riley

Book Name: With or Without You

Sequel to ‘Go Your Own Way’

Should be read in order to appreciate the books

Release Date: July 21, 2016

Blurb:

In 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?

Pages or Words: 348 pages

Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, New Adult

Excerpt:

The band room was empty when he pushed the door open, but the piano was set up like it was almost every afternoon these days. Only Mr. Robinette and a music stand littered with sheet music was absent.

“Hello?”

The silence struck Lennox as odd, but as he sat down he also realized how strange it was to announce himself. So much had changed since the first time he’d snuck in here to play on his own. Now he was auditioning for some college he still couldn’t fathom.

To make Will happy. And maybe a little bit for himself.

“Ah, I wondered if you were going to show up.”

Mr. Robinette was behind him, the door to his office now wide open. He’d taken off his tie and undone a few buttons on his shirt like he did most afternoons when they practiced.

“You just want to play it through a few times or mess around with something else?”

Lennox took a seat at the piano, but didn’t both opening his bag. He’d memorized the piece he was playing by Valentine’s Day and now, almost two weeks later, he could write it out measure for measure on blank sheet music. But playing it was becoming repetitive. For two hours, three times a week, almost nonstop with the same four pages and nothing else.

“I’d rather try something new. That piece is getting a little old.”

Mr. Robinette smiled and pulled a chair up beside him. “I had a nightmare the other night and it was the theme song while I ran around a haunted house Scooby Doo style.”

“You didn’t catch a ride in the Mystery Machine, did you? I’ve always wanted that van.”

“I’ve got a lunch box version of it. It doesn’t fit much though because it’s too narrow. Anyway, play what you want. I’ll be here until about four-thirty, so it’s all yours.”

As Mr. Robinette returned to his office, Lennox pulled what had become his music notebook out of his bag and opened it to the latest page. He’d taken to composing during class when he should have been taking notes, especially calculus where he had no reason to pay attention anyway.

The latest page was a tune he’d come up with while the other kids had been tapping their pencils and erasing answers. Every moment of his life carried a rhythm, a melody, and an emotion he could create with, and his notebook was becoming a testament to that. He played through everything he’d jotted down over the past few days, but after several rounds he kept coming back to one. It was a piano version he’d tried—and mostly failed—to create of one of the songs Will had played on a loop a few weeks ago.

“I’m getting ready to lock up!”

Mr. Robinette’s voice carried out of the office and into the band room. A few minutes and several jingles of Mr. Robinette’s keys later, the office door was shut and Lennox was closing the cover on the keys.

“That last piece you were playing, was it a cover?”

Lennox shrugged as they headed for the door.

“It was supposed to be. Didn’t sound much like the song.”

“Well, the others did. They were all really good, even the ones that weren’t covers.”

“Uh, thanks.”

Lennox watched him at the door to the parking lot for a moment. He’d been a great help over the last month—all year if Lennox was honest. Mr. Robinette had believed in him in his own way since school had begun, and thanks to him he had a decent shot at this audition.

“Thanks for… all of this. I actually feel like—just thanks.”

Mr. Robinette gave him a genuine smile and patted him on the shoulder.

“You’re very welcome. Let me know how it goes when you get back, okay? I’m rooting for you. Got all of my fingers and limbs crossed. You deserve the chance. Don’t doubt that or yourself.”

“I-I won’t.”

It was funny to have so many people believing in him after so long. Happiness was a strange feeling as well. Until he’d let Will into his life he couldn’t remember how to capture such a feeling in his chest and keep it there.

Interview:

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Zane Riley author of With or Without You.

Hi Zane, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

Hi! I’m Zane, and I’m a queer transgender writer from northern Virginia. Currently, I’m in the process of packing up to move to Washington state, so I’m pretty busy at the moment, but also very excited. I’ve been writing since I was a little kid, although I didn’t get truly serious about it until college when I switched my major to Creative Writing.

