austin (🛤️ is querying 🛤️)

hi Amanda! I queried you a while ago with a project and have since undergone substantial revisions on the manuscript- would you be willing to take a look at the revised package?

as do you 🥺❤️❤️❤️

🫂 i love you, friend. the world is such a tumultuous place and the least we can do is stand with each other

i remember this snip ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 such good framing with the game

baby boy…baby…

sometimes my favorite parts of writing are the small homages to sneak in. Nathan cooks a dish based on a recipe from my mom. Jensen & Evan have my parents’ zodiac sign dynamic. Lawrence loves George Gershwin because I love An American in Paris. creative works are labors of love❤️

oh i love fun in-laws!!! intrigued 👀

it’s very convenient, & surprisingly spacious!

um…well…uh…hm…i’m pleading the 5th on that one!

Jensen would love to live on his own, but that’s a nonnegotiable from the head of the family.

Evan lives by himself in a townhouse he bought after his father died- he didn’t want to stay either in his childhood home or where he & his dad lived, so once he joined Gilliard business he bought a place

#AwesomeCharacters

Nathan & Lawrence live together- that’s like, the plot 🤣 but they live above Lawrence’s store with Em both during HTCH and once the story ends, it’s their place❤️

in B&W, all the Gilliards live in their family mansion- Nathan & Jensen included

in-laws 😍😍😍

having been the bonus roommate, i feel sasha 🤣

yeah i don’t think i’ve ever written a cishet MF couple (& i dont think i ever will) & find reading that dynamic a hard sell (esp if they’re both white/able-bodied)

omg thank you so much!! hopefully they’ll be out in the world at some point 🙏🙏🙏

contrary to how it may seem i do write wlw/mf & have plans for exploring a polycule/love N, all of which i also read! i just have a soft spot for queerness and masculinity because, uh, *gestures vaguely to self*

#Smutcember

i think like i said yesterday my biggest difference is that i’ll read a higher level of smut than i usually write 🤷 in terms of partner configurations/genres i can’t think of any radical differences

🤠❤️🫵 i love youuuuu

i like to think he’s one of those people who think they’ve Figured Out the winter’s tale…either that or he likes one of the popular ones But His Opinion Is Different, Actually

he’s a fun guy! always 5 seconds away from bringing up Irish independence or judging you for your favorite Shakespeare play, as any mentor should 🤣

however, i think the lines are becoming increasingly blurred as genres like romance gain visibility, & there’s going to be room for works with a literary bend + openly sexual sensibilities (at least…i hope lol!)

good question! i’ve admittedly focused more on the side of expanding what we consider literary/canonical to give credit to how “genre” works have unique capabilities equally worth studying (i wrote about romance novels & queerness for my master’s thesis, lol)

in an ideal life Jensen’s off becoming a career scholar and gaining a cult following with his students, but in this one he makes do with weekly book swaps❤️
(plus, being able to recite poetry can be a big hit for romance~}

oh absolutely, the true test of spirit is getting knocked down a peg and seeing how much you like it 🤣

their friendship + their solid family lives really gave a good counterpart to the rougher parts to be sure, but they def both recognize that their childhoods could’ve been worse & value the bond they have as a result 🤗

they’re so wonderful if i do say so myself 😭

i love when people think they’re being sneaky & the other person has known the whole time 😍😍😍

there’s no real reason, tbh😔 Jess moved from her & Lawrence’s childhood home to be with Trent in Kansas after they got married, & she found her married life more of an adjustment than she’d pictured- she didn’t want to admit to him that she was struggling, bc she knew he had his own hardships

their interactions don’t last more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time, but Jensen tries to go every week, & Sweeney always has a new recommendation. later on Sweeney intersects with another part of Jensen’s life in a very unexpected way, but his continued presence remains extremely significant

for the next 10 yrs they do this routine: Jensen reads a book & either returns it for a new recommendation or buys a precious few. Sweeney introduces him to everything from 1001 Nights to Phyllis Wheatley to Yeats, & Jensen’s able to keep studying literature while not being allowed to go to college

but Jensen has been harboring a love of books in his own life, so he takes the opportunity to talk with someone who won’t dismiss him for being too lofty/intellectual. Sweeney’s surprised as his evident passion but gap-filled knowledge, so he sells Jensen a copy of the Iliad as a recommended read