Garth Greenwell

Different altitude, but same.

Then I thought of Small Rain by Garth Greenwell, who is another fave of mine.

His book Small Rain is about someone who has this tremendous, at first mysterious illness.

He doesn't know what's going on.

So from a skills point of view, how do you manage to make these scenes kind of sexy and honest and messy, but also, like, an important action-based part of the plot?

My approach was learnt from s- like, the great sex writers of our time, which is Garth Greenwell, who's, like, a big influence on my work.

Others, Brandon Taylor, Bryan Washington, um, all the, these contemporary queer authors who are very interested in the psychological nature of sex, as well as the bodily mechanics of it.

I understood from them that it's about character, the way that any good writing is.

Uh, 'cause they're on another level, 'cause I'm like ... [laughs]

You mean people like James Baldwin?

Yeah, Garth Greenwell, like, people who I admire so much and have been so important to my artistic education.

What's your top tip for aspiring writers or storytellers out there that are listening?