With or Without You is my second novel and a sequel to my first. It continues Will and Lennox’s story as they finish up their senior year of high school. As they begin to learn how to navigate their growing relationship, Will plans for his future in college while Lennox struggles to accept that his future is more than surviving until the next day. They each begin to forge their own paths only to realize that the futures they each want may lead them away from each other.

 

10 things we didn’t know about you.

 

1. I am a weather nerd. I secretly wish I was the heir apparent to Jim Cantore and the Weather Channel. I think I’d settle with getting to be a storm chaser, at least for a little while. I am fascinated by extreme weather and all of the many forms weather can take on our planet.

 

2. I have an unintentional hat collection. Most of my hats have been collected from giveaways at my favorite baseball team’s stadium. The rest are random finds or gifts from friends.

 

3. I use calendar pictures to create collages and wall art. Just yesterday, I found a 365 day at Kohl’s that was 90% off. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet, but it has a ton of fantastic Star Wars pictures.

 

4. Bobble heads are another item I collect, this time intentional. About half of these are also from Orioles’ games. Every season they have at least one giveaway for bobble heads and I’ve been going to games since I was seven or eight.

 

5. My hands always have to be fiddling with something. Whether it’s tapping on something or opening and closing the battery cover on the back of a remote, my hands have to be busy. It’s probably why I’d rather type out my stories than write them by hand. It saves time, but it also keeps all of my fingers busy.

 

6. I enjoy teaching myself to play various musical instruments. So far it’s only guitar and a wide variety of percussion instruments, but it’s a start. I spent most of high school learning to play every percussion instrument I could get my hands on and learning to read sheet music so that I could play any part in band class. It ended up paying off since I was made drumline captain my junior year.

 

7. Winter is my favorite season, but I love to swim more than anything. Except writing. I couldn’t live without some sort of snowy weather once a year, but taking away weather that’s warm enough to swim in would be worse. For me, there’s something very soothing about being in the water. I could, and have, spent all day in a pool or a lake or a beach.

 

8. I have four cats but am about to have zero. No, nobody’s dying or being abandoned or given away. I’m actually moving to the west coast and don’t want to separate any of the cats. They’re family cats and a family of their own really, so they’re staying on the east coast with my mom and aunt.

 

9. I played soccer for nine years. I did travel teams, All-Stars, you name it. I have a giant box of trophies and medals from all of the teams I was on and I loved every minute of it. I played from age four to about thirteen. Sometimes I wish I’d kept with it, but I’m also a big fan of sitting around being lazy.

 

10. My biggest ambition currently, not counting writing goals, is to finally travel outside of the United States. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and since my remote contract job just got extended I might be doing that in the near future. Once I get a passport of course.

Buy the book:

 

 

Meet the author:

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:

Facebook Author Page: facebook.com/ZaneNebula

Twitter: @ZaneNebula

Other: https://www.goodreads.com/Zane-Riley

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28764212-with-or-without-you

Publisher: Interlude Press

Cover Artist: Colleen M. Good

Tour Dates & Stops:

21-Jul: Parker Williams, Unquietly Me, Louise Lyons, Joyfully Jay, Velvet Panic

22-Jul: Bayou Book Junkie, Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance, Outrageous Heroes

25-Jul: Havan Fellows, Gay Media Reviews, Nephy Hart, Happily Ever Chapter

26-Jul: Oh My Shelves, Kirsty Loves Books, Dawn’s Reading Nook

27-Jul: MM Book Escape, My Fiction Nook, Prism Book Alliance

28-Jul: MM Good Book Reviews, Book Lovers 4Ever, Open Skye Book Reviews, BFD Book Blog

29-Jul: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Inked Rainbow Reads, Boys on the Brink Reviews

1-Aug: Alpha Book Club, Love Bytes

2-Aug: Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Butterfly-O-Meter

3-Aug: V’s Reads, Molly Lolly
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