Why Can’t Dating Be Like Pizza? (The Pizza Chronicles) a YA Gay Romance by Andy V. Roamer ➱ New Release Tour

THE PIZZA CHRONICLES SERIES TOUR 

and BOOK 5 NEW RELEASE

SERIES BLURB 

The books in the Pizza Chronicles series follow the main character, RV, through his high school years, as he tries to answer his many questions about life, God, prayer, sexuality, being the son of immigrants, and staying loyal to his heritage while carving out his own life and relationships. 

The stories should be read in order.

Book #1: Why Can’t Life Be Like Pizza?

Book #2: Why Can’t Freshman Summer Be Like Pizza?

Book #3: Why Can’t Relationships Be Like Pizza?

Book #4: Why Can’t Sophomore Summer Be Like Pizza?

Book #5: Why Can’t Dating Be Like Pizza?

Overall Heat Rating for the series: 1 flame

BOOK 5 - NEW RELEASE

Book Title: Why Can’t Dating Be Like Pizza?

Author:  Andy V. Roamer 

Publisher:  Nine Star Press 

Length:  52 000 words 

Release Date: August 20, 2022

Genre:  Young Adult 

Trope: Gay romance

Heat Rating: 2 flames

Themes:  Dating, films, art, bullying, gay suicide, finding one’s passion, surviving break-ups  

This story is a continuation of Book #1-4  with the same characters and does not end on a cliffhanger. It is best to read the books in order.

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Series Buy Links

NineStar Press  |  Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

Sixteen year-old RV negotiates the ups and down of junior year of high school, filled with pressure, new romance, and unexpected discoveries. 

Blurb

RV is now a junior in Book #5, Why Can’t Dating Be Like Pizza?. It’s the most important year of high school, as his guidance counselor makes clear. He pushes RV to improve his grades, get more active socially, and show colleges why they should accept him over other candidates. But RV has other things on his mind.  He has met Luke, freshly arrived in Boston from Los Angeles. Luke shows him a whole new world of romance, movie making, and fun.  RV’s friends and family pull him in other directions though.  There’s the responsibility of earning money.  His longtime friend Carole pulls him into politics, asking him to direct her campaign running for the student council.  His old crush Bobby isn’t around much, and RV has to accept that he and Bobby are no longer an item, though he still has some feelings for him.   But when Luke makes an unexpected announcement, RV really has to accept that dating has painful downs as well as joyful ups. 

CHECK OUT THE FIRST FOUR BOOKS IN 

THE PIZZA CHRONICLES SERIES

BOOK 1

Book Title: Why Can’t Life Be Like Pizza?

Author: Andy V. Roamer 

Publisher:  Nine Star Press 

Cover Artist: Natasha Snow

Length:  55 100 words/ 208 pages

Release Date: March 30, 2020 

Genre: YA Contemporary 

Trope:  Son of immigrants 

Themes: Coming Out 

It is a standalone story. 

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Buy Links

NineStar Press  |  Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

In Why Can’t Life Be Like Pizza? RV begins freshman year at demanding Boston Latin School, doing his best to keep up and fit in while wrestling with his immigrant heritage and his sexuality.  

Blurb 

Wrestling with his sexuality, along with a lot of other things, RV thinks all is okay when he starts going out with Carole.  But things get more complicated when RV develops a crush on Bobby, a football player in his class, who admits he may have gay feelings, too.  Bobby is African American and facing his own pressures.  Luckily, RV develops a friendship with Mr. Aniso, his Latin teacher, who is gay and always there to talk to when the pressure becomes overwhelming.  

BOOK 2

Book Title:  Why Can’t Freshman Summer Be Like Pizza? 

Author: Andy V. Roamer 

Publisher:  Nine Star Press 

Cover Artist:  Natasha Snow 

Length: 50 200 words/196 pages

Release Date:  June 1, 2020

Genre:  Young Adult Contemporary

Trope:  Summer Vacation 

Themes: Obstacles to exploring sexuality and enjoying summer 

This story is a continuation of Book #1 with the same characters 

Goodreads

Buy Links

Nine Star Press  |   Amazon US  |   Amazon UK 

In Why Can’t Freshman Summer Be Like Pizza? RV and Bobby have survived freshman year and are looking forward to spending a wonderful summer together. But life has other plans.  

Blurb  

RV and Bobby’s summer is not what they wish for.  They hardly have time to spend with each other.  Bobby is busy at football camp and working at a job his father has pressured him into taking. RV is busy with a summer job, too, and also has to help his parents pass their U.S. citizenship test. His friend Carole jumps at the chance to spend her summer in Paris. As always, Mr. Aniso, RV’s Latin teacher is there to talk to when RV gets too lonely. He’s also there when RV inadvertently spills one of Bobby’s secrets, and Bobby is so angry at him RV is afraid he’s ready to cut off the friendship. 

