Character Interview: Tristan Holt from Off the Ice by Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn

Posted November 9, 2017 by Dale

Hello everyone! We are super excited to welcome Tristan Holt, defenseman of the Atlanta Venom (and protagonist on Avon Gale’s and Piper Vaughn’s Off the Ice) to our blog today! This feature is the first part of a blog collaboration with the lovely Min from Min and Her Books. You can read part two – the interview with Sebastian Cruz – on her blog, so don’t miss that! We had a lot of fun planning this and coming up with questions, though the best thing was reading their answers! (Also a massive thank you to both Piper Vaughn and Avon Gale who were so kind to do this with us!) We hope you enjoy!

Hi Tristan, we’re happy to have you here today!

Can you tell us a bit about what the hockey trips were like with your family when you were younger?

Chaotic but fun! I actually went on a lot of the trips with my friend/teammate and his dad. During the fall, summer, and spring, my parents are pretty busy with the farm. They made it to games and practices as often as they could.

What is your favorite part of the season? Has that changed over time, or was it always the same thing?

The beginning. It’s like stepping out onto a fresh sheet of ice, you know? Everything is shiny and new. Everything resets and the possibilities are endless.

What is something about Sebastian, or a thing he does, that gets you every time?

Can I cheat and say everything? LOL. I love his smile. I love it when he holds my wrists. I love his bossiness and when he uses his professor voice. And if we’re talking about something on a purely physical level, I get sort of weak in the knees over that pissed-off scowl of his. Maybe that makes me weird? I think it has the opposite effect on me than it does on most people.

What impression do you hope to leave when you meet someone new?

I hope they feel like I’m a good person, and that I brighten their day in some way.

Tell us 3 of your weaknesses. And 3 things you admire about Sebastian.

I might be too trusting or forgiving sometimes.
Math
Sometimes I keep my feelings bottled up and go into avoidance mode instead of talking about the things I know will be difficult emotionally.

As for Sebastian, I admire his intelligence, his courage, and, of course, his badass GTO. ;D

What is the (to you) most important thing you learned in this relationship?

*cough* See #3 in my weaknesses above. 😛 I learned that communication is super important and we both have to be open and honest with each other about how we’re feeling.

How do you handle the long distance aspect of your relationship?

Honestly, even though I miss Seb when I’m on road trips or our schedules don’t allow us to see each other for a few days, between practice, games, classes, and traveling, I’m usually too busy to think about it very much. Also, we talk every day through texts, phone calls, or Skype.

Quick questions, between you and Sebastian…:

Who’s the cuddler?
Me
Who’s the big spoon?
Seb
What’s your favorite non-sexual activity as a couple?
Lounging on the couch watching action movies. 😀
Who comes home drunk at 3am?
Neither one of us. We’re not huge drinkers, and we don’t actually go out that much.
Who kills the spider?
Seb. I’ll just try to put it outside if I can.
Who falls asleep first?
Me
Who is the biggest baby when they’re sick?
Seb
Who gives the most unexpected surprises?
Seb! He gets me concert tickets. 😀
Who sings better?
Seb
Who dances better?
Seb (I think. He never dances around me, but I have no rhythm, so. :P)
Who brushes their teeth the most?
Um… I think we both just brush twice a day?
Who holds their liquor better?
Seb. He’s into the hard stuff. I’m more into beer, but I don’t really ever drink more than 2 or 3.

And that’s it! Thank you!

Thanks for having me! 😀

Tristan Holt is nothing if not pragmatic. Despite a flourishing career as a defenseman for the Atlanta Venom, Tristan knows he can’t play hockey forever. One day he’ll retire—if an injury doesn’t force him to hang up his skates first. His backup plan? Finishing his business degree. But he doesn’t count on a very inappropriate attraction to his standoffish sociology professor, Sebastian Cruz.

Sebastian is on the bottom rung of the Sociology Department at Georgia State. He has his sights set on tenure, and he can’t afford to be distracted, especially not by a sexy student with a body straight out of Sebastian’s dreams. No matter how much Tristan tempts him, that’s one line Sebastian won’t cross. At least not until summer classes end. After that, everything is fair game.

But Sebastian lives loud and proud, and Tristan is terrified of being the first out player in the NHL. Neither of them can afford to risk their hearts when they can’t imagine a happily ever after. The problem is, unlike hockey, when it comes to love, there are no rules.

Riptide Publishing | Amazon | Goodreads

Jude’s review.

Avon grew up in the southern United States, and now lives with her very patient husband in a liberal Midwestern college town. When she’s not writing, she’s either doing some kind of craft project that makes a huge mess, reading, watching horror movies, listening to music or yelling at her favorite hockey team to get it together, already. Avon is always up for a road trip, adores Kentucky bourbon, thinks nothing is as stress relieving as a good rock concert, and will never say no to candy.

At one point, Avon was the mayor of both Jazzercise and Lollicup on Foursquare. This tells you basically all you need to know about her as a person.

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Piper Vaughn wrote her first love story at eleven and never looked back. Since then, she’s known that writing in some form was exactly what she wanted to do. A reader at the core, Piper loves nothing more than getting lost in a great book—fantasy, young adult, romance, sci-fi, she loves them all (and has an over-two-thousand-book library to prove it!). She’s an avid tea drinker, a hockey fanatic, a vintage typewriter collector, and loves to travel so much she has “wanderlust” tattooed on her ankle and dozens of countries on her bucket list. Recently, she discovered the world of nail art and realized she’s pretty handy with a paintbrush—as long as it’s a miniature one.

As a bisexual and Latinx person, Piper takes great pride in her heritage. She grew up in an ethnically diverse neighborhood and strives to put faces and characters of every ethnicity in her stories, so her fictional worlds are as colorful as the real one. She currently resides in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband, son, and a cat that has Piper wrapped around her little paw. Above all, she believes that everyone needs a little true love in their life … even if it’s only in a book.

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We hope you enjoyed this. And don’t forget: the interview with Tristans boyfriend Sebastian will be on Min’s blog tomorrow!