goodness me… i genuinely don't know what to say other than i'm so, so touched that my words have stayed with you for so many years. knowing it found a home with someone means more to me than i can really put into words, ironically. there’s some equivalent exchange happening here.

and ahhh… i have an embarrassing confession to make. i actually don't read very much romance in the strict genre sense. annie ernaux is probably the closest. sally rooney? though they write more about desire than romance; the interpersonal dynamics is secondary to their dogged investigation of how desire is compelled and impeded.

but anyway—this arrangement is not out of dislike, i promise! i find romance incredibly interesting. it's probably one of the biggest intellectual blind spots i have. i love thinking about intimacy and companionship and the ways people become important to one another, but i've explored those questions much more through literary fiction and film than through the romance genre itself… or even irl. the trouble is that i'm a bit picky with prose, so i tend to bounce off a lot of contemporary romance before i can fall in love with the story. it's honestly something i'd really like to change because i know i'm missing out on so much.

most of the romances that have stayed with me have actually been films, though! roman holiday, bringing up baby, say anything... and nora ephron, my queen. i also like before sunset far more than before sunrise. maybe… i'm less interested in grand declarations than i am in watching two people slowly become legible to one another. i love romances where affection is built through conversation, shared attention, small habits, and the quiet realization that someone is beginning to understand the shape of your mind. my love for romance feels to me a natural, inevitable evolution of my love for dialogue in fiction. it’s no wonder i gravitate towards films and plays.

(but if you have romance recommendations with beautiful prose... please send them my way. i am very much accepting homework.)

thank you again. this message genuinely made my day :(