BOOK 3

Book Title:  Why Can’t Relationships Be Like Pizza? 

Author:  Andy V. Roamer 

Publisher:  Nine Star Press 

Length: 58 000 words/ 272 pages

Release Date:  March 15, 2021

Genre:  Young Adult Contemporary 

Trope:  Forming relationships 

Themes:  Maintaining relationships through difficulties/helping friend through tragedy 

This is a continuation of Book #2 of The Pizza Chronicles

Goodreads

Buy Links  

Nine Star Press  |   Amazon US  |    Amazon UK

In Why Can’t Relationships Be Like Pizza?, Book #3, RV begins sophomore year in high school, though his relationships create more questions than answers.

Blurb 

RV is trying to maintain his newfound friendship with Bobby, but it’s becoming harder and harder. Bobby seems a different, more distant, person. RV’s friend Carole is distracted with the ups and downs in her relationships with the French boyfriends she met during her summer in Paris. RV’s new friend Mark is focused on his family’s troubles.  School is a mixed bag.  But Mr. Aniso, RV’s former teacher and mentor, is there to lean on, especially when near tragedy strikes and RV needs Mr. Aniso’s counsel to stay strong and provide help where it’s needed most.   

BOOK 4

Book Title:  Why Can’t Sophomore Summer Be Like Pizza?

Author: Andy V. Roamer

Publisher:  Nine Star Press

Length: 52 000 words

Release Date:  August 23, 2021

Genre: Young Adult LGBT 

Tropes:  Summer vacation between freshman & sophomore years of high school

Themes:  Teenage steps toward maturity: ups & downs of romance, driving lessons, coming out to family

It is a standalone story, with the same characters from books 1-3.

The books have frequent references to previous titles in the series, so better if they are read in order.

Goodreads 

Buy Links

NineStar Press

Amazon US    |   Amazon UK 

RV’s summer after sophomore year of high school isn’t all fun and games as he navigates a budding new relationship, struggles with driving lessons, copes with the ups and downs of his summer job in a movie theatre, and tries to be patient with his traditional family that doesn’t want to deal with his sexuality. 

Blurb

It’s the summer after sophomore year and RV enjoys new adventures and faces new challenges having finished two years of high school.  Since he loves movies, he’s happy to get a job as an usher at a movie multiplex, but learns the realities of dealing with job stresses and unruly customers. It’s time for him to start learning how to drive, and his father is eager to give him lessons.  But he’s not the most patient of teachers and RV is not the most capable of drivers. Bobby is still around, but he’s doing the hard job of recovering from his injury so doesn’t have time for much else. RV tries to open himself up to a new relationship and is happy when he meets Matteo, who works at the multiplex also.  It looks like the start of a budding romance – until it isn’t.  And then there is RV’s family, loving but traditional, not ready or willing to discuss issues of sexuality. Luckily, as always, there is Mr. Aniso, RV’s freshmen-year teacher, who has become a friend and is always there to talk over anything that might be bothering RV. But he’s away for the summer, helping his partner’s family, so there’s only so much time and attention he can give RV. 

Author Interview

Tell us a little about yourself.

I grew up in Boston, Mass., the son of immigrants from Eastern Europe.  They were hard-working, conservative people trying to make a new life for themselves here in the U.S. I came to NYC after college to “find myself” and work in book publishing.  It was a satisfying career with wonderful, creative people as colleagues.  Finding myself, dealing with sexuality and sorting through the conservative values I was brought up with took a little longer – a lot longer, LOL. 

What would people be most surprised to know about you? 

Despite my shy outward demeanor, especially in a crowd, I have a quietly wicked sense of humor.

Do you have a favorite quote (either from your own books or one’s you’ve read)?

“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.”  --Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu   (I first read a similar quote in one of Amy Tan’s books. )

How long have you been writing and what made you fall in love with writing?

I have been writing for as long as I can remember.  When I was a kid, I’d write fantasy stories with my cousin, about us going on various adventures, being captured by bad guys but outwitting them.  Then in college I tried my hand at screenplays and even sent one to a well-known Hollywood actress, who politely replied that it was not for her.  And after college, I entered a contest and, wanting validation, asked the judges to tell me if I should keep writing.  I didn’t win, but scrawled on the rejection letter was a note from one of the judges: “I can’t tell you whether you should write or not.  If you have to write, you will.”  

Did you always want to be a writer? 

See above.  I guess I always had to write.  In the early days, I 

 thought I needed validation from someone else, but it has to come from inside oneself. 

What are your ambitions for your writing career?

I’ll share a quick story.  A friend of mine gave the first book in The Pizza Chronicles series, Why Can’t Life Be Like Pizza?, to friends of hers, grandparents of a boy who was wrestling with his sexuality.  I didn’t know these people at all, but my friend tole me they told her that after they read my book they understood their grandson more fully and felt closer to him.  To know my book had this effect on total strangers, felt wonderful.  That’s why I write theses books and that’s what I want to happen more. 

What’s your favorite part of writing?

When I’m done!  Seriously, writing is often hard work and  requires energy to dredge up stuff from the unconscious.  So when I think I’m nearing or at the end, and think I have accomplished what I set out to write, I can exhale a bit with satisfaction.  There’s editing to be done, of course, but that’s much less painful, even enjoyable if I feel I’m on the right track. 

Tell us about your writing style. 

For a few months before actually sitting down at the keyboard, I think about the book I want to write and do research about any topics that I hope to be tackling.  I let everything percolate in my brain.  And then I sit down at the keyboard and begin the actual writing process.  PS: In the old days, I used to do a lot of mapping out, i.e., creating an outline of scenes and situations and the overall plot.  But I found that killed my writing.  Now, once I feel I’ve done enough percolating, I try to let my unconscious take over and let the words come from deep inside me.  Not always easy for a head person and planner like me. 

When/where is your favorite time/place to write?

Usually at home in front of my computer, with occasional glances out the window, which has a view of the New York City skyline.

Also, a public place, such a café or Barnes and Noble, where I’m around people but not bothered and can quietly dive into the world I am working on with my writing.

Why did you choose to write LGBT romance/fiction? 

I just had to get out the story of my adolescence, struggling to come to terms with my sexuality and my immigrant upbringing, which was very traditional and conservative.  My books are fiction, of course, but many of the characters and events are based on what I experienced.  Writing YA seemed like the natural place to do this.  I hope other teens struggle with similar issues will find these books and get comfort, joy, and a few laughs from reading them. 

Describe a scene in your writing that has made you laugh or cry?

There is a scene in my first book, which I still love.  One of my favorite characters, besides the main character, RV, is his Latin teacher, Mr. Aniso.  Mr. Aniso, who is openly gay, becomes not only a mentor but a real friend RV can talk to when he feels particularly lost or scared.  Mr. Aniso is the victim of some anti-gay violence.  RV screws up the courage to visit him in the hospital.  It hasn’t been an easy time for RV, and when he starts to describe to Mr. Aniso everything that has been going on, he starts to cry, deep, wrenching sobs that bring up many of the feelings he has been struggling with.  He finds this new openness with Mr. Aniso very liberating.  He says something like this to himself:  “I went there to comfort Mr. Aniso and in the end he has comforted me.”  I still find the scene very moving.  PS: Even a reviewer who didn’t particularly love the rest of the book, said: “… I ended up loving this book! Its saving grace comes in the form of RV’s many visits to his Latin teacher’s hospital room …. The mentorship and life lessons displayed during these interactions made me feel a myriad of emotions and want to push this book on everyone I know…”

Give the readers a brief summary of your latest book or WIP. What genre does it fall in?

I’m working on the next book in the series.  It will take place when RV is a senior in high school.  No plot yet, as I’m in the percolating stage. 

Will we be seeing these characters again? Is this book part of a series?

Yes.  Why Can’t Dating Be Like Pizza? is Book #5 in the series.  They all deal with RV and his friends through high school years (in a demanding public high school in Boston, the Latin School). 

How do you relax? 

I swim and bike to relax and enjoy the various cultural events that New York City offers.  And reading of course.  Reading usually happens during what I call my golden hour before going to bed.   It’s quiet, no one’s bothering me, and I dive into a world someone else has created.  Right now I’m enjoying some mystery thrillers set in various places, as traveling is another one of my passions.

About the Author 

Andy V. Roamer grew up in the Boston area and moved to New York City after college. He worked in book publishing for many years, starting out in the children’s and YA books division and then wearing many other hats. This is his first novel about RV, the teenage son of immigrants from Lithuania in Eastern Europe, as RV tries to negotiate his demanding high school, his budding sexuality, and new relationships. He has written an adult novel, Confessions of a Gay Curmudgeon, under the pen name Andy V. Ambrose. To relax, Andy loves to ride his bike, read, watch foreign and independent movies, and travel.

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New Release Tour with Author Interview

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