Q: Hiii!! Big big fan of your music, all the way from Australia :) (I missed the show you did down here because I had a work shift I couldn't get out of... I regret it so much ahhh I should've just called in sick T-T).

Recently you said you identify with the 'southern gothic' label, and I wondered if you've ever read Truman Capote's first novel, 'Other Voices, Other Rooms'? It's my favourite novel of all time. It has THE most beautiful lyrical writing (imo), and I feel completely transported whenever I read it. The book is set in rural Alabama (where Capote was raised, and was living at the time), and is a kind of queer coming-of-age story. It actually received quite a bit of backlash at the time for portraying queer characters in a positive/very sympathetic light. It's definitely of its time in other ways though, particularly in its treatment of black characters, so be aware of that. But I would really encourage you to read it; I think you'd love the writing style. It's just so rich and textured !! :-)

Here's a little sample of the first page:

"It's a rough trip no matter how you come, for these washboard roads will loosen up even brandnew cars pretty fast, and hitchhikers always find the going bad. Also, this is lonesome country, and here in the sunken marshes where tiger lilies bloom the size of a man's head there are luminous green logs that shine under the dark water like drowned corpses. Often the only movement on the landscape is a broken spiral of smoke from a sorry-looking farmhouse on the horizon, or a wing-stiffened bird, silent and arrow-eyed, circling endlessly over the bleak deserted pinewoods."

A: Damnnnnn this sounds awesome I’ll def look for a copy!

Mostly posting so other people reading can have access to this recommendation <3

xoxo