When Dimple Met Rishi

I can't remember the last time I read a novel in a day, but I couldn't put When Dimple Met Rishi down!

“Seriously? That's what you think I should be relegating my brain space to? Looking nice? Like, if I don't make the effort to look beautiful, my entire existence is nullified? Nothing else matters-not my intellect, not my personality or my accomplishments; my hopes and dreams mean nothing if I'm not wearing eyeliner?” 

Dimple has a plan - for college and coding domination - and an arranged marriage doesn't figure into it. So when she arrives at a summer coding program and Rishi strolls over, introducing himself as her husband, she takes the only reasonable course of action and throws her coffee over him. What follows is both adorable and hilarious. 

“She refused to be one of those girls who gave up on everything they'd been planning simply because a boy entered the picture.” 

I loved the characters and the romance in this story. It was so cute and happy that I defy anyone to read it without a smile on their face. This is absolutely one to read if you want to be put in a good mood.

“But that was Rishi... he was like a pop song you thought you couldn't stand, but found yourself humming in the shower anyway.” 

On Writing: by Stephen King

I have been reading more non-fiction books this year and the highlight so far has definitely been On Writing, which I was bought for my birthday. It's a fascinating insight into how one of the greatest writers of our time works and I think it will appeal even to people who don't have an interest in writing fiction. 

The first half is a 'writing CV' which is a mini-memoir of the writing related moments in King's life. I actually ended up enjoying this more than the writing types as it was so interesting. However, the writing tips were also extremely useful and I made a lot of changes to my editing process as a result. In particular, the marked up 'edited chapter' King includes at the end of the book was such an invaluable thing to see. I cut a lot of words out of my WIP after reading it (including a lot - but not all - of the adverbs!)

One of the things I found most fascinating, however, was that King doesn't plan his novels. As someone who has recently completed a Faber course on plot in an attempt to get her head around planning, I found this both interesting and surprising. King likens his writing process to an archaeological excavation; carefully uncovering a story that's already there. 

While I don't think everything King suggests is right for me and my writing process, I've taken away a lot of helpful advice and I can't recommend this novel enough as a